FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- This Thanksgiving, the Falcons will start a quarterback with plenty of experience on Turkey Day.
Joey Harrington, who spent the first four years of his career with the Thanksgiving mainstay Detroit Lions, is set to play in a sixth straight holiday game.
The Falcons host the Indianapolis Colts Thursday night in the Thanksgiving nightcap.
Harrington replaced Byron Leftwich in Sunday's 31-7 loss to Tampa Bay. He'll play Thursday night because of a late injury to Leftwich, according to Head Coach Bobby Petrino.
"Byron couldn’t practice today," Petrino said Tuesday afternoon. "Joey will start the game and Byron has to see if he can get ready to be the backup. Obviously he’ll be out here tomorrow trying to do that."
Petrino said Leftwich injured his tail bone against the Bucs and required X-rays Monday morning. There's a chance he could get back on the field Wednesday but, with the short week, the coach didn't sound optimistic.
He said if Leftwich couldn't get enough reps to be the reserve signal-caller, Chris Redman would step in at No.2
"Since this is such a short week we're worrying about the Indy game right now," Petrino said when asked about a long-term starting quarterback. "We have a little break after that. We'll see how everything goes."
Harrington said he'll keep his normal focus in preparation.
"I’m just going to go play ball (and) go do what this team is asking me to do," he said. "If they want me to be the starter, I’ll be the starter. If they want me to be the backup, I’ll be the backup. It doesn’t change how I go about getting ready for this game and I’m going to be ready to play for this team."
Harrington was 16-of-20 passing for 139 yards and a late touchdown against the Buccaneers.
In his career, Harrington is 99-of-171 (57.9 percent) passing on Thanksgiving Day for 1,033 yards, three touchdowns and seven interceptions. All three of his touchdowns came last season as a member of the Miami Dolphins. Harrington led the team to a 27-10 win at Detroit.
MANNING PREP: Colts quarterback Peyton Manning's touchdown total may be down (16). His interceptions may be up (10). He may be just two weeks removed from a six interception game. But the Falcons are in no way discounting the Pro Bowler and leader of the defending Super Bowl Champions.
"We have to focus, when we get them in passing situations, on putting pressure on him," linebacker Keith Brooking said. "When he's got time to throw and set his feet -- even at times when he doesn't -- he has a great feel. He's not going to tuck the ball and run it down field and kill you that way. He buys time in the pocket.
"The timing is what's really impressive when you watch their offense. He's on the same page as his receivers."
"He has a lot of weapons," added safety Chris Crocker. "They built this team around him. He makes everybody better."
Manning threw six touchdown passes the last time the Colts played on Thanksgiving (a 41-9 win at Detroit in 2004). He also has some of the best pass catchers in the game -- Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark.
Harrison is questionable with a knee injury, but Wayne has 59 catches and six touchdowns.
Manning creates mismatches for his receivers by calling plays at the line of scrimmage and studying opposing defenses like a law student analyzes case law.
Because of the short week, the Falcons and Colts will both likely enter Thursday night's game with a stripped down game plan. That means more emphasis on individuals and attention to detail.
"The biggest thing for us is not giving away what we're doing too early because he calls his plays at the line of scrimmage," Crocker said. "It's important for us as a secondary to not show what we're doing."
INJURY UPDATE: The Falcons got some bad injury news earlier this week on defensive tackles Rod Coleman (arm) and Trey Lewis (knee). The information forced the team to place both on injured reserve Tuesday morning, thus, knocking out both starters at defensive tackle for the rest of the season.
It's the third injury this year for Coleman, who fought back from a ruptured quadricep only to have knee problems keep him out for the first five games of the 2007 season. He got increasingly more comfortable in the team's defense after his return and notched two sacks in a win at Carolina Nov. 11.
Lewis, a rookie, moved into the starting lineup after the team released Grady Jackson. He had 23 tackles an interception and a pass defensed in nine games this season.
"Trey has a knee (injury) and he'll require surgery," Petrino said Tuesday. "Rod gave us a great effort -- you can't say enough about Rod. Here's a guy that came out, practiced hard, gave great effort in every game that he played in. He's just at a point now where he needs to take the time off to make sure he doesn't injure anything else."
The injuries create depth concerns at defensive tackle. Petrino said Montavious Stanley and Jonathan Babineaux will move into the starting lineup. Recently signed Tim Anderson will be a backup despite being inactive for the past two games. The team also signed free agent defensive tackle Jesse Mahelona to ease the pressure.
INURY UPDATE TWO: The team must wait longer to see if tight end Dwayne Blakley (concussion) can play Thursday night. Petrino described his status as "doubtful." Starting left tackle Todd Weiner also missed practice Tuesday after "banging up" his knee against the Buccaneers.
Petrino said Quinn Ojinnaka and Terrance Pennington took reps with the first team Tuesday.
SHORT WEEK: The Falcons and Colts are in the midst of the shortest week in their NFL season, which presents advantages and disadvantages.
It's not ideal for fighting injuries but, when it comes to Atlanta, the small prep time offers a chance at some redemption. Sunday's loss got erased first thing Monday morning as studying began on the Colts.
"We don't have time to sit here and sulk about it because we play again on Thursday," starting center Todd McClure said. "I guess that can be seen as a positive because you get a chance to go back out on the field and erase what happened the week before."
Players and coaches alike praised the team for its focus on Tuesday despite sore muscles. The Falcons responded by shortening their week. Tuesday took on the appearance of a Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday will be more like a Friday and Thursday morning will be like a Saturday, complete with some last-minute meetings.
"It's a challenge for us," Harrington said. "There's no sense in backing down from a challenge. When you can face something head on and come out on top that makes it that much sweeter."
