Few things can cut the legs out from under a young season like an injury to a team’s star player. For so long, Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett has been a stalwart in the trenches and the best player on this defense.
Even if the latter is no longer true with the arrival of safety Jessie Bates III, it would be silly to understate Jarrett’s impact. He ranked third on the team in pressures and led Atlanta in batted passes, despite missing all but four snaps in Week 8’s loss to the Tennessee Titans.
That absence was at the hands of an ACL injury, ending Jarrett’s age-30 season and putting a dent in the Falcons’ playoff aspirations.
Defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen spoke about the injury and Jarrett’s focus in the week since.
“Hate it for him. Hate it for him,” Nielsen said. “He’s a great person. He cares so much about this team. Great leader. He’s got the whole package, and he’s done it at such a high level for so long.”
Jarrett has spent the entirety of his nine-year career with Atlanta, who drafted him in the fifth round in 2015. He’s logged 38 career sacks, per Pro Football Focus, and has earned both Pro Bowl and Second-Team All-Pro honors as a Falcon. He’s a significant veteran presence and, for the first time in years, it seemed like Atlanta’s defense was playing as well as he was.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing left to do but channel this season’s energy into his recovery efforts. According to Nielsen, Jarrett’s perspective on the injury is appropriate and a testament to what he’s become—everything is about helping the team, even if he can no longer do so in 2023.
“His mind is alright about, ‘Hey, I’m going to get this taken care of. I’m going to come back. I’m going to attack the rehab process, and I’m going to come back better than before,’” Nielsen added. “So, you love that response and how his mind is right now. He’s definitely thinking the right way.”
The Falcons have an out after this season, opening the possibility that they take on $8 million in dead cap instead of paying him $15 million for the next two seasons, one of which will be directly after an ACL recovery.
Nielsen isn’t pulling the levers within the Atlanta front office, but by the sounds of it, Jarrett’s place in the middle of the Falcons defensive line is safe.
“He’ll be back shortly,” Nielsen said. “We’ll get him back and you’ll see, hopefully – and he will, not hopefully, he will come back – and he’ll be better than he was when he left this year.”
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