FLOWERY BRANCH — After missing three games with a high ankle sprain, Falcons wide receiver Russell Gage made his first start of the season against the Dolphins and quickly paid dividends.
Gage broke free for a 49-yard touchdown reception Sunday, the longest catch of his career, to help the Falcons improve to 3-3 on the season with a 30-28 road victory. He plans to continue to help spark the offense when the Falcons host the Carolina Panthers (3-4) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“It felt great,” Gage said. “I actually just felt great being out there with my team. Seeing those boys play for weeks, kind of battling, battling and grinding it out. It felt good to get out there and grind with them.”
Gage was targeted six times and caught four passes for 67 yards. He entered the game with five catches for 28 yards after having a breakout season in 2020.
“Yeah, I think it was great for us,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. “You know, Russ is a good player. He showed up big on the touchdown pass.”
The Falcons expect Gage to continue to add some life to the offense.
“I think getting back into the rhythm was good for him, too,” Ryan said. “He was out for an extended period of time, and it’s hard when you’re not in the rhythm week in and week out, but I thought he did a nice job for us. He came up with a big play right out of the half. And you know, I only see that kind of picking up for us as we keep going.”
Olamide Zaccheaus started in Gage’s place.
“The only thing 100% in the NFL is that you’re going to be dealing with injuries,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said when asked about Gage. “If they are going to be active on game day, we have high expectations.”
Gage, who was drafted in the sixth round (194th overall) in 2018, caught 72 of 109 targets (66.1%) for 786 yards and four touchdowns last season. He had a whopping 50 first downs and averaged 49.1 yards receiving per game.
Gage suffered the high ankle sprain in the second game of the season against Tampa Bay. In his return against the Dolphins, his ankle felt fine.
“Not one bit,” Gage said when asked if he was thinking about the injury. “The trainers did a great job.”
Gage kept trying to play on the high ankle sprain against the Bucs before eventually leaving the game.
“I’m not sure if I aggravated it more,” Gage said. “I didn’t know the severity of the injury. I never had a high ankle sprain. I just thought I’d tweaked my ankle and that if I ran a little bit, I’d kind of run it or walk it off or whatever.”
As the game went on and Gage started to limp, he figured out he couldn’t play anymore.
“It didn’t hit me until the doctor told me,” Gage said. “I was already planning on how I was going to come back for (the next) week. The rehab and everything, how early I was going to get up to come in. Then he kind of explained it to me that high ankle (sprains) take a little minute to heal and that it was a possibility that I was out for weeks.”
Gage did some research on high ankle sprains and consulted with other receivers on the team who’d had them before.
“I thought it was the grade of the ankle sprain,” Gage said. “I didn’t know it was the location of the ankle sprain. I really knew nothing about a high ankle sprain.”
After missing games against the Giants, Washington and the Jets, Gage had the bye week to recover. He was back on the field Oct. 18, the Monday after the bye week.
“You definitely have to get right mentally,” Gage said. “You have to feel good from the shoulders up. The rest of it is getting back into the feel.”
Gage had a shaky initial practice.
“I was slipping a couple of times on Monday because I hadn’t legitimately ran routes in about three or four weeks,” Gage said. “That was really the biggest part. Once I understood that I’m good, I’m ready to go then I was back into it. By Wednesday I was ready to go.”
On the Falcons’ third play of the second half Sunday, Gage got open deep to help the Falcons take a 20-7 lead.
“It was a great ball,” Gage said. “Matt put it up field. Originally, I was thinking that maybe we were going to go more was across the field. He threw it up field and let it rip.”
Gage did a great job of tracking the pass.
“The ball kind of hit me in the helmet a little bit,” Gage said. “I fell to make sure I secured the catch.”
The Falcons couldn’t put the Dolphins away and eventually lost the lead, 28-27, but got a game-winning field goal to pull out the victory at the buzzer.
“That win was huge,” Gage said. “It put us at .500. We’ve been hitting on all cylinders. We know how important that game was going into Carolina, with it being a divisional game. It was a big win for us. We know that.”
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Next Four Games
Panthers at Falcons, 1 p.m., Sunday, October 31
Falcons at Saints, 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 7
Falcons at Cowboys, 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14
Patriots at Falcons, 8:20 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18
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