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Keith Brooking has been hurt before, but not like this. When he fell awkwardly on the third play of Sunday's 45-17 loss to the Saints, and came down back first on cornerback Tyrone Williams' foot, he knew it was bad.
But the Falcons' leading tackler (he has 79, fellow inside linebacker Chris Draft 78) had no idea it was an injury that could keep him out for up to six weeks.
"[It's the] transverse process, little bones that come off the spinal cord and the muscles attached to those," said Brooking, who was in obvious pain as he tried to walk Monday. "I fractured the L-1, L-2, and L-3 [vertebra]. There's some bleeding in the muscle. When you fracture those bones, you tear the muscles as well.
"There's nothing that's ever been more painful than this. I knew I couldn't go. When they took me to the hospital and did the CT scan, that's when they found the fractures."
After Brooking went out Sunday, his backup, Twan Russell entered. Mostly a special teams player, he had 11 defensive tackles in his first six NFL seasons. After a while, his balky left knee became a problem, and Draft moved from his strongside/inside linebacker spot to Brooking's weakside/inside spot.
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But the Falcons' leading tackler (he has 79, fellow inside linebacker Chris Draft 78) had no idea it was an injury that could keep him out for up to six weeks.
"[It's the] transverse process, little bones that come off the spinal cord and the muscles attached to those," said Brooking, who was in obvious pain as he tried to walk Monday. "I fractured the L-1, L-2, and L-3 [vertebra]. There's some bleeding in the muscle. When you fracture those bones, you tear the muscles as well.
"There's nothing that's ever been more painful than this. I knew I couldn't go. When they took me to the hospital and did the CT scan, that's when they found the fractures."
After Brooking went out Sunday, his backup, Twan Russell entered. Mostly a special teams player, he had 11 defensive tackles in his first six NFL seasons. After a while, his balky left knee became a problem, and Draft moved from his strongside/inside linebacker spot to Brooking's weakside/inside spot.
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