FLOWERY BRANCH – The Falcons plan to spruce up their pass rush took another hit when rookie outside linebacker Bralen Trice was placed on injured reserve on Sunday.
The Falcons have been in the market since the trading deadline looking for players to help with the pass rush. Trice, who was selected in the third round of the draft out of Washington, was injured late in the second quarter against the Dolphins in the exhibition opener on Friday.
“It’s always tough when you lose a rook,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said on Monday. “You lose a guy that you were about to count on on the edge, to be able to have a role and to be able to define his role and all those type of things.”
Trice came on over his career at Washington. He redshirted as a freshman in 2019 and opted out of the 2020 season.
Trice, 6-foot-3, and 274 pounds, returned in 2021 and played in 12 games and made two starts. He came on strong in 2022 with 12 tackles for losses and nine sacks. Last season, he was named a first-team All-American (Pro Football Focus) and was first-team All-Pac 12 after making 11.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks.
He was drafted by the Falcons with the 74th overall pick.
Trice had a clear path to playing in the outside linebacker rotation and possibly to the starting lineup.
“But he was defining a real role for us where he was a guy that can play on first and second down,” Morris said. “He brought some pass rush and some of those things. Now, you’ve got to find it elsewhere.”
Defensive end James Smith-Williams, who has been a reserve with the Commanders with seven career sacks, will get a closer look and that first/second down role.
“JSW goes out there and gives us nice first-down reps,” Morris said. “You’ve got AK (Arnold Ebiketie) that goes out there and gives you nice third-down reps. Now, you’ve got to get it from somewhere else where you were expecting this guy to really ascend and do some really good things for you.”
Lorenzo Carter, Bradlee Anae and DeAngelo Malone are the other outside linebackers on the roster. Carter has been working with the first-team defense.
Anae, who played at Utah, was a fifth-round pick by the Cowboys in 2020. He has also spent time with the Jets.
Malone, who was a third-round pick in the 2022, got some work at inside linebacker last season. Malone, who played at Cedar Grove and Western Kentucky, is a better fit for the Falcons’ 3-4 defense.
The drafting of Trice was the Falcons’ answer to those who thought they should have taken a pass-rusher with the eighth overall pick in the draft. Instead, the Falcons drafted quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who is set to sit behind Kirk Cousins.
The two top pass rushers in the draft were available with the eighth pick. However, UCLA defensive end Laitu Latu went to the Colts with the 15th pick and Alabama’s Dallas Turner went to Minnesota with the 17th overall pick.
The Falcons tried to sign edge rusher and four-time Pro Bowler Danielle Hunter in free agency, but he signed a two-year $49 million deal with the Texans.
Last season at the trade deadline, the Falcons were in the mix for Montez Sweat, the former Stephenson High standout, but Washington traded him to Chicago.
So now, the Falcons will have to look on the roster for help.
“But I don’t like losing people at all, particularly when it’s a rookie that really was a nice pick,” Morris said. “He was doing a great job and doing some really good things for us out there on the football field.”
Also, safety DeMarcco Hellams will miss some significant time with an ankle injury.
“So, we’ll see what that means, but he’ll be out for a little bit,” Morris said.
Hellams ended last season as a starter and was working with the second team defense.
“The biggest thing we’ve got to do is see who’s going to be that next guy,” Falcons assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray said. “We always talk about next man up. Who’s stepping up? That’s what we are looking for. Who’s going to step up and be that next guy until we get DeMarcco back.”
Micah Abernathy was the fourth safety last season. He turned into one of the dependable special teams players and is indeed the next man up on the team’s depth chart.
“This league is so physical, you are going to lose some guys along the way,” Gray said. “Can the young guys that are after him step up and make plays. If they can, that’s only going to make us better. If you can’t, you’re going to make us worse.”
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