Falcons' Raheem Morris Makes Admission on Storm Norton Injury

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris provided an update on injured offensive lineman Storm Norton on Thursday. But it wasn't very specific.

Typically, when coaches don't specify about injuries, they don't want the nature of the ailment to be public knowledge. But Morris admitted to the media that he simply didn't know the specifics of Norton's injury.

"Storm Norton is dealing with a lower body injury," Morris said. "I'm not lying, I don't even know exactly what it is. I know he's dealing with a lower body injury, and he's managing it."

While Morris didn't know exact what is ailing the veteran lineman, the Falcons head coach sounded confident Norton will be able to recover quickly.

"It's something that we know about, something that we've dealt with in the past," Morris added. "We feel really good about it, and he won't be out there in any action right now. Just kind of managing him back. Nothing significant, but something definitely that we have to manage.”

It's a bit odd that Morris would be able to know that Norton doesn't have a serious injury without actually knowing what the injury is. But that's good news if the head coach is indeed right that Norton won't miss significant time.

He just won't be ready to go Friday night when the Falcons face the Detroit Lions in Week 1 of the NFL preseason.

Norton has been with the Falcons since Atlanta signed him off the New Orleans Saints practice squad in September 2023. He has dressed for each of Atlanta's past 31 games.

During that stretch, Norton has started four contests. One of those starts was Week 4 last season versus the Saints.

Norton began his career as an undrafted free agent for the Lions. He made his NFL debut the following season for the Minnesota Vikings in 2018.

From 2020-22, he dressed for 35 contests for the Los Angeles Chargers. In 2021, he started a career-high 15 games.

Norton is a swing tackle and unlikely to play inside, but he's Atlanta's best and likely most important backup offensive lineman. Norton will be first off the bench if the Falcons suffer an injury at left tackle with Jake Matthews or right tackle with Kaleb McGary.

Last season, Norton played 127 offensive snaps and 82 snaps on special teams. He has started 22 games over his six-year NFL career.