Drake London got paid.
Now, the Atlanta Falcons‘ No. 1 wide receiver is probably hoping that he can get the football.
London wasn’t alone in having a very quiet day in the Falcons’ offense in Week 1 at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In the 20-13 loss, though, London’s relative invisibility was maybe more proof than for anyone else that this could be a rough start to the season in Atlanta.
London finished the game with two catches for 29 yards on four targets. He also had one run go for six yards.
It was even worse for Kyle Pitts, who had exactly zero catches on one target, which we wrote about more at this link.
London is a guy who needed just 12 games last season to have 112 targets with 68 catches for 919 yards and seven touchdowns.
The year before, he had 100 catches on 158 targets for 1,271 yards and nine scores.
He’s now getting paid like a true WR1, and he’s certainly got the talent to be that.
But despite that, Sunday wasn’t good.
Why Was Drake London Quiet?
The simplest and truest explanation is that the Falcons are currently rocking with their third-string quarterback.
For as long as Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. are out, it could be rough in the passing attack.
Cooper Rush struggled to a 12-for-22 day in which 10 of his targets went to running back Bijan Robinson, who led the way with eight catches for 90 yards.
While throwing to Bijan is never a bad idea, it left very little else to go around, and London and the rest of the passing game suffered because of it.
The Extra Bad News
The toughest part for London and these Falcons is that there’s no guarantee Rush doesn’t start in Week 2.
The reports on Sunday indicated that Penix could need another week or two. The Falcons are being careful as he ramps back up from last year’s season-ending knee injury — and even when he gets back, there’s no telling if he’ll be operating at maximum efficiency.
Even if Penix is back for Week 2, there’s a lot of uncertainty about a player who has been quite inconsistent early in his NFL career.
Tagovailoa might miss a few weeks with his oblique issue, too, but he looked rough in the preseason and might not be much of an improvement, either.
So that’s the tough part for London: He signed his huge contract with a team whose QB of the future probably isn’t even on the roster.
London can still overcome that and have a solid season. But with limited WR depth to take the attention away from him, and quarterbacks who will struggle to get him the ball consistently, London is going to have to work quite hard for all his production in 2026.
Falcons’ Drake London Gets Bad News in Week 1