Divine Deablo’s Club Draws Notice as Falcons Eye His Return

FLOWERY BRANCH, GA – The Atlanta Falcons have been hit hard by injuries all season, losing several critical players at various points throughout the year. One positive bit of news on that front came ahead of the team’s Week 12 trip to New Orleans, and he could provide a spark for a team in desperate need of some good news.

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said Monday that linebacker Divine Deablo would be designated to return from the injured reserve, and that happened on Wednesday. There also seems to be some confidence that he could be activated for this weekend’s game.

“Assuming everything goes well, he should be back playing,” Morris said Monday.

Deablo was spotted at practice on Wednesday for the first time since Week 7, and he had a rather large accessory with him.

Falcons linebacker Divine Deablo with a rather large cast on his right forearm.

He was designated to return today after fracturing that arm against San Francisco. pic.twitter.com/FBETAkzxJS
— Garrett Chapman (@gchapatl) November 19, 2025

If he does play on Sunday, that club on his forearm will not be considered much of a detriment to his ability to be effective on the Falcons’ second level.

“Your common sense says, he's going to struggle, maybe tackling or he's going to struggle catching the ball or wrapping up, but it was not the case for him,” Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “Divine is fortunate in the fact that he has tremendous length, and a lot of times that length can help you overcome something like a club on your hand.”

Ulbrich remembered Patrick Willis, whom he played with in San Francisco for three years, wore a similar type of club on several occasions. He says it never slowed him down or made things much more difficult.

“If there's any guy that really understands how to take the extra step and put his body on somebody to ensure the tackle, it's him [Deablo],” Ulbrich finished.

Deablo has been “diligent” in staying up-to-date on everything that the Falcons defense has been doing while healing from the fracture that held him for the last four weeks. There is a lot of confidence that he would be able to be dropped right back into a defense that has missed him mightily.

Through the team’s first six games, Deablo had 24 tackles, a half sack, recovered a fumble, and broke up four passes. His contributions went far beyond the box score.

Before his injury, the Falcons were at or near the top across several defensive metrics, including having the league’s No. 2 overall unit. After his injury (including the 49ers game), opposing offenses have hit them for an average of 7.8 more points, 97 more passing yards, and 49 more rushing yards per game in his absence.

They consider him to be an extra coach on the field, and it is no coincidence that the Falcons dropped all five of those games since losing him.

The Falcons would be thrilled to get Deablo back, but if he were to need more time to be activated, Ulbrich says that Ronnie Harrison has done a good enough job to retain his place in this defense.

“He's earned the right to be a part of this defense in some capacity,” Ulbrich said. “Not just as a reserve, but he's talented enough and he's contributed enough, and he's proved himself enough that I think he's worthy of trying to create different maybe personnel packages for him, just to take advantage of his – he has amazing length and speed and awareness and toughness and motor. You can't have enough of those guys on the field for you.”

In Week 11, Harrison was on the field for 93 different plays, or 98% of defensive snaps (78) and 50% of special teams snaps (15). He led the Falcons in tackles (10), defended a pass, and recorded a sack.

Before last Sunday, the team had utilized a by-committee approach to replace Deablo. They incorporated a rotation of JD Bertrand, DeMarcco Hellams, Josh Woods, and even some Billy Bowman Jr., to varying results. Injuries or poor play pushed the staff to use Harrison in a more defined role.

At this point, the Falcons would be most excited with a return of Deablo, but Harrison showed enough to be considered a viable backup option for the team against the Saints.

"It was rough," Deablo said on Wednesday about not being able to be out there with his teammates through this stretch. "You want to be out there and helping your team, but it's part of the process and I'm glad to be back."

The Falcons will be hoping that 'back' means in the lineup this Sunday.