The Atlanta Falcons need A.J. Terrell on the field to reach their ceiling as a defense.
He’s a star cornerback, having developed just as the franchise would’ve hoped over the past few seasons.
On Sunday, he was part of an Atlanta defense doing OK against the Aaron Rodgers-led Steelers offense in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season.
That is, until Terrell had to leave the game with an injury.
Update: Terrell returned to the game about 20 minutes of real time later.
A.J. Terrell Injury Update
Terrell was injured while guarding Steelers WR DK Metcalf.
Metcalf ran a go route down the left sideline and got a step on Terrell.
Terrell began to make up ground as the ball was in the air, and he dove to try and break up the lofted pass from Rodgers.
He made a great play on the football, but his landing left him on the ground.
What Happened to A.J. Terrell?
Terrell appeared to injure his left side.
It looked like his left arm got caught underneath his body.
AJ Terrell landed very hard on his left side.
Concern for AC sprain or clavicle injury. Seemed to be in a lot of pain pic.twitter.com/rkVx0KmNkC https://t.co/ezfA0z97ET— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) September 13, 2026
It was supposed to be a special day for Terrell, who was getting to play with his younger brother, rookie Avieon Terrell.
They could still have some good days together this season, but this one may not end how older bro was hoping.
Terrell has never missed a game with a shoulder injury in his NFL career.
He has dealt with a couple of hamstring issues and a couple of concussions.
There was one game a couple years ago when Terrell may have dinged up his shoulder briefly, but it didn’t keep him out of action.
At times with the Falcons, Terrell has been a player the Atlanta fans love to hate. It’s easy to notice when a cornerback messes up. It’s hard to see when a cornerback does something well.
In this case, the irony for Terrell was he made a great effort play to deny the completion to Metcalf. It just also led to him getting hurt.
The likes of C.J. Henderson and Mike Ford might get a chance to play more if A.J. misses extended time — and Avieon might get onto the field more, too.
The Falcons want to compete for an NFC South title, and so they’ll be hoping that A.J. Terrell’s injury isn’t anything too serious.
A.J. Terrell Injury Update Doesn’t Look Good for Falcons