The Falcons have designated defensive end Steven Means for return from injured reserve, per a club announcement. Means will be eligible to practice with the Falcons starting Tuesday and return to action anytime in the next 21 days.
Means, 31, originally caught on with the Falcons in September 2018. Since then, he’s re-upped twice and started in 23 of his 32 games for Atlanta. This year, he was first-string at outside linebacker through eight games, up until he suffered a knee injury.
Fortunately for him, this was a less serious injury than the Achilles tear that cost him all of 2019. Now that he’s healthy, he’ll look to reprise his mostly solid work from 2020, which included 38 total stops and three sacks.
Once Means is back, he should resume his starting job with support from Ade Ogundeji and James Vaughters. He’ll also look to improve on his first half work – through his eight games, Pro Football Focus had him ranked near the bottom of all qualified edge defenders.
To make room for Means, the Falcons have waived cornerback Chris Williamson.
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