Veteran wide receiver Brian Finneran, an integral part of the Atlanta Falcons' passing game, sustained a likely season-ending injury during a Sunday night practice, when his right knee buckled as he made a cut in a non-contact drill.
Finneran will undergo an MRI examination on Monday morning, but the Falcons already fear the injury is to one of the ligaments or possibly to the patellar tendon.
"We'll hope for the best," coach Jim Mora said, "but I'm not optimistic."
The injury occurred during a one-on-one segment of practice, with Finneran working against cornerback Jimmy Williams, the team's second-round draft choice this year. Finneran went down in a heap, grabbing at the area between his knee and ankle, observers said, and was taken from the field on an emergency cart. It comes at a time when Atlanta is trying to upgrade a passing attack that statistically ranked 27th in the NFL in 2005, and which has come under criticism the past two years.
