Falcons place edge-rusher Dante Fowler on IR with knee injury

Dante Fowler will be sidelined into November. The Falcons placed the veteran edge-rusher on injured reserve Friday, knocking him out for at least the next three games.

The former top-five pick went down with a knee injury during Atlanta’s win in London in Week 5 and has not recovered, leading to the Falcons ruling him out for Week 7 after their bye. After not practicing this week, Fowler will be down until at least Week 10.

Despite missing his entire rookie season after tearing an ACL during the Jaguars’ rookie minicamp, Fowler has been durable over the past five-plus seasons. His only notable absence came last season, when a positive COVID-19 test led to two missed games.

Thus far in his second Falcons season, Fowler has two sacks and three quarterback hits. Fowler signed a three-year, $48M deal with the Falcons in 2020 but accepted a pay reduction this offseason, rather than ending up a cap casualty in a buyer’s market. The contract adjustment has Fowler on track to hit free agency again in 2022, which will certainly make the second half of this season pivotal for the 27-year-old sack artist.