Cornerback Brent Grimes was placed on injured reserve with an Achilles injury suffered Sunday, dealing a significant blow to Atlanta’s secondary.
Grimes was designated as the Falcons’ franchise player, and will now earn his $10.3 million 2012 salary on injured reserve. He left the game against the Chiefs in the fourth quarter with what was originally deemed a calf injury.
“This morning, Brent Grimes had an MRI and it indicated that he has an Achilles tendon injury and he will be placed on the reserve-injured list this afternoon,” coach Mike Smith said Monday.
The former undrafted rookie out of tiny Shippensburg was an alternate Pro Bowl pick in 2010, and has started 44 career games with 11 interceptions.
Atlanta acquired veteran Asante Samuel in the offseason to play in the nickel package, and the veteran ballhawk will now slide into Grimes’ starting job opposite Dunta Robinson. The biggest impact is to the nickel package, with Chris Owens and Dominique Franks, who was re-signed to the roster last week after not making the initial 53-man roster, the likely candidates.
“Brent’s made a number of plays. Since he’s been here, he’s been a cornerstone at the corner position, both left and right,” Smith said. “It’s the next-man-up mentality, and that’s how you have to approach it. We’ve got a number of guys that have play time on our roster right now, and it’s something we’ll, as a coaching staff, put together what we feel like is the best plan in terms of how we’ll configure our nickel package.”