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On Monday, December 19, the Atlanta Falcons placed running back Caleb Huntley on injured reserve with an Achilles injury.
Huntley suffered the injury early in Atlanta’s Week 15 21-18 loss to New Orleans…but he played another snap not knowing how seriously injured was.
“It was one of the most unusual things I’ve seen,” Smith said Monday, via ESPN. He injured his Achilles the second play and didn’t go down. He stayed in there and I don’t know how the hell he did it, to be honest. He went in there, played a snap, actually made a block in pass protection and then jogged off the field.
“I asked him this morning, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. And he said, ‘I knew you wanted to go no-huddle early and I didn’t want to come out.’ I’m like, ‘You were injured there. You could have gone down.’ I don’t know how the hell he did it. I feel awful for him.”
Huntley Reacts to Season-Ending Injury
Huntley, who has played a big role in Atlanta’s run game this season, finished the year with 366 yards on 76 carries and one touchdown.
His season-ending injury will require surgery which means a long road to recovery for him, however, he is very optimistic.
“Please do not feel bad for me I’m in a good state of mind I’m locked in I been down before but never out come back will be something to write about remember the tweet #dukeslatt 💪🏾💪🏾,” he wrote on Twitter.
Smith remains positive as well.
“He made a lot of progress coming in here and learning what we expect of guys in the program,” said Smith. “Nothing for Caleb in his life has come easy; all he knows how to do is work, and (he) works extremely hard, (has) persistence. All those things that you look for, the qualities that we value, Caleb’s got them. It’s a credit to him and how he stayed with it; he’s improved a lot as a player and I’m sure he’ll attack this rehab the same way.”
Huntley Has Come A Long Way Since 2021
Huntley originally signed with the Falcons out of Ball State following the 2021 NFL Draft.
The 5’10, 229-pound back still holds the ninth most rushing yards in Ball State history with 2,465 yards where he logged 10 career 100-yard rushing games.
He spent most of his rookie year on Atlanta’s practice squad where he saw some action as a standard practice squad elevation.
Prior to Ball State and his professional career, Huntley played high school ball in Atlanta at Locust Grove where he was a four-year letterman. He played all four years on the varsity squad as a running back, recording a total of 3,135 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns. During his senior season in 2016, Huntley ran for 1,487 yards and reeled in 13 touchdowns, which earned him Region 4/5A Offensive Player of the Year. He ran for more than 100 rushing yards in each game that year and holds the single-season rushing record and yards per game at Locus Grove High School.
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