Falcons DT Coleman likely to miss 2-4 weeks has 0 comments

Sep 8th 2007, 13:19 | FFN-Score: 1 points

Atlanta, GA --- Defensive tackle Rod Coleman, the Atlanta Falcons' star who leads all NFL interior linemen in sacks over the past five seasons, underwent Friday morning arthroscopic surgery to clean out debris from his right knee and will miss the first 2-4 weeks of the regular season.

The Falcons had hoped to have Coleman back for Sunday's opener at Minnesota, at least for spot duty and in passing situations, after he missed much of training camp and the preseason while rehabilitating from offseason surgery to repair a ruptured right quadriceps. The quad tear was sustained in a jet-ski accident in April on draft weekend.

The latest problem involving Coleman's knee was discovered during a Thursday exam to determine the status of his recovery from the quadriceps injury, Coleman's representatives said. Atlanta officials have taken a cautionary approach with Coleman, and when he recently cited discomfort in his knee, the surgery was prescribed.

"It's a situation where last week he felt good, he felt good the first two days on most everything he did, but for one movement," coach Bobby Petrino told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday. "There was a little chip there and they had to get that out."

Losing their best interior player is the latest blow to an Atlanta defense that has suffered through a difficult offseason.

Coleman, 31, will be replaced in the lineup by two-year veteran Jonathan Babineaux, who has started seven games in his career. But replacing Coleman, a cat-quick, one-gap "under" tackle who can compress the pocket from the inside, will be a difficult task, because the eight-year veteran possesses a rare skills-set.

With his rehabilitation from the quadriceps injury, and coming off a 2006 season in which he was slowed by a toe injury, Coleman only began practicing two weeks ago. He had not had much contact work since the end of last season.

Since joining the Falcons as an unrestricted free agent in 2004, Coleman has 28 sacks in 44 games, including 11½ in 2004 and 10½ in 2005. He earned a Pro Bowl berth in 2005.

The former East Carolina star, chosen by Oakland in the fifth round in 1999, played the first five seasons of his career with the Raiders before departing in free agency. For his career, Coleman has 281 tackles, 56½ sacks, nine forced fumbles, three recoveries, one interception and 26 pass deflections. He has led NFL tackles in sacks in three different seasons.

He had played in 104 games and started 65 of them.