Falcons LT Jake Matthews attends birth of child, to play in Thursday Night Football on same day
Regardless of Thursday Night Football’s outcome, Atlanta Falcons LT Jake Matthews has already won.
The 2014 first round pick out of Texas A&M witnessed the birth of his first born child Thursday, just hours before his team kicks off against the Carolina Panthers. Falcons owner Arthur Blank is making the trip to Gainesville, Georgia to pick Matthews up and take him to the stadium before kickoff.
He is expected to play.
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A classy act from the Falcons owner, and now Matthews has a fantastic story to tell his child about their birth when they get older – especially if the Falcons can pick up the victory.
Thursday Night Football between the Falcons and Panthers is set for 8:15 p.m. ET live on Amazon Prime.
Steve Wilks shares importance of Falcons game in division race
Many didn’t think Steve Wilks would have the Panthers in the middle of a divisional race, but some solid play coupled with a faltering NFC South has Carolina right in the thick of things.
That makes Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons that much more important, but Wilks isn’t putting any extra pressure on his team ahead of the matchup.
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“You know, again, it’s the next opponent,” stated Wilks. “It just so happens it’s Atlanta, divisional game. We want to win this game no different then how we wanted to win last week’s game. It does put us in a situation where we’re one game out, being able to get this game, so it’s important, but it’s not the end of the year.
“We’ve got to go play hard, we’ve got to come out and execute and be the team that I know we can be, as we’ve shown the previous two weeks.”
Nevertheless, Thursday night’s game for the Panthers also provides a chance to exorcise some demons for Wilks and company, as they lost a heartbreaker to the Falcons just two weeks ago in Atlanta.
If they find a way to get a victory, they’ll be just one game out of the playoffs, and Wilks and company will have something big to play for over the remainder of the season.