Atlanta Falcons’ Roddy White: ‘You get nothing out of exhibition games’
Saturday night went about as poorly for the Atlanta Falcons as anyone could imagine. The Falcons were defeated by the Houston Texans 32-7 and received devastating news following the game. Starting left tackle Sam Baker was diagnosed with a torn right patellar tendon. The injury is going to cost him his entire season just a year after he was limited to four games last season.
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Baker’s injury was a big reason the Falcons had a poor season in 2013. After the game, veteran wide receiver Roddy White voiced his displeasure with the preseason.
“Nothing,” White told reporters after the game via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “You get nothing out of exhibition games except for a lot of peoples conditioning, what shape they are in, and if they are able to go 60 plays or not. You learn how far your young guys have to go, grasping concepts and things you want them to do, but other than that the veterans go out and play. Everybody just tries to get through this thing and try to stay healthy as possible and make it to game one. Like today, our left tackle got hurt and we don’t know if he is going to be ready for the season or not. It’s stuff like that, that tells you a lot about these games. I know you can get hurt at practice but playing unmeaningful games and getting your left tackle hurt, I just don’t know. I don’t know what you judge from these preseason games. I’m not a fan about them, but we have to play them.”
White is obviously disappointed but for a veteran like him, the preseason really doesn’t serve much of a purpose.
White also battled injuries last year, missing the first three games of his career. He made 63 catches for 711 yards and three touchdowns last season.