Falcons' Samson Ebukam, Zachariah Branch Out for Madrid Game vs. Bengals With Hamstring Injuries
Kevin Stefanski ruled out a key edge rusher and his rookie return man for Week 9 and wouldn't say how long either will be sidelined
The Falcons will head to Spain short two contributors. Kevin Stefanski said Monday that defensive end Samson Ebukam and rookie receiver Zachariah Branch both have hamstring injuries and won't play Sunday against the Bengals in Madrid.
Stefanski didn't put a timeline on either one. "Not sure, long term, how many games those types of injuries will be, but we'll obviously treat those and then see how it goes over the next couple of weeks," he said, according to the team's Will McFadden.
Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski says WR Zachariah Branch and DE Samson Ebukam have hamstring injuries that will keep them out of the Week 9 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.View on X →
Will McFadden (@willmcfadden): Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski says WR Zachariah Branch and DE Samson Ebukam have hamstring injuries that will keep them out of the Week 9 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ebukam is the bigger loss for the defense. Signed this offseason, which reunited him with Nate Ollie from their time together in Indianapolis, the ninth-year veteran has been a regular in the line rotation, with 2.5 sacks and 15 pressures per Next Gen Stats. That's fifth among Falcons defenders.
Branch, a third-round pick, has mostly been a complementary piece on offense, with 10 catches for 64 yards. His bigger job has been on special teams: he's returned 14 kickoffs for 360 yards and eight punts for 83 yards. He left Sunday's game early after a kickoff return and didn't come back, so Atlanta will need a new returner.
The timing isn't great. The Falcons are 3-5 after a 16-0 loss to the Buccaneers in a downpour, a game in which Tampa Bay ran for 324 yards and Atlanta went 0-for-12 on third down. A defense that just got pushed around on the ground now loses a veteran edge, and it has to deal with a Bengals offense that put up 43 points on Sunday behind Joe Burrow's 462 passing yards. Cincinnati has its own pass-rush injury, with rookie Cashius Howell likely headed to IR after wrist surgery. The Falcons will put out their first injury report of the week on Wednesday.