The Falcons made a roster move Tuesday to sure up the depth chart in the wake of a season-ending injury to defensive back Brian Williams
Tuesday the team signed free agent safety Jamaal Fudge and placed Williams on the injured reserve list. Fudge originally joined the team just before the start of the 2008 season. He was released on Sept. 7 of this year.
Fudge played in 10 games in 2008, recording 12 tackles and one start. He also stepped in for an injured Lawyer Milloy in Week 4 at Carolina.
For his career, Fudge has 27 tackles (21 solo), one interception, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and two passes defensed.
In his Monday press conference, Head Coach Mike Smith said the team would make a move to sure up the secondary. He also talked about three cornerbacks currently on the roster — including former first-round pick Tye Hill — that will get a chance to fill in for Williams.
The situation is slightly more complicated because Williams started on the outside in the team’s base defense and moved to the nickel, or third, cornerback position on passing downs.
“This will be an opportunity for Tye Hill, as well as I mentioned for Chris Owens and Chevis Jackson,” Smith said. “Tye had not gone through our [offseason team activities] and really had not gone through training camp. He was a late addition, very similar to last year with Domonique Foxworth, so there is a learning curve and Tye has been working very, very diligently to learn our defense and he’s going to get an opportunity this week to step in and compete for that corner position.”
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48 Comments
Atlanta just can’t get a break. The cornerback situation is right back where it was last year before Foxworth. This was a huge blow to any serious playoff contention. At this point I just hope we at least have a winning season (back to back). One more key injury and you can kiss that hope goodbye also.
So much for these trainers that supposedly have reduced injuries with new methods.
The Falcons are hurting.
COME ON GUYS…..YOU’RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE. INJURIES ARE APART OF THE GAME AND ALL TEAMS HAVE THEM. WE ARE NO EXCEPTION TO THE RULE!
Good move. With William Moore hurt, we probably need the safety depth more than we need it for corners right now. Here’s hoping Jackson, Hill and Owens can step up in a big way!
@michael mcintosh
so true,injuries are going to happen, no sense in crying about it there are no one-man teams in the nfl. just trust your coaching staff and your front office to continue putting their best 45 men out there each sunday. sure b.w.29 will be missed especially in our young secondary but in some cases injuries are how some young players get their chance to become stars. question is, who will step up???????
Looking for a good cornerback look no more, we have one right here in Atlanta “Adam Jones”
@Kushion: Those trainers are there to prevent new injuries, not recurring and/or dumb injuries.
By dumb injuries I mean like an O/D-lineman rolling into your knee. No amount of training/diet can help that. Recurring injuries naturally reoccur if they’re not fully healed. I don’t think Moore is ready to play yet and he wants to get out there so bad he’s rushing it a bit.
Kushion, you do not make any sense. Tye, Chevis, and Chris are pros evne if they do not perfrom as well as Brian they will still fill in. One injury does not take our playoff hopes out of the picture and saying that is quite frankly dumb. Just like when Jerry went down the Falcons actually figured out a way to almost it seems like make it better with moving Jamal to the middle and having Kroy step up on the end. Since then the rushing D has been great. the opposing quarterbacks were the rush leaders in the last 2 games. So let the pros do what pros can do and it will work out.
@Michael Mcintosh
Well maybe it’s that you have a hard time with reading comprehension. We all realize injuries are a part of the game but that doesn’t mean there not suppose to hurt the teams chances of winning Einstein.
will be allright tye will fill in real good. he wasn t a frist round pick for nothing, tye is a play maker
@Powerglide
Powerglide you sound like an idiot to me. When Brady went down did that hurt the Patriots chances??? If Ryan goes down will that hurt the Falcons chances?? If you think 2nd and 3rd string players are just as good as 1st string you are the dumb one.
@Powerglide
Powerglide you sound like an idiot to me. When Brady went down did that hurt the Patriots chances??? If Ryan goes down will that hurt the Falcons chances?? If you think 2nd and 3rd string players are just as good as 1st string you are the dumb one.
