{"id":491716,"date":"2026-01-04T12:24:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T12:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491716\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T12:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T12:24:22","slug":"falcons-update-week-18-game-status-for-5-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491716\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcons update Week 18 game status for 5 players"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. \u2014 The Atlanta Falcons updated the game status of multiple players Saturday in advance of their regular-season finale against the New Orleans Saints.<\/p>\n<p>First, punter Trenton Gill was chosen as the Falcons&#8217; Week 18 standard practice squad elevation. Gill was <a class=\"nfl-o-cta--link nfl-o-cta--underline\" style=\"word-break: break-word\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atlantafalcons.com\/news\/falcons-mike-hughes-injured-reserve-sign-khalid-kareem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">signed to the practice squad<\/a> Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Since he was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2022 with a seventh-round pick, Gill has punted in 42 games. He was the Bears&#8217; full-time punter during his first two seasons in the league, averaging 46.1 yards per boot and pinning 28.6% of them within the 20-yard line. He then spent last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, appearing in eight games with a 43.3-yard punt average and 33.3% success rate inside the 20. Gill has yet to punt in the 2025 season.<\/p>\n<p>Then, the Falcons added cornerback A.J. Terrell Jr., defensive lineman Ruke Orhorhoro and long snapper Liam McCullough to Sunday&#8217;s game status report as questionable with an illness. All three had otherwise fully participated in practice all week.<\/p>\n<p>And finally, the Falcons downgraded safety DeMarcco Hellams and defensive lineman Sam Roberts from questionable to out on the game status report. Both are within their 21-day window, having recently been designated to return from injured reserve. Hellams was <a class=\"nfl-o-cta--link nfl-o-cta--underline\" style=\"word-break: break-word\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atlantafalcons.com\/news\/demarcco-hellams-designated-to-return-injured-reserve-week-18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">designated earlier this week<\/a>, attempting to come back from a hamstring injury. Roberts was <a class=\"nfl-o-cta--link nfl-o-cta--underline\" style=\"word-break: break-word\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TerrinWaack\/status\/2004653928571646372?s=20\" target=\"_blank\">designated last week<\/a>, trying to return from knee and ankle injuries.<\/p>\n<p>The Falcons&#8217; game status report now looks as such:<\/p>\n<p>\n  Questionable<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>WR Darnell Mooney (knee)<\/li>\n<li>WR Drake London (knee)<\/li>\n<li>TE Kyle Pitts Sr. (knee)<\/li>\n<li>CB A.J. Terrell Jr. (illness)<\/li>\n<li>DL Ruke Orhorhoro (illness)<\/li>\n<li>LS Liam McCullough (illness)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n  Doubtful<\/p>\n<p>\n  Out<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>CB Clark Phillips III (triceps \/ illness)<\/li>\n<li>DL Brandon Dorlus (hamstring)<\/li>\n<li>S DeMarcco Hellams (hamstring)<\/li>\n<li>DL Sam Roberts (knee \/ ankle)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Falcons-Saints game is scheduled to kick off Sunday at 1 p.m. ET inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. FOX will carry live-game coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. \u2014 The Atlanta Falcons updated the game status of multiple players Saturday in advance of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":491717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[168150,221607,221606,221609,50,221604,221605,221608,62,59808,1650,221610,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-491716","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-a-j-terrell","9":"tag-demarcco-hellams","10":"tag-liam-mccullough","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints-at-atlanta-falcons-2025-reg-18","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-practice-squad-elevation","14":"tag-ruke-orhorhoro","15":"tag-sam-roberts","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-terrin-waack","18":"tag-transactions","19":"tag-trenton-gill","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115836817694758285","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}