Evan Royster

Hamstring injuries left the Falcons without three of their running backs in recent days, leading the team to sign Evan Royster in order to have enough healthy bodies to get them through practice.

They may not need Royster to fill that role for too much longer, however. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman both suited up for Monday’s practice and multiple reports from Falcons practice had them taking part in individual drills while sitting out the team portions of the workout.

Assuming neither player hits any snags in their recovery, both Freeman and Coleman should be back into those drills without much more delay. Antone Smith, who is also battling a hamstring injury, remained out of practice on Monday which left Terron Ward running with the first team once again.

Coleman and Freeman are competing for the team’s starting running back job, although it wouldn’t come as a great surprise if they both wind up with sizable roles on offense in Atlanta this season, the story said.