Falcons’ Jessie Bates III Wins NFL ‘Player of Week’ Award

Falcons safety Jessie Bates III has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 1 - no surprise to anyone who watched his work.

We’re betting that inside Atlanta Falcons headquarters, the happy Tuesday news is about the least surprising thing going on in the NFL right now.

Atlanta defensive back Jessie Bates III has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for 2023 Week 1, the NFL announced … because of course he has.

In his Falcons debut following his big-money signing via free agency in this offseason, Bates did everything he could to justify the transaction.

He finished with 10 total tackles, two interceptions, two passes defensed and one forced fumble in Atlanta’s Week 1 win over Carolina. 

The Falcons offense featuring rookie sensation Bijan Robinson and company was good enough. But that unit scored 17 points off all three of Bates’ takeaways as the Falcons went on to win, 24-10 over the Carolina Panthers to launch into the season with a 1-0 start.

In the victory, Bates achieved a milestone of sorts as he became only the second player since 2000 to record double-digit tackles, two interceptions and one forced fumble in a game.

Additionally, Bates - who came over from the AFC and the Cincinnati Bengals - also became the first Falcon to record multiple interceptions in a season opener since Bobby Butler did so here in 1984.

This marks the first Defensive Player of the Week award of Bates’ career, but given his track record and his start to his career with the Falcons? It may not be the only accolade he gathers in this NFL season.