Atlanta Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon will miss the entire 2014 season after rupturing his Achilles tendon on Tuesday.
Weatherspoon suffered the injury while running with the team’s medical staff. He was not participating in the teams organized team activities because he’s still recovering from a foot injury from last year. The ruptured Achilles tendon isn’t the only injury that Weatherspoon has suffered in recent years. In August he had a dislocated finger on his left hand and in 2012 he missed three games due to a foot injury, according to CBS Sports.
"During Sean's run today with our medical staff, he suffered an injury," Falcons coach Mike Smith said in a statement. "We sent Sean to the doctor for some additional testing and evaluation and unfortunately the results showed that he ruptured his Achilles tendon. Sean had been working extremely hard to get back on the field, but regrettably he will miss the entire 2014 season. He will have a procedure done in the near future and we expect him to make a full recovery."
The loss of Weatherspoon is a big loss for the Falcons. The Falcons were 4-12 last year and had to deal with a lot of injuries. In his first four seasons in the NFL Weatherspoon has eight sacks and two interceptions, according to the Associated Press. He has only played a full season once, mostly because of injuries. His only full season was in 2011 where he had 80 tackles and a career-high four sacks.
Weatherspoon’s injury last year made the Falcons rely on rookies Joplo Bartu and Paul Worrilow. However they might not have to rely on them as much this year as they drafted four linebackers in this year’s draft. Prince Shembo, Marquis Spruill, Yawin Smallwood, and Tyler Starr were the four linebackers that the Falcons drafted.