The Atlanta Falcons loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 8 became even more devastating on Monday morning. Tests confirmed that All-Pro defensive lineman Grady Jarrett suffered an ACL tear, ending his 2023 season before November.
Jarrett suffered the knee injury in the first half and was first listed as questionable to return. Coming out of the halftime break, however, Atlanta announced that Jarrett wouldn’t return due to a knee injury.
- Grady Jarrett stats 2023: 16 pressures, 8 QB hits, 1.5 sacks
One of the highest-paid NFL players along the defensive line, Jarrett was midway through his sixth season with Atlanta. From 2018’22, he earned two Pro Bowl selections and was named second-team All-Pro in 2019. While his production never matched some of the best interior defensive linemen in football, Jarrett often took on more double-teams than anyone and was tasked with being the Falcons’ pass rush on a thin roster.
Related: NFL stadium rankings
All of that changed in 2023 when Atlanta signed Calais Campbell and David Onyemata. The Falcons’ defense started showing significant improvement, but it all unraveled Sunday after Garrett’s injury.
As first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Jarrett was diagnosed with a torn ACL. The Pro Bowl defensive lineman will miss the remainder of the season, but it shouldn’t jeopardize his availability for Week 1 in 2024.
For a defense that was already struggling to generate consistent pressure on quarterbacks and record sacks, Grady’s absence will have a devastating impact on Atlanta.
How the Grady Jarrett injury impacts the Atlanta Falcons defense
Entering NFL games today, the Atlanta Falcons did have the fourth-highest pressure rate (25.6%) in the NFL and it came on the 10th-lowest blitz rate (19.9%) in the league. Jarrett played a massive role in that.
ESPN‘s metrics graded Jarrett as one of the most effective interior pass rushers in football. He boasted a stellar 13 percent pass-rush win rate, accounting for a significant number of Atlanta’s pressures this year.
Of course, it’s about more than just pressures. ESPN also tracked Jarrett as being double-teamed on 75 percent of his pas-rushing snaps, which is the highest in the NFL. Grady’s mere presence created one-on-one situations for the Falcons’ edge rushers and blitzers to take advantage of each week.
All of that is now gone. Grady’s season-ending injury will force LaCale London and Albert Huggins into much larger roles. Considering Jarrett played 62 percent of Atlanta’s defensive snaps this season, it leaves a massive void that likely can’t be filled.