Roddy White may start for the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday against the St. Louis Rams in order to keep his streak of 129 consecutive starts alive, but the wide receiver is likely to have little impact once again. White has been suffering from a high ankle sprain acquired during the preseason. He was a non-factor in the loss to the New Orleans Saints. The Falcons may have quality sitting behind him on the depth chart, but they are considered free agent options just in case.
League sources report the Falcons have worked out Lavelle Hawkins, Mohamed Massaquoi and Courtney Roby to make up for the injury. The Falcons have Julio Jones who is more than capable to be the leading receiver in place of White. Harry Douglas is a productive No. 2 who has only benefited from seeing increased targets during the game. Behind those two things get a little dicey. Drew Davis had a strong preseason but has little experience. Kevin Cone is average.
None of the free agents who tried out have ever been overwhelmingly great in the league, but could serve as good depth for the team. Hawkins has 771 career receiving yards. Massaquoi underwhelmed with the Browns and was most recently released by the Jets. Roby is a former Saints player with 332 yards.
The Falcons making a move to sign a free agent could mean the team is considering moving White to injured reserve if his ankle sprain shows little sign of improving. He would be out for at least eight weeks depending on what the Falcons do. So far, the training staff is keeping White cleared to play.
The Falcons understand just how important it is to have White on the field. Without him, Jones was constantly double teamed and Gonzalez struggled to make an impact as well.
"I wasn't my usual self. But you go out there and play as much as possible and try to help your team win. But it will be maybe a few more weeks before I can go out there and be myself. But no excuses. We just came up short today." White said, via the Ledger-Enquirer. "We had a package going in. They wanted me in certain areas to do certain things so that they couldn't just bracket guys. That's what we did."
As of now, it is unknown whether or not White will be on the field for the team's game against the Rams. The Falcons have spare salary cap space, so signing a veteran would not be difficult.