There is still plenty of time left before Sunday Night Football (8:30, NBC) pits the Patriots (3-0) at the Falcons (1-2) but the injury report still came out at the same time as usual this afternoon.
In addition, New England also made a roster move as they somewhat surprisingly released cornerback Marquice Cole who had been dealing with a hamstring injury. I wouldn't be shocked to see him back soon when he's healthy since he sees playing time in nickel and dime packages plus he's on all the special teams.
As for who will or won't play at the Georgia Dome, the three names on all Patriots' fans minds are Rob Gronkowski (back/forearm), Danny Amendola (groin) and Sebastian Vollmer (foot). They are all questionable but it sounds like Amendola won't play; Gronk is slowing getting better and Vollmer missed practice on Tuesday and Wednesday but returned in a limited capacity today.
The other questionable Patriots are Kyle Arrington (groin), Nate Ebner (ankle), Will Svitek (knee) and Leon Washington (knee). Special teams ace Matthew Slater (wrist) has already been ruled out but you knew that if you read my blog post from last week.
For Atlanta, running back Steven Jackson (hamstring) is still out while four other marquee guys are questionable: wide receivers Julio Jones (knee) and Roddy White (ankle) along with former Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel (thigh).
The annoying part of the late kickoff, besides its conflict with great television shows (Boardwalk Empire, Bar Rescue and Breaking Bad to name a few), we also have to listen to basically another full day of injury speculation regarding Amendola and Gronk. Ugh, I can't wait to have them back on the field so we can stop hearing vague speculation from every NFL reporter with a Twitter account.
UPDATE 9/29: Patriots inactives are Steve Beauharnais, Slater, Amendola, Gronkowski, Jake Bequette, Chris Barker and Washington. Falcons inactives are Samuel, safety Kemal Ishmael, Jackson, linebacker Jamar Chaney, guard Harland Gunn, tackle Ryan Schrader and defensive tackle Travian Robertson.
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