@ anthony
lol adam pacman jones is a hell of an athlete but i think his nfl career is pretty much over. but i agree we could use his speed and agressiveness. but if i can remember correctly tye hill was a similar player jus alot smarter off the field. i hope tye’s injury hasnt affected his play too much……… so he can show stl hes worth way more a 7th rounder
Come on…Fudge, really?? ATL lost it’s tallest back ( and i’m laughing now because Williams is only 5′11″ and you go out and re-sign Fudge who’s 5′9 on paper,m so he’s really more like 5′8 1/2…..So now this week you have to cover Miles Austin who’s like 6′3 and then in NO w/ Colston being 6′4……Ants among men!
im not to thrilled with the lack there of the way the falcons did nothing much today for rthe trade deadline to bring anybody in to help us out ya know??
john clayton was right again nothing big happened today i believe atlanta will still pick up a free agent cb for a little reassurance and depth
Kushion I did not say that it would not hurt, but I gave a good example about how outcomes can be in a major injury. I also did not say the back ups were as good as Brian but I said they were pros and can fill in. If you want to just say well screw it its over then you must not know to much about pro football, some of the biggest stars have came from opportunities of a hurt player.
Oh and walt Thomas Decoud is our tallest back at like 6-1 or 6-2 something like that
Sorry walt I meant jeresyfalcon
Waste of space.Fudge ain’t s—-t!
@ rodney davis
atlantas secondary all together sucks! i cant find not 1 bright spot!
decoud= c
coleman= c+
houston= e- (yes i meant 2 put an e, you’ll get da joke later)
jackson= c-
hill=c+
owens=f
harris=f(a+ special teams player tho)
fudge=f-(hell he was cut 4 a reason dont resign him!!!!!)
williams=ir
if my ratings r wrong please correct me!!!!!!!!
i will put my support in Jamal Fudge but i was hoping for a more aggressive move,i think the fact that he’s familiar with the system and can start immediately should make up for a bigger name that may take a few weeks to get comfortable in the system!
@powerglide
Well your problem obviously in how you comprehend what you read. Did I say screw the season?? Will guys fill in…sure they have no choice. Will they be just as good…probability and statistics says they will not. Name 10 stars that have come from opportunities of hurt players.
Man, with all the injuries, I hope the Falcons can still make me proud this weekend here in Dallas where I live. I will be at the game at Cowboy’s stadium along with several other loyal Falcon’s fans – representin’ GA! I was hurt when Brooking signed with the Cowboys….
@Kushion
This injury the trainers couldn’t even prevent it was a torn acl that happened when Williams landed and his knee buckled. The trainers can only help prevent muscle pulls and strains and tears but things such as ligaments and joints, there really not as easy to prevent.
@kushion
1 james harrison pit
2 miles austin dal
3 ryan grant gb
4 darren sproles sd
5 matt cassel kc
6 earnest graham tb
7 mathais kiwanuka nyg
8 kyle orton den
9 pierre thomas no
10 kurt warner!!!! ari
* it happens all the time dummy!!!!
The Falcons shut down the Bears in the closing seconds of the Sunday night game without Williams. Pressure up front makes great corners just like great protection make great quarters.
DeCoud had 2 INT Sunday. Where’s the problem?
Injuries happen to all teams….this mess we are in, is bcause of over-confidence falcons’ management felt about thier drafting abilities…..Getting ride of 5 vetran starters, and replacing them with Draft picks ??…..then patck work of left-over, over played, 30+ defensive players…….
Thomas Dimitroph waisted 2009 season ,due to his arrogance.
Can Jamaal Fudge or William Moore play corner? Do they have any experience?
I think we will do just a fine job without Brian Williams. Think about this, the people who placed our defense to do pittyful this year without some of our star players from last year are now believers in how decent our defense is playing this year. I honestly believe our defense is going to grow stronger from our lose of our key players. Tye Hill is just going to have to play better than what we traded for and Chevis Jackson is going to have to MAN up. Everybody please give Chris Houston a break he is still working on becoming the corner he once was. We should all appreciate what he has done, think about it if we had a slow corner that had even worst covering abilities. Things in the defense will get worse before they become better and thats a true story. Go Falcons!
