Falcons Get Right Tackle Jawaan Taylor Back, and the Timing Couldn’t Be Better
Atlanta finally has a clean bill of health along its starting offensive line. The Falcons activated right tackle Jawaan Taylor off the active/PUP list on Monday, according to the team’s official transaction report, clearing the way for the presumptive Week 1 starter to finally practice with the first unit.
Taylor opened camp on PUP with a lingering elbow and triceps injury that also cost him the final five games of his 2025 season in Kansas City. He signed a one-year deal with Atlanta in April to replace Kaleb McGary, who retired unexpectedly this offseason, and the Falcons have been playing Wanya Morris at right tackle in the meantime.
Why the Falcons Needed This Break
This is a roster that’s had a rough camp. Rookie linebacker Jalon Walker tore his ACL, Michael Penix Jr. isn’t expected back from injury for the start of the season, and starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has dealt with an undisclosed issue of his own. Getting a starting offensive lineman back healthy, even one who spent most of the summer sidelined, is the kind of low-drama good news this team hasn’t had much of.
Taylor isn’t just a body at right tackle, either. At 6-foot-5 and 312 pounds, he’s a scheme fit for offensive line coach Bill Callahan’s zone-and-gap run system, and he’s started 100-plus games between Jacksonville and Kansas City. If he’s healthy, he’s a clear upgrade over what the Falcons were running out there in his absence.
The Real Question Now
Activation off PUP doesn’t mean full participation. Taylor is expected to be brought along carefully rather than thrown into every rep this week — a standard approach for a lineman who missed nearly the entire offseason program. The version of Taylor that shows up in Week 1 matters more than the one that shows up in his first padded practice back.
That’s really the swing factor for Atlanta’s season. This isn’t a team lacking talent at the skill positions — Bijan Robinson and Drake London see to that. It’s a team that’s needed its offensive line and its health luck to cooperate, and for one week in August, both actually did.
The Falcons open the regular season on September 13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
