ATLANTA — Atlanta Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke was a surprise addition to the injury report on Wednesday following his physical play in a win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Heinicke practiced but was listed as limited with an ankle injury that is not expected to threaten his status for Sunday’s game at the Chicago Bears.
Heinicke delivered an effective block on Colts cornerback JuJu Brents before being run over by running back Bijan Robinson in last Sunday’s 29-10 win. On another play, the quarterback crashed into the kicking net on the Atlanta sideline following a run.
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The physical side of Heinicke’s play after taking over the starting job from Desmond Ridder was an afterthought. The more important contribution from Heinicke was his steady play while throwing for 229 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.
Even so, he fielded questions on Wednesday about the block and sideline crash.
“The blocking experiment was different,” Heinicke said. “I wasn’t anticipating doing that on Sunday, but it was fun. I didn’t get to see the clip until after the game and I didn’t know I put him on his butt so that was pleasing and Bijan ran me over, so that was good.”
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Heinicke said he chose to run into the net so he could avoid contact with a water cooler.
“I saw the big Gatorade cooler there and I saw the net, so I just dived into the net instead of taking on the cooler,” he said.
Heinicke completed 23 of 33 passes with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Pitts as the Falcons (7-8) protected their still-slim playoff hopes.
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