Falcons starting linebacker Sean Weatherspoon will miss the entire 2014 season after rupturing his Achilles at OTA’s. Weatherspoon was held out of drills at OTA’s for the second straight season while he recovered from his arthoscopic knee surgery. During his rehabilitation the 2009 first round pick was running with the training staff when the injury occurred. During the 2011 and 2012 seasons, Weatherspoon recorded 210 tackles in 29 total games. Injuries sidelined the 26-year-old last season and he saw action in just seven games.
When it comes to defensive communication, the middle level handles a large part of this responsibility and “Spoon” was without question the vocal leader of the defense. The only thing to be content with in this situation is that the Falcons dealt with this and navigated through it last year. The linebacking corps got hit hard with injuries and Weatherspoon, Akeem Dent and Stephen Nicholas’ injuries thrusted undrafted rookie free-agents Joplo Bartu and Paul Worrilow into the starting roles. The duo adapted quickly and showed maturity beyond their years both physically and mentally.
Worrilow finished tied for 12th in the NFL last season with 127 total tackles while leading all rookies in the category. He finished as one of the Leagues top tacklers despite not seeing significant action until the fifth week of the season. Bartu finished second on the team in tackles with 86.
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