Falcons 'Going To Be Safe' With OL Matt Hennessy

Atlanta Falcons offensive lineman Matt Hennessy missed significant time with a knee injury in 2022.

Matt Hennessy's opportunity to win a starting job on the Atlanta Falcons' offensive line has taken a hit. 

A leg injury has kept the fourth-year offensive lineman out since Friday, and he got an MRI on Saturday, with the results being positive. Even with the positive diagnosis for Hennessy, Falcons head coach Arthur Smith said the team will take their time with the former third-round pick out of Temple even though he's in an open competition at training camp.

“We’re just going to see day to day," Smith said. "[I’m] kind of stating the obvious, when you’re dealing with something that’s recurring, you know, we go day to day. We’ll just treat it and see how the week goes. A lot of times, guys get other opinions, but we’re just going to be safe with it and see where it goes...Matt’s trying to win a job. But we got to be smart, he’s got to make the best decision and we have to do what’s right for the team.”

Hennessy appeared in 11 games in 2022, three of which he started. A knee injury in week nine against the Los Angeles Chargers forced him to go on the injured reserve, and he returned after missing six games. 

PFF graded Hennessy a 75.4 in 2022.

With Hennessy out, rookie offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron would seemingly get more reps, though Smith made it known the Syracuse product will have to earn his role. Bergeron was taken in the second round by Atlanta in the 2023 NFL Draft.

"We give every guy on this roster a chance to go earn a job and if a guy who was a college free agent is the best player, he should start," Smith said. "You obviously invest in guys early because there’s an expectation, but that’s not fair to the team." 

Bergeron has had a chance to go up against two of the Falcons' best defensive linemen, Grady Jarrett and David Onyemata. With those reps, Smith said he hopes Bergeron will progress quickly. 

"You obviously appreciate the fact that we can get Bergeron a lot of reps and we roll guys in there but the majority of them are David [Onyemata] and Grady [Jarrett] and that, hopefully, accelerates his growth." 

Atlanta donned pads for the first time on Monday at training camp, so if Hennessy returns this week, his prospects to win a starting job won't take too much of a hit. Though, even with Hennessy's return seemingly being near, he may have some ground to make up to catch up to Bergeron. 

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