Have Atlanta Falcons Seen Last of Troy Andersen?

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga – The Atlanta Falcons remain non-committal on linebacker Troy Andersen’s status as his return from a knee injury grows increasingly unlikely. Andersen has been on the PUP list since the start of training camp, and there’s still no indication he’ll be activated this season.

With standout linebacker Divine Deablo now sidelined and second-year linebacker JD Bertrand struggling to fill the void, Andersen’s absence looms even larger for an Atlanta defense searching for answers.

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Falcons head coach Raheem Morris has been asked about his potential for a return just about every week this season. His answer has been pretty consistent that there is no update on Andersen.

“Still on IR,” Morris said Monday. “Nothing new. Still there.”

When pressed on if there was a chance he could return this season, Morris said, “You never want to rule it out, but we'll have to just wait and see. Nothing new, no window activated, none of those things. Still working with our people and getting right, trying to get him right.”

Andersen has struggled with injuries throughout his NFL career. He has played in 26 games since joining the Falcons in 2022, but just nine of those have come after his rookie season. He missed almost all of the 2023 season due to a torn pectoral muscle.

He was always projected to be a developmental-type player after playing both sides of the ball at Montana State, only transferring to play defensive full-time during his final year.

Andersen showed the flashes of his potential, highlighted by his Week 4 breakout against the Saints, where he was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week after picking up 17 tackles, one tackle for a loss, and an interception returned for a touchdown.

That was also the game where he initially picked up his knee injury. Andersen would be sidelined for the next five games before attempting to come back in November and being placed on injured reserve in December.

There is still theoretically time to return, but that knee has potentially cost Andersen the chance to play this season.

Back on August 20, Morris said he didn’t want to rule out Andersen’s return for Week 1, but added he “[doesn’t] want to lead you on to think it could be a Week-1 thing either.”

The Falcons' head coach then explained that Andersen had experience with knee injuries like this before.

“But it feels normal,” Morris said in August. “He's done it before on the other leg, which we’ve talked about – I know I have. I don't know if I’ve talked about it with you guys, ad nauseam. But he's done it on the other leg, so we've got a really good range or radar for what happened. Obviously, that other range is based on something that was out of our control in COVID-19, when it happened to him last, and now we're dealing with it right now. So, we feel good about where he is.”

There is not much information on what injury he was alluding to, but after doing some digging, it appears that Andersen underwent a knee surgery that he appears to have picked up against UC Davis in 2019. The Big Sky Conference then did not play football in the fall due to COVID-19, so it is unknown if Andersen would have been able to play that season.

Andersen returned to the field in 2021, a full year and a half after his injury, where he totaled 147 tackles (14 TFLs), two sacks, two interceptions, one fumble recovery, and seven pass breakups.

It is unclear whether this injury will require a similar recovery timeline, but it appears that there should not be an expectation that Andersen will return this season. That could always change, but it grows increasingly unlikely as the weeks continue to drag on.

It is a disappointing update for the Falcons, especially with the athleticism of Deablo sidelined indefinitely. Once projected as a cornerstone of this defense, Andersen has struggled to stay on the field. With 2025 marking the final year of his rookie contract, Andersen’s future in Atlanta is increasingly uncertain.