Falcons’ Neal to miss rest of season with knee injury

The Atlanta Falcons will look at their current roster to replace Keanu Neal, the safety who will miss the remainder of the season after tearing a ligament in his left knee Thursday night in an 18-12 opening loss at Philadelphia.

Coach Dan Quinn said Friday he and general manager Thomas Dimitroff discussed outside options that could include free agent Pro Bowl safety Eric Reid.

“We have talked about that,” Quinn said when asked specifically about Reid.

Quinn didn’t rule out looking to acquire help in the future, but he said the first option would be a combination of Damontae Kazee, who replaced Neal in the game, and Jordan Richards, a safety who was acquired from the New England Patriots on Aug. 31.

“We’d like to go in-house first,” Quinn said. “The reason is the presence of Jordan and the emergence of Kazee. We’ll go down that road first. Then they’ll definitely be, when you put a player down for the year on IR, there will be some opportunities that we could look at as well. But from a starting standpoint look in-house first.”

The loss of Neal, a leader on the defense who was selected to his first Pro Bowl in 2017, is a major blow to the Atlanta defense.

“It’s very disappointing,” defensive end Takkarist McKinley said following a team meeting on Friday. “He is a leader on this team, our best player. Losing him, someone else has got to step up. We’ve all got to step up.”

Friday’s news was especially devastating because the initial diagnosis of the Falcons medical staff, which Quinn relayed to reporters following the game, was the injury wasn’t believed to be serious. The team learned Friday Neal had torn his anterior cruciate ligament.

“You can imagine he was certainly heartbroken,” said Quinn of Neal. “... It was a tough, emotional day.”

The injury news added more shock to a Falcons locker room reeling from another close loss to the Eagles. After being stopped on the goal line in a playoff loss in Philadelphia last season, the Falcons again were denied on five plays in the red zone to end the game. Then came Friday’s news that Neal was lost for the season.

Neal hurt his knee in the first half, returned in the second half and then left the game for good.

Quinn said he didn’t think Neal aggravated the injury by returning to the game.

Reid, 26, knelt beside San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick on the sideline during national anthems in the 2016 season to protest social injustice. Reid continued his protest in 2017. He filed a collusion grievance against the NFL in May after he was not signed as a free agent last offseason.

The NFLPA has filed a grievance on Reid’s behalf.

Reid started 69 of 70 games with 10 career interceptions and remained unsigned despite attracting interest from Cincinnati and Tennessee. CHARGERS’ BOSA TO MISS OPENER >> Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa will miss the opener against Kansas City after reinjuring his left foot.

Coach Anthony Lynn said that Bosa’s first foot injury had healed but that he suffered a new injury during Wednesday’s practice. Bosa first injured the foot on Aug. 7 during training camp and missed the preseason.

Bosa led the team last season in tackles (54) and sacks (12.5) while being second in tackles for loss (17.5) and quarterback hits (22).

With Bosa’s injury, the Chargers will be without two starters on their defensive line. Defensive tackle Corey Liuget is serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

GIANTS’ VERNON OUT FOR OPENER >> The New York Giants will be without their best pass rusher for the season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Coach Pat Shurmur announced that linebacker/ defensive end Olivier Vernon will miss Sunday’s game at MetLife Stadium with an ankle injury. Fellow linebacker Tae Davis also was listed as out with a hamstring injury. Neither player practiced this week. RAVENS KICKER RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL >> The rookie Baltimore Ravens kicker injured in an apparent assault was released from the hospital, and is expected to cooperate with police.

Team spokesman Kevin Bryne told The Baltimore Sun on Thursday that Kaare Vedvik suffered a bruise to the back of his head and significant facial injuries.