Falcons vs. Patriots: Inactives & Injuries

The Atlanta Falcons will be missing one of their best offensive weapons on Thursday night.

The Atlanta Falcons have ruled out running back Cordarrelle Patterson for Thursday night's game against the New England Patriots. 

Patterson, along with wide receiver Christian Blake, cornerback Kendall Sheffield, safety Jaylinn Hawkins, and defensive linemen John Cominsky, Marlon Davidson and Tyeler Davison, will be inactive in Week 11.

Patterson was limited in practice this week due to an ankle injury. Coach Arthur Smith labeled him a game-time decision Wednesday. Although his status improved from doubtful to questionable during the week, he will not play.

The loss of Patterson is enormous, as he does a lot more than just touch the ball out of the backfield. Patterson also plays wide receiver and has a major role on special teams as both a returner and cover man.

Patterson leads the Falcons in several key offensive categories, including yards from scrimmage, offensive touches, yards per touch and touchdowns. He is averaging 116 yards from scrimmage per game and has scored seven touchdowns. No other Falcons weapon has more than four.

Without Patterson, Atlanta will have to rely on Mike Davis and Wayne Gallman in the backfield. The Falcons also still don't have wide receiver Calvin Ridley and lost tight end Hayden Hurst to injured reserve Thursday. 

Tight end Kyle Pitts leads the Falcons with 606 receiving yards, but after him, Atlanta's leading receiver on the field Thursday will be Olamide Zaccheaus, who has 194 receiving yards this year.

Atlanta is trying to bounce back after suffering a terrible blowout loss, 43-3, against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Patriots are aiming to win their fifth straight. New England defeated Cleveland, 45-7, on Sunday.

This will be just the second time the Falcons face the Patriots since the two teams met in Super Bowl LI. Obviously, that was a game to forget for Atlanta, as New England erased a 28-3 deficit to win in overtime.

Including that Super Bowl meeting, the Patriots have won six straight against the Falcons. Tom Brady started all six of those contests for New England behind center. Thursday night will be the first time the Falcons square off against rookie quarterback Mac Jones.

The 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Jones will be making his 11th career start. That means this is the fourth time in the first 11 weeks of the 2021 season that the Falcons have faced a quarterback who has made 10 or fewer starts in his career. 

The Falcons are 1-2 against those inexperienced signal callers going into Thursday night, having only beaten Zach Wilson and the New York Jets.

The last time Atlanta beat New England was Nov. 1998. Jones was two months old, and Brady was still playing at Michigan. In their last meeting, the Patriots defeated the Falcons, 23-7, in 2017.

As one could guess, Matt Ryan is winless in his career against the Patriots with an 0-4 record including the Super Bowl. Ryan has 853 passing yards with three touchdowns and one interception in three regular season games versus New England.