Injury Update on Atlanta Falcons Drake London

ATLANTA, Ga – The Atlanta Falcons fell to 0-1 on the season after losing 23-20 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1. Making matters significantly worse, the Falcons also picked up a bit of worrying news after wide receiver Drake London left the game early. 

London came down hard on his shoulder late in the game on an incomplete pass in the end zone. The play appeared to be a touchdown, but it was ruled incomplete and subsequently upheld. After the play, he appeared to be in some pain and never returned to the game. 

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris did not have an update after the game, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport was able to provide the latest report on the status. 

According to Rapoport’s sources, London suffered a shoulder sprain and will be considered “day-to-day” as of now. He will undergo more tests in the coming days, but initial news should be considered “good” for the Falcons’ top wide receiver. 

The health of London is critical to the success of the Falcons’ offense this season, especially given the lingering injury concerns for Darnell Mooney. London is the preferred target for quarterback Michael Penix Jr, and the second-year signal caller targeted him 15 times on Sunday. He reeled in eight of those passes for 55 yards. 

The heavy target share is consistent with what we saw from these two in the final three games of the 2024 season after Penix took over. London pulled in 22 of his 39 targets for 352 yards and two touchdowns. After the instant connection these two showed, it was reasonable to expect more of that this season. 

This is an evolving story, and more updates are going to come out later this week, but this is a good report for London’s status moving forward. This is especially true with their Week 2 opponent being another tough Minnesota Vikings team on Sunday Night Football.