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Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons will be without their defensive captain and unquestioned leader for the rest of the season after Grady Jarrett suffered a torn ACL in the first series of Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titanssources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday.
Jarrett suffered the injury on the fourth play of the game — a third-down stop where he briefly was down and then hobbled off the field. He was in the blue injury tent behind the bench for several minutes before walking with doctors and trainers to the locker room.
He reemerged in the second half, on the bench and in street clothes.
Jarrett, 30, has been the one constant for Atlanta’s defense as change has cycled through that side of the ball in the shift from Dan Quinn to Arthur Smith three years ago. He’s one of two defensive players, along with A.J. Terrell, to be with the Falcons since 2020.
He has been a commanding presence in the middle of the defense, starting every game since the beginning of the 2019 season, when he made the first of his two Pro Bowls. Since being drafted in 2015 by his hometown Falcons in the fifth round, Jarrett has played in 135 games, with 120 starts.
He has 443 tackles, 68 tackles for loss and 34 sacks in his career.
Jarrett’s loss will be felt from a leadership perspective, but it might not change the structure of what Atlanta does defensively.
“He’s a leader in this locker room,” safety Jessie Bates III said Sunday. “But his voice will still be out there. We’ll be all right.”
Jarrett has been part of a starting defensive line rotation alongside Calais Campbell and David Onyemata in a two-line strategy employed by coordinator Ryan Nielsen, which has seen a second unit come in at points in an attempt to keep the defensive line fresh.
“Foundationally, how we run the defense in general, I don’t think it’ll change much,” defensive lineman Ta’Quon Graham told ESPN on Sunday. “I think maybe small details here and there that might come from him.
“I think it is going to be the next man up mentality if he happens to be out or whatever the case may be, I think the next person will step up and fill in as best as they can.”
Atlanta had LaCale London take the majority of Jarrett’s snaps following the injury with the first unit. The Falcons have a deep defensive line group — besides Campbell, Onyemata and London, they could turn to Graham, Joe Gaziano and Albert Huggins Jr.
Timmy Hornewho started five games last season, is currently on Atlanta’s practice squad.
