Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews wasn’t on the team’s injury report this week, but there’s some doubt about whether he’ll be in the lineup for Thursday night’s game against the Panthers.
Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media reports that Matthews flew back to Atlanta from Charlotte on Thursday because his wife went into labor. The hope was that Matthews would be there for the birth of their child and that he would then return in time to play for the Falcons.
Wolfe said he spoke to Falcons head coach Arthur Smith this afternoon and that the baby had not arrived yet, but that the team is still hopeful that Matthews will be back in time.
Matthews missed one game as a rookie in 2014 and, including the postseason, he has started 141 straight games for Atlanta. Chuma Edoga and Germain Ifedi are the backup tackles for Atlanta.