Falcons Injury Update: A.J. Terrell, Jaylinn Hawkins at Practice?

The Atlanta Falcons hit the practice fields of Flowery Branch on Wednesday for the first time this week, on the heels of a busy trade deadline.

Wednesday practices offer the first opportunity to provide an injury update, and the Falcons did exactly that - with the results featuring both good and bad news on the health of Atlanta's secondary.

All-Pro cornerback A.J. Terrell, who was removed from the game early in the second half in Week 6 with a hamstring injury and then re-injured it the following week before missing Atlanta's most recent game, did not participate in practice, firmly putting his availability for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers in jeopardy.

However, one of the Falcons' new acquisitions, cornerback Rashad Fenton, was on the field Wednesday less than 24 hours after Atlanta shipped a 2023 seventh-round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for his services.

While defensive coordinator Dean Pees runs a complex defense, it's possible the Falcons give Fenton a select number of plays while he learns the playbook; he largely played zone coverage as the right cornerback in Kansas City.

Another back-end player present at the practice was safety Jaylinn Hawkins, who missed all of last week while in concussion protocol but was a full participant Wednesday. It's unclear how far along he is in the protocol, but the Falcons' trade of Dean Marlowe, who played every snap in place of Hawkins, is a possible indicator that he'll be good to go against the Chargers and returning to practice is only another positive sign.

On the offensive side of the ball, starting left guard Elijah Wilkinson was not at practice due to a knee injury. When Wilkinson missed Atlanta's Week 3 victory over the Seattle Seahawks due to a personal matter, Colby Gossett filled in his place after a week-long battle with Germain Ifedi. However, backup center Matt Hennessy worked with the first team over Gossett and Ifedi on Wednesday, per The Athletic.

Perhaps most importantly for the Falcons is that running back Cordarrelle Patterson was designated to return from the injured reserve after undergoing "minor" knee surgery following Week 4.

Atlanta has a maximum of 21 days to officially activate Patterson, but coach Arthur Smith initially said the 31-year-old could return at the front end of that time frame, and his presence on the practice field supports that.

After practice, Patterson revealed that he feels about 90 percent healthy while noting that nobody is 100 percent at this time of year. In other words, he feels like he's ready to go.

With or without Patterson, the NFC South-leading Falcons (4-4) will take on the Chargers (4-3) at 1 p.m. Sunday inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft

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