@ Barry Kishi
you are an idiot… are defense is better than last year plus we are much faster on defense… the starters this year are better like mike peterson is better than brooking
u forgot grimes it give him a b but yeah da defense is betta lofton is becomin a good leader of da defense but why would we get a lil DB come on man get mike mckenzie or adam jones we want a super bowl this year
everybody needs to chill out. you guys are giving up on the falcons to to soon, the season is not over. i know the defense is not great but they can get through it. our defense wasnt that good last year either. we are gonna have a winning season and the team is gonna get better every year. the defense is young give them time and they will come through. but dont give up on the team as a whole. and dont worry about the saints and colston, when the time comes to play them the couches will figure out how to slow down drew brees and the saints. oh btw adam jones is not a good fit in atlanta. hes good but no.
That is what Fudge is for. He plays that position.@DaveTF
Sad to see Williams gone but when he gets heathly next year I sure do want him to come back a sign a longterm deal cause he’s the real deal.
@waltanthony7
Waltanthony you must be gay or at least a lover of men I said stars girlfriend not wannabe. Come on Graham is 3rd string you idiot and Austin Miles is not a star and Crayton did not get hurt for him to get a chance. Harrison got his chance when Porter was let go you Dufus. Now roll over and tap powerglide and tell him he’s gonna be late for work.
In any case Kushion these players still stepped up when they needed to you make no sense, you do not even know what you are arguing about, you said our playoff hope are loss now that Brian is hurt and that is still a dumb comment. If you have watched football for as long as you prolly think you have or know anything about people can step up and do good things in crappy situations.
how do you go from talking football to talking about homosexuality and man loving? maybe kushion is the real FAG!
i think jackson or hill will step up and br our next corner. all we have seen from moore is that he cant stay healthy. i would rather stay with anybody we have rather than sign a wanna-be-thug like pacman jones
The way some of you are acting is like we just lost a game and are out of playoff contention. Hill and Jackson will step up. Owens and Fudge will fill in just fine. We are going to be okay.
There’s no reason to hit the PANIC BUTTON for the FALCONS. Everyone of the players in the NFL are professionals and are here because they can play at the NFL level. Some players get better with every game and you see a side of their great playing you didn’t before because they never had this chance before. Make no mistake, the injury bug is all a part of the NFL, remember the teams the FALCONS are playing have key injuries also. No reason to lose faith in this FALCONS TEAM.
Great point!!
Hey either you are a Falcon or Not stop the crying this is going to be a Great year.Falcons over Cowboys 30-24
Cornerback is a big glaring weakness. With this defensive backfield,
it is not clear how they could approach coverage of the New Orleans
Receivers. Chances of winning in Dallas are much better. The grading
system set up by Rodney Davis is accurate. The only exception is
Houston. Is there a lower grade to give Houston?
Injuries and the talk of injuries is a good topic of conversation and interesting as it pertains to the outcome of a game, but what is interesting to me is how Cowboy fans are talking about beating the Falcons to legitimize their team. There was a time when that would have been reversed. My, have the Falcons come far and also how the mighty have fallen.
Man i dont know what this article was put up for. J fudge is like the sorriest best player on the practice squad. I see now that theyre just desperate at this point. Now all the opposing teams know that if they can stop m turner on d, then they can expose our secondary when they get the ball..period. It happens week n and week out.I thought maybe theyre talented and just undersized. No these corners in particular defends nobody well. I say put about 3-4 guys in a package deal for a 1veteran beacause thats about all they size up to b, one real cornerback. Rookies on defense can let u down at anytime. too bad for the falcons its more often than any other teams rookie class. Get Rid of them T Dimitroff, i dont know why we keep getn these mediocre HOustonHallBuchananGrimes Sized defensive backs. Thats not a good look for us.