Falcons defensive end Takk McKinley suffered a shoulder injury Sunday against the 49ers and will miss the final two games of the season, coach Dan Quinn said on Monday.
“We’ll miss his toughness and physicality for sure,” Quinn said of McKinley.
McKinley, a first-round pick from UCLA in 2017, has started 13 of 14 games this season and had 3.5 sacks and 13 quarterback hits. Allen Bailey, who missed the 49ers game while away from team for personal reasons, will be back at defensive end for Sunday’s home finale against Jacksonville.
Rookie defensive end/tackle John Cominsky was inactive against the 49ers. He’s recovered from an ankle injury and he will play more outside over the final two games.
“He played in the first seven and half games,” Quinn said. “He got injured early (against Seattle). I want to see the versatility. We’ll play him some at nickel defensive tackle and in our base package at defensive end.
“He’s been backing up (Allen) Bailey in the same role through the first half of the season. But we’ll feature him a little bit more outside over these next couple of games. He certainly has the speed to do that and his ankle has finally turned the corner where he’s able to do the things that we’ll need him to do.”
Defensive end Jacob Tuioti-Mariner picked up McKinley’s snaps against the 49ers and finished with four tackles. He played 23 defensive snaps (36 percent).
“I thought he responded well and had his best game so far,” Quinn said.
McKinley, who’s had surgery on both shoulders since being drafted, has played in 45 games and made 21 starts. He has 16.5 career sacks and 38 quarterback hits.
His shoulders were a major concern leading into the 2017 draft as he had surgery that March.
Also, the Falcons gave up a third-round and a seventh-round pick to Seattle to move up five spots from 31st to 26th to draft McKinley.
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