The Atlanta Falcons are relatively healthy going into their Week 7 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, but they are down a few key defensive players at the moment.
According to The Athletic's Josh Kendall, Falcons linebacker Divine Deablo and cornerback Billy Bowman were not seen at Thursday's practice. Both players were out on Wednesday as well, and at this point, it seems unlikely that either will play in Sunday's game in Atlanta.
Deablo suffered a forearm injury in the Falcons' loss to the Chicago Bears and did not return. The green-dot wearer would be a huge loss against a potent 49ers offense in Week 7.
As for Bowman, he went down during last week's matchup against the Bears with a hamstring injury. The second-year cornerback missed a big
chunk of last season due to an Achilles tear but returned to the lineup a few weeks ago.
If Deablo can't go on Sunday, the Falcons will look for Kendal Daniels to wear the green-dot. The rookie suffered a scary neck injury last weekend, but he appears to be good to go for Week 7.
Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said he has total confidence in Daniels to take over as the defensive leader against the 49ers, per ESPN's Marc Raimondi.
"He takes a lot of pride in getting everybody on the same page," Ulbrich said of Daniels filling in for Deablo.
Ulbrich said he's completely comfortable with LB Kendal Daniels wearing the green dot. "He takes a lot of pride in getting everybody on the same page." #Falcons
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) October 22, 2026
On the bright side, the Falcons secondary could get two key members back against the 49ers. Cornerback A.J. Terrell returned to practice and was a full participant. C.J. Henderson also returned to practice after sitting out in Week 6.
If one or both of the Falcons' cornerbacks are out there on Sunday, it will greatly improve the team's chances of slowing down Mike Evans, Christian McCaffrey and the rest of the 49ers' offense.
Check back on Thursday afternoon for the latest news and full injury report for this Week 7 matchup in Atlanta. Sunday's game starts at 1 p.m. ET.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons missing two key defensive players at Thursday's practice
