In case you missed the list... the Falcons trimmed the roster ahead of tomorrow's deadline by placing Marquis Spruill and Mike Johnson on IR, Zeke Motta and Drew Davis on PUP (the regular season list, not the preseason version - meaning they're now out for six weeks), and releasing Theo Agnew, Brendan Daley, Darin Drakeford, Devonta Glover-Wright, Julian Jones (that's Julian, not Julio), Jeff Mathews, Walker May, Jerome Smith, Tramaine Thompson, and Brian Wozniak. The only surprise at all is that Mike Johnson's injury is obviously worse than it first seemed. He came in as a tackle eligible (an ideal role for him) on a short yardage play. He did well, locking in on his man and driving him way back off the line of scrimmage. But traffic coming from his left side knocked him over, and traffic from his right side then fell across his legs. He got up and walked off the field on his own, limping but not requiring assistance. He didn't return to the game. Apparently he knew he was in trouble, as he was visibly frustrated on the sideline - throwing his helmet to the ground. That was the end of his night - and possibly his Falcons career, as he'll be a free agent again next offseason. The sad thing is that if he had NOT blocked so well, he would not have been in that position. No good deed goes unpunished. One item to note... this may not be the last we see of undrafted quarterback prospect Jeff Mathews. Keep in mind that last year, the team also released Seth Doege early and later signed him to the practice squad. The circumstances were different then, as we were unexpectedly short a quarterback after the injury to Sean Renfree. But Renfree is making a real strong case for himself as the potential #2 quarterback, while newly acquired T.J. Yates is struggling badly. There are two scenarios for Mathews returning. One would be that if Renfree beats out Yates for the backup role, there would be a practice squad opening. The other is that if the team goes with Yates and releases Renfree to put him on the practice squad, he might get plucked off waivers or signed by some other team from our practice squad. I don't anticipate any of the others returning.
I wish they would have given Mathews more reps, I wanted to see what he could d o with more pt. I also like the receiver nicknamed ansterdame. I am pulling for him.
I'm not entirely sure we've seen the last of Jeff Mathews. We cut Seth Doege early last year, and he ended up on the practice squad. Now, that admittedly happened because of the late injury to Renfree, and I'm not counting on that happening again this year. But there are two scenarios that I see that could easily lead to Mathews landing one of the ten (yes TEN) practice squad spots this year. 1) T.J. Yates has been awful in the last two preseason games, while Renfree has been far, far better. The team traded for Yates because the coaching staff felt we needed at least some experience in the backup role, and Dominique Davis had only one brief appearance in mop-up time (and was banged up and unable to finish that game). So all other things being relatively close to equal, the coaches would likely go with Yates. BUT... if tonight is like the previous two games, they might opt to go with quality rather than experience. Renfree is showing good progress. He sometimes gets a little antsy, but that's understandable since he usually has the second/third string line protecting him. For the most part, he's making good decisions. My take is that he has shown enough skill to manage a game as a backup. One more good game for him combined with another subpar performance for Yates, and Renfree may get the nod as the #2. And in that case, he won't be the #3 on the practice squad as originally projected. That leaves the door open for Mathews to return as the practice squad/scout team QB. 2) I hope this doesn't happen, but it just might... Suppose that Renfree has another strong performance tonight but the team opts to start the year with him on the practice squad. Never mind getting plucked from the squad. There would be a decent chance that he wouldn't even clear waivers. (That's the same thing that happened with William Middleton in 2009 - the first time. He was later released and we brought him back, but he was then signed off of our practice squad.) So if we ended up losing Renfree to another team, we'd be looking for someone else for that #3 role. Mathews would be the most likely choice. As for Boldewijn (aka "Amsterdam"), I'm projecting him to make the practice squad but not the roster. He has great size, decent speed and agility, and has shown solid progress throughout camp. The drawback on him is lack of experience, just like with OT prospect Ryan Schraeder. His steady progress should be enough to convince the coaching staff to keep him around. A roster spot would be a big stretch though - figure five or six WRs, with Roddy, Julio, Harry, and Hester locked into those top four spots. Then figure Weems or Roby for a fifth spot (I'd go with Weems). Reedy hasn't been used much the last two weeks, which is strange, but he was really impressive in minicamp, training camp, Friday Night Lights, the joint practice sessions, and the first exhibition game. So if there's a sixth WR, Reedy is right there in the mix with Amsterdam. My guess: if there's a sixth WR on the roster, it's Reedy with Boldewijn (and possibly Ebert) on the practice squad. If they keep only five, both Ebert and Boldewijn make the practice squad.
