Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell (24) covers during a drill during training camp at IBM Performance Field.
Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
The Atlanta Falcons have gotten off to an ugly start to the 2026 NFL season, currently sitting at 0-2 after a recent 34-3 home thrashing at the hands of the Carolina Panthers. The Falcons did get some good news when it was announced that quarterback Michael Penix Jr. would be good to go for Thursday's game against the Green Bay Packers, but Atlanta has still had some bad injury luck overall this year.
Unfortunately, that continued on Tuesday with an update on a key member of their defensive backfield.
“The #Falcons have another injury, as starting CB A.J. Terrell Jr. was placed on IR and they signed DL Zach Harrison to the 53-man roster,” reported NFL insider Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network on X, formerly Twitter.
Terrell suffered a groin injury in the first half against the Panthers on Sunday that will now evidently keep him out of the lineup for the foreseeable future. The former Clemson standout is the best cornerback Atlanta has on its roster, and soldiering forward without him will certainly make life difficult for the other players in that positional room, including his younger brother Avieon Terrell, whom the team drafted this past April, also out of Clemson.
The Falcons could not have gotten off to a much worse start to the new season, as the offense has looked absolutely listless with Cooper Rush at quarterback, and the defense bent and then finally broke on Sunday against Bryce Young and the Panthers.
Going on the road to face a tough Packers team in the first of three straight primetime games would certainly not appear to be a recipe to get back on track.