FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Midway through the third quarter of Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears, rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels made a seemingly routine tackle.
He knifed through a pair of Bears offensive linemen, who had set up in front of tight end Colston Loveland on a screen play, and chopped the ball carrier down with a diving tackle. Quickly after the play concluded it became apparent that Daniels was injured. He was attended to by Falcons trainers, and the entire team left the sideline to gather around him as a stretcher was brought out for him.
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Daniels was carted off the field and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for further evaluation. After the game, Daniels returned to Mercedes-Benz Stadium and was briefly seen walking through the locker room on his own with trainers nearby.
On Monday, head coach Kevin Stefanski said the initial testing on Daniels was positive.
"All positive news on Kendal Daniels," he said. "He's here, back in the building today. He got back from the hospital to the locker room last evening after the game, which I think you guys may have saw. Feel very very fortunate that he got the treatment he got, but also that we feel really good about where he is."
Daniels has been a standout defender for the Falcons in his first NFL season. The fourth-round draft pick and former college safety has drawn praise from the coaching staff, particularly defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, for his "unique" ability to quickly learn different roles this early in his career.
Among first-year linebackers, Daniels ranks fourth with 22 solo tackles and is tied for third with three tackles for a loss. Daniels has shown a knack for tracking down screen passes and disrupting them before they can fully develop.
While the initial reports on Daniels have been positive, Stefanski said it was too soon to determine his status for Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers.
"I have no updates on Kendal for this game, or really anybody yet. Still working through imaging and those types of things on a bunch of guys, but we'll work through that this week."
Immerse yourself in the subtle drama of the Falcons-Bears meetup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium with our monochrome snapshots from Week 6.
