Falcons’ Jalon Walker leaves practice on cart after apparent injury

The Falcons’ medical staff helped Walker to his feet and assisted him over to the cart, where his teammates approached and embraced him before he left the field.

The team huddled together after Walker left and the practice ended immediately.

“The end of practice is definitely not what you want to see,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said. “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. But at the end of the day, I’m no doctor. I’m no medical guy, so I can’t say what’s going on or what’s not, what’s not going on.

“So, from there, I would say all we can do is pray for Jay, and with our fingers crossed, hope that he’s going to be OK and he can play with us this season.”

Walker, a first-round pick in 2025, had 5½ sacks as a rookie and projects as a starter on the Falcons’ defense.

Defensive tackle Maason Smith was on the other side of the line of scrimmage when Walker went down and therefore didn’t see the play, but he extended well-wishes toward his teammate.

“My thoughts and my prayers go out to Jalon,” Smith said. “I’ve had to endure those type of injuries before, man, and you don’t wish that on nobody. So, not knowing what happened, just prayers up and sending him positivity.”