South Atlanta News

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Jakeem Grant was the last receiver to line up for his rep in the red zone during the Falcons' one-on-one period Monday. He had been a Falcon for 16 hours in total after Atlanta announced his signing Sunday afternoon.

As he took his stance, A.J. Terrell jogged out to be his opposition.

When the ball was snapped, Grant burst off the line of scrimmage as Terrell stepped forward, welcoming the contact of the much smaller receiver. The contact never materialized, though, as Grant staggered his movement, threw Terrell off his pursuit and slid past the corner untouched. Terrell couldn't change his direction in time. With ease, and with Terrell nowhere close, Michael Penix Jr. tossed an uncontested pass into Grant's waiting arms. All Terrell could do was shrug; the small and speedy receiver won the rep fair and square, even coaches looking on laughed and clapped at the sight.

However, as memorable as this moment was, it was all anyone really got to see of the recent signing Monday. Grant participated in individual and position drills to start practice but spent team periods on the sideline. He looked on as the first-team offense went through their jog-throughs, chatted with Drake London and Darnell Mooney when the second-team offense took their turn, and perused the call sheet with wide receiver coach Ike Hilliard between sessions.

The Falcons did not want to rush him into team activities right off the bat considering he had been with them for less than 24 hours. Still, it was obvious by his build, speed, and skill set whose role Grant could take on: Rondale Moore's.

Moore was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury after the Falcons' second joint practice with Miami last week. This is a blow to the wide receiver corps as Moore was expected to play a rotational role in the slot and be key in return games. Once news of a season-ending knee injury was confirmed, the Falcons' front office worked quickly to find a replacement—enter Grant.

"Jakeem Grant [is] quick [and] fast," Morris said. "... Really fired up about adding people. These guys (in the front office) are continuing to turn over the bottom of the roster at all times and they do a great job of doing it."

The best thing observed Monday wasn't necessarily that Atlanta acquired Grant or that he had a nice one-on-one rep; it was seeing efforts being made to fill voids created by injuries.

The last week has been costly for Atlanta: Moore, Bralen Trice, and Harrison Hand were all placed on injured reserve with knee injuries while DeMarcco Hellams is expected to be out for "a significant period of time" with an ankle injury. These injuries create important holes for depth purposes that need filling either by current players or new additions.

Monday's activities indicated that Atlanta isn't resting during this challenging time.

In fact, it's been heavily reported—first by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport—that Atlanta will host Justin Simmons Monday and Tuesday. The Pro Bowl safety is considered one of—if not—the best free agents available. According to Over The Cap data from Monday, Atlanta has just over $3.5 million in available cap space for 2024.

This report follows Sunday's flurry of roster moves including signing Grant.

It's clear that Atlanta is actively making calls and decisions necessary to compensate for losing three potential starters—and this effort is just beginning.

"I definitely can see some things happening over the next couple of weeks," Morris concluded.

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