The Green Bay Packers will open Lambeau Field on Thursday night against an Atlanta Falcons team already searching for answers at 0-2. One of those answers just got harder for the Falcons.
Atlanta placed starting cornerback A.J. Terrell on injured reserve with a groin injury suffered in Sunday’s 34-3 loss to Carolina (per NFL insider Tom Pelissero), which means the Falcons’ highest-paid defensive back will miss at least four games, beginning with this short-week trip to Wisconsin.
No one around the Packers should take any satisfaction in that. Injuries are part of the league, and Terrell has been one of its more reliable cover men since Atlanta drafted him in the first round in 2020.
He has started every regular-season game he has played, and last year the Falcons committed $81 million over four years to keep him. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has called him the best boundary corner in the NFL.
That kind of player does not come off the field without changing how an opposing offense plans the week.
But for Green Bay, the change still matters. Jordan Love and the Packers passing game have been uneven through two weeks. Love threw for 387 yards in the opener at Minnesota, then managed only 145 in a sloppy, rain-soaked overtime win at the Jets.
Christian Watson has three touchdowns already and remains the vertical threat who can punish a corner who is a step late.
Matthew Golden is taking on a larger outside role. Jayden Reed’s status after a neck injury Sunday only tightens the need for those two to win individual matchups.
Terrell was the Falcons’ best chance to take one of those away on the boundary. C.J. Henderson and Mike Hughes are capable veterans, and Avieon Terrell can slide outside, but none of them has the same résumé or the same investment from the organization.
Thursday’s game is already a difficult assignment for Atlanta. The Falcons are coming off a home blowout, traveling on a short week, and have shuffled at quarterback. Lambeau in late September is a loud place even when the home team is 1-1 and still sorting itself out.
Removing the corner Atlanta paid like a cornerstone simply widens the window for Love to attack the edges and for Watson to work down the sideline.
The Packers still have to execute. Protection has to hold, the run game has to keep Atlanta honest, and Love has to be sharper than he was against New York. None of that is guaranteed.
What is guaranteed is that Green Bay will not see the Falcons’ best cover man on the perimeter.
That is not something to celebrate at another player’s expense. It is simply a real, practical break on a night when the Packers need every edge they can find.
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