FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — What started off as a milestone day for the Atlanta Falcons ended on a sour note with a key player injured during training camp on Tuesday.
Jalon Walker, the second-year defensive edge out of the University of Georgia, went down with a leg injury. He had to be carted off the field.
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The fear is that he has a torn ACL and will miss the entire season. Further testing will be done to confirm the injury.
Walker was the No. 15 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. He had a fantastic rookie season, finishing the year with 5.5 sacks.
After practice, Channel 2 Action News spoke with a few of Walker’s teammates, who took a knee and prayed for his health after he went down.
“My thoughts and my prayers go out to Jalon,” tackle Maason Smith said. “I’ve have to endure those type of injuries before, man, and you don’t wish that on nobody. So, you, know, not knowing what happened, you know, just prayers up to and sending him positivity.”
“At the end of practice, definitely not what you wanna see. But as a football team, the guys that play football and have been playing football from a young age, we understand that injuries come with the game,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said.
Falcons players Harold Perkins… Maason Smith and Tua Tagovailoa on seeing their teammate Jalon Walker carted off the field 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/U9fWobFqwf
— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) August 4, 2026
Tuesday had started off with some good news for the Falcons franchise. They signed running back Bijan Robinson to a 3-year, $75 million contract extension. Robinson is now the highest-paid running back in NFL history.
The Falcons will return for training camp on Wednesday. Channel 2 Action News will bring you the latest information on Walker’s injury as we get it.
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