FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — After missing much of the first week of training camp with a minor hamstring injury, Atlanta Falcons first-round pick Jalon Walker returned to practice on Monday.
Walker said he hopes to play in Friday night's first preseason game against the Detroit Lions.
“I feel good,” Walker said. “I’m feeling so happy to be back out here. Happy for the week. It’s a big week of this first preseason game and excited to get things going."
The Falcons selected Walker from Georgia with the No. 15 overall pick in the draft. Walker won the 2024 Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker and has the potential to play a hybrid role in the NFL as a linebacker and edge rusher.
For now, the Falcons want Walker to focus on edge rusher but plan to utilize his versatility. Coach Raheem Morris said Monday the opportunities at linebacker will come “pretty quickly, you know, as soon as he gets more comfortable out there moving around.”
Morris said Walker (6-2, 245) is “already starting to pick some of those things up, cross training on some of those things already. He’s very smart, very sharp, very detailed guy. So nothing you worry about from that standpoint. But I just want to give him a chance to be comfortable doing something first, see that happen, come to life.”
Morris said the Falcons were careful to protect Walker from aggravating the injury last week even though the rookie was impatient to join his teammates. The caution continued on Monday as Walker's exposure to practice was limited.
After drafting Walker, the Falcons traded with the Los Angeles Rams to add Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr. at No. 26.
Morris said starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and backup Kirk Cousins will not play in the preseason opener against Detroit. Easton Stick and Emory Jones will share the snaps.
Penix said he might be considered for preseason games if not for his starts in the final three games of his 2024 rookie season.
“He feels confident in what I can do on game day,” said Penix of Morris. “So he didn’t feel like I needed to play this week. I’m going to be ready Week 1.”
Morris said other decisions will be made following the team's scrimmage on Wednesday.
Morris lined up as a defensive back against wide receiver Drake London during practice. The coach didn't fare well, as he was pushed back and landed on his backside.
Penix, who threw the pass to London on the play, paused when asked about Morris as a player.
“He’s a coach now,” Penix said with a smile. “He’s got to leave the DB stuff back from when he was playing.”
Pearce continued to build on his reputation for aggressive play by landing in another practice scuffle, this time with offensive lineman Tyrone Wheatley Jr. The rookie had encounters with right tackle Kaleb McGary and right guard Matthew Bergeron last week.
“It’s just the competitor in him,” said Walker of Pearce. “You get after it. And like I said, we’ve got that one speed and once we click it on, it’s on.”
Asked about Pearce's early impact in practice, Penix said “I notice his love for the game. He works extremely hard each and every day. ... Whatever happens after the play, we definitely want to clean that stuff up. But at the same time he’s a competitor and he wants to compete at a high level. That’s what he does each and every day and that’s what we appreciate and that’s what we’re going to love come game day.”
McGary agreed to a two-year, $30 million extension, according to his agent, Collin Roberts. The deal was first reported by ESPN.
McGary, a first-round pick in 2019, has started 92 of 93 games in six seasons.
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Atlanta Falcons Coach Raheem Morris speaks to the media prior to the first open training NFL football camp on Thursday, July 24, 2022, in Flowery Branch, Ga. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.
Top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have raised concerns in the last 48 hours that a U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy and destabilize an already volatile region, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive conversations.
Oil prices fell Thursday as the markets appeared to take note of President Donald Trump’s shifting tone as a sign that he’s leaning away from attacking Iran after days of launching blistering threats at Tehran for its brutal crackdown.
Nevertheless, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday maintained that “all options remain on the table” for Trump as he deals with Iran.
Here's the latest:
The White House and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the operator of the mid-Atlantic power grid to take urgent steps to boost energy supply and curb price hikes, holding a Friday event aimed at addressing a rising concern among voters about the enormous amount of power used for artificial intelligence ahead of elections later this year.
The White House said its National Energy Dominance Council and the governors of several states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia, want to try to compel PJM Interconnection to hold a power auction for tech companies to bid on contracts to build new power plants.
The Trump administration and governors will sign a statement of principles toward that end Friday.
▶ Read more about the administration and AI-driven power shortages
The Justice Department’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has brought heightened attention to a key drama that will play out at the central bank in the coming months: Will Powell leave the Fed when his term as chair ends, or will he take the unusual step of remaining a governor?
Powell’s term as Fed chair ends May 15, but because of the central bank’s complex structure, he has a separate term as one of seven members of its governing board that lasts until January 31, 2028. Historically, nearly all Fed chairs have stepped down from the board when they’re no longer chair. But Powell could be the first in nearly 50 years to stay on as a governor.
Many Fed-watchers believe the criminal investigation into Powell’s testimony about cost overruns for Fed building renovations was intended to intimidate him out of taking that step. If Powell stays on the board, it would deny the White House a chance to gain a majority, undercutting the Trump administration’s efforts to seize greater control over what has for decades been an institution largely insulated from day-to-day politics.
▶ Read more about Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
Trump on Thursday announced the outlines of a health care plan he wants Congress to take up as Republicans have faced increasing pressure to address rising health costs after lawmakers let subsidies expire.
The cornerstone is his proposal to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can handle insurance and health costs as they see fit. Democrats have rejected the idea as a paltry substitute for the tax credits that had helped lower monthly premiums for many people.
Trump’s plan also focuses on lowering drug prices and requiring insurers to be more upfront with the public about costs, revenues, rejected claims and wait times for care.
Trump has long been dogged by his lack of a comprehensive health care plan as he and Republicans have sought to unwind former President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act. Trump was thwarted during his first term in trying to repeal and replace the law.
▶ Read more about Trump’s health care plan
Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.
Donald Trump isn’t leaving it to future generations.
As the first year of his second term wraps up, his Republican administration and allies have put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships.
That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On Friday, he plans to attend a ceremony in Florida where local officials will dedicate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
▶ Read more about Trump’s renaming efforts
Nearly a year into his second term, Trump’s work on the economy hasn’t lived up to the expectations of many people in his own party, according to a new AP-NORC survey.
The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds a significant gap between the economic leadership Americans remembered from Trump’s first term and what they’ve gotten so far as he creates a stunning level of turmoil at home and abroad.
Just 16% of Republicans say Trump has helped “a lot” in addressing the cost of living, down from 49% in April 2024, when an AP-NORC poll asked Americans the same question about his first term.
At the same time, Republicans are overwhelmingly supportive of the president’s leadership on immigration — even if some don’t like his tactics.
There is little sign overall, though, that the Republican base is abandoning Trump. The vast majority of Republicans, about 8 in 10, approve of his job performance, compared with 4 in 10 for adults overall.
▶ Read more about the poll’s findings
Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.
Top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have raised concerns in the last 48 hours that a U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy and destabilize an already volatile region, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive conversations.
Oil prices fell on Thursday as the markets appeared to take note of President Donald Trump’s shifting tone as a sign that he’s leaning away from attacking Iran after days of launching blistering threats at Tehran for its brutal crackdown.
Nevertheless, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday maintained that “all options remain on the table” for Trump as he deals with Iran.
▶ Read more about Trump and Iran
— Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani and Ben Finley
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to honor the 2025 Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
