FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – The Atlanta Falcons started their first practice Tuesday in preparation for Saturday’s NFC divisional playoff game against the Eagles without their star quarterback, Matt Ryan, and wide receiver, Julio Jones.
Ryan, the Penn Charter grad who was the NFL MVP a year ago and is a borderline Hall of Famer a decade into his career, sat out for personal reasons at the start of practice, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It was not known if he returned to practice because only the early portion of the session was open to the media.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn said before practice that Jones would sit out because of a knee injury, but he is expected to be back on the field for Wednesday’s practice.