FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons waived linebacker Mykal Walker, a starter during their 2022 season, in a surprise move Sunday.
Walker started and had four tackles in the Falcons’ 19-3 road win against the Miami Dolpins on Friday night in the preseason opener for both teams. Falcons coach Arthur Smith did not play most of his projected starters against the Dolphins.
On Sunday, the Falcons signed linebacker Frank Ginda, the 2023 USFL defensive player of the year.
The Falcons did not announce an injury to Walker in Friday night’s game, but the 2020 fourth-round draft pick apparently was unavailable for the remainder of training camp. Smith said several players were held out of practice Sunday with soft-tissue injuries.
“The thing you have to do in training camp, going through 90 guys, when we’re working guys out, if a guy is going to be out the rest of camp, you’ve got to make decisions on him, so there’s a lot of things going on,” Smith said when asked about Walker.