The Atlanta Falcons have showed a significant lack of depth so far in the 2012 NFL preseason, and one of the positions they were thinnest in just got a little thinner, as the team announced that backup offensive tackle Will Svitek is out of the season with an upper arm injury.
This is a huge blow for the Falcons, in that Svitek was not only your insurance policy for starting left tackle Sam Baker, but he was also the only tackle able to handle either the right or left side and who could also back up Tyson Clabo.
When you come into a season focusing on improving the offensive line more than any other part of the team, any season-ending injury is a major story. This now puts additional pressure (as if there wasn’t already a ton) on Baker to both perform and stay healthy this season.
Atlanta now may have to go outside the organization to find another backup tackle to go along with rookies Bryce Harris and Lamar Holmes. It may also mean that Garrett Reynolds, who has been starting at the right guard position, may have to move back to playing tackle, turning the guard position over to rookie Peter Konz.
Svitek has logged six seasons in the NFL, the last three being with Atlanta. He appeared in 16 games for the Falcons in 2011 and was the starter in 10 of them. Since 2009, Svitek has appeared in 45 games for Atlanta with 12 starts.
Svitek began his career with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played in a total of 16 games and made two starts.
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