The Falcons are making another move to shore up their secondary, this time by pulling cornerback Robert Longerbeam off the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad and onto their 53-man roster, according to NFL insider Mike Garafolo, who first reported the news on Tuesday.
Atlanta still has to make the transaction official once it completes the corresponding roster move, but the timing lines up with another significant change in the cornerback room. The Falcons announced that A.J.
Terrell Jr. will go on injured reserve, sidelining him for at least the next four weeks. That leaves veteran C.J.
Henderson as the main option opposite Mike Hughes, while Longerbeam gives the defense another body and some needed depth.
Longerbeam, 25, spent five seasons at Rutgers and earned a pair of All-Big 10 honorable mentions. He played in 53 games for the Scarlet Knights and finished with 154 combined tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 37 passes defended, five interceptions and five forced fumbles. He also served as a team captain as a fifth-year senior.
The Baltimore Ravens drafted him in the sixth round, No. 212 overall, in the 2025 NFL Draft, but a knee injury derailed his rookie year and kept him out after he landed on injured reserve. Baltimore waived him after training camp this summer, and Philadelphia later signed him to its practice squad.
At 5-foot-11 and 174 pounds, Longerbeam does not have ideal size for the position, but he brings physicality, athleticism and ball skills that could make him a fit inside at nickel. Pro Football Focus credited him with a solid preseason, noting that he allowed an 84.2 passer rating when targeted and ranked as the Ravens’ third-best defender in coverage.
He is unlikely to see the field in Week 3, though, with the Falcons set to travel to Green Bay on Wednesday for a Thursday Night Football matchup with the Packers. Even so, he joins a cornerback group that already includes rookie Avieon Terrell, Billy Bowman Jr., Mike Ford Jr., Sydney Brown and rookie undrafted free agent Malcom Dewalt IV.
Atlanta has already felt the sting of losing a player from its own practice squad this season, when the Dallas Cowboys signed running back Tyler Goodson. Now the Falcons are the ones taking from another NFC East team.
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Philadelphia now ranks sixth in the NFL in plays from shotgun, a sign that the change is not just cosmetic. Hurts has completed 70.3% of his throws from the formation, though the sample is still small and only covers two games. Even so, it is a meaningful early wrinkle for an offense still settling in, and it will be worth watching whether this heavier shotgun usage becomes a lasting feature or just a strong September trend. [Read more 🡒]
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What makes the picture messier is how many small setbacks are feeding into the larger issue. Sirianni noted the damage done by negative plays, including sacks, penalties and runs that go backward, all of which stall offensive progress and make it harder to build rhythm. For a team that wants balance, fixing the run game now looks like something that has to happen across the entire offense, not just in one room. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles May Be Holding Back What Makai Lemon Does Best
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Hollywood Browns role offers a useful comparison, because it helps show how Philadelphia is choosing to deploy its receivers right now. The bigger question is whether the Eagles are simply easing Lemon in or holding back the part of his game that can do the most damage, with the early returns leaving plenty of room for debate about how long this approach should last. [Read more 🡒]