Atlanta Falcons left tackle Sam Baker suffered a right knee injury in the second quarter of the team's 32-7 preseason loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday night. Reports say he ruptured his patella tendon, which likely means he will miss the 2014 NFL season.
With Baker out, the Falcons could turn to this year's sixth overall pick Jake Matthews, who is currently the starting right tackle. Matthews is meant to play LT later on his career, but it looks like the development will start early if Atlanta plans to use him at that spot now.
Matthews, though, is up to the challenge.
"I'll do it," he said. "That's what they drafted me for: to come here and play wherever. And something I take a lot of pride in is my versatility and being able to play on either side. If they ask me to move over, I'll be happy to do it."
Matthews also commented about Baker.
"I don't really know what happened, but he was definitely one of the vocal leaders and leaders of the offensive line. The guy has been around doing it for a long time. He's definitely one of the crucial pieces of the offensive line."
Falcons head coach Mike Smith will evaluate whether or not he should start Matthews at LT or not.
"We would have a number of options," Smith said. "Again, our No. 1 goal would be to put the five best offensive linemen out there. We obviously know that he is one of the five best because he is a starter. Is he our best left tackle, our best option? That is something that we will have to determine if we have to address that."
