Raheem Morris Provides Update on Oft-Injured Falcons' LB Troy Andersen

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga – Troy Andersen enters a critical final year of his rookie contract with the Atlanta Falcons this fall. Wednesday’s practice marks the final day of training camp, but we have yet to see the former second-round pick on the field.

Andersen injured his knee last season and struggled to make a return, which led to him eventually being placed on the injured reserve in December. At this point, there is lingering doubt that the linebacker would be ready for the regular season, which would have a potentially massive impact on the eventual 53-man roster.

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was asked about the status of the Falcons’ linebacker on Wednesday.

“He’s still in the same situation as he has been, but we got the chance to get him with our teams and our doctors and with everybody else and kinda get updates on where he is and where his projection could be,” Morris said before declining to give the full answer. “I’m not going to tell you that right now, but I feel really good about Troy and some of the things he’s progressed into and how he’s going to help us this year.”

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Despite the non-answer from Morris, he did not go as far as to rule Andersen out for a regular-season appearance in Week 1.

“I don’t want to rule it out,” he said. “But I don’t want to lead you on to think it could be a Week 1 thing either.”

Andersen made seven appearances in 2024, starting four of those games. On the year, he made 47 tackles, a quarterback hit, a pass breakup, and a tackle for a loss. Andersen also had his first-ever interception in a Week 4 win over the New Orleans Saints, which he returned 47 yards for a touchdown.

In that Week 4 performance, Andersen also had a league-high 16 tackles, and that performance garnered him his first-career NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

It was the last impactful game he’d have. Unfortunately, that was the same week that Andersen initially injured his knee.

The Falcons, who have several difficult decisions to make between now and the roster cut date next Tuesday, will need to decide if he would be ready in the early parts of the season. If he can not, they could opt to keep him on the roster and then place him on Injured Reserve with a designation to return, to open up a new 53rd spot.

However, this move would then force Andersen to miss the first four weeks of the regular season. Frankly, this seems like a more likely scenario than Andersen taking meaningful snaps on Week 1 against the Buccaneers.

The Falcons hedged against Andersen’s ability to stay on the field by signing Devine Deablo to a 2-year, $14 million contract.

“It's always tough to do cuts,” Morris said. “You never get comfortable doing that.”

Elsewhere, Morris updated the status of Ray-Ray McCloud and KhaDarel Hodge after the pair of wide receivers missed practice on Monday.

“Ray-Ray was dealing with an illness, but he’s back,” Morris said. “KhaDarel was dealing with a little tightness, so we got a chance to shut him down and get him right and get him ready to go.”

No. 15 overall pick Jalon Walker, who is dealing with a groin injury, missed last week’s game against the Tennessee Titans and will not play on Friday night against the Dallas Cowboys.

In his absence last week, edge rushers James Pearce Jr. and Bralen Trice got extended looks against the Titans. Trice could see his most snaps to date against the Cowboys.