The Atlanta Falcons gave an update on rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels after the former Oklahoma star sustained a severe neck injury during the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears.
Daniels, who played for the Sooners for just 1 season in 2025 after 4 seasons at Oklahoma State, was on the field for several minutes during the home game against the Bears.
The Falcons released this statement on Daniels near the end of Sunday’s game:
Kendal Daniels is alert and has movement in all his extremities. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for further evaluation.
Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski spoke about Daniels during the postgame press conference after Sunday’s 31-23 loss to Bears.
“Initial reports are good. He had movement in his extremities. … We’ll continue to pray that they remain good,” Stefanski said.
Daniels was the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year at Oklahoma State in 2022 and was a second-team All-Big 12 selection that same season. The Falcons made Daniels a 4th-round pick this past spring after Daniels’ only season at Oklahoma, and he was on his teammates’ minds during and after Sunday’s game.
“Those are no fun for anybody,” Stefanski said about Daniels’ injury. “Players, coaches, you don’t want to see anyone down like that. Kendall’s a kid that we all love, we all respect.”
Atlanta quarterback Michael Penix Jr. also spoke on his teammates’ behalf after the game, saying he is “praying for Kendal Daniels. He got an injury. But he is gonna be good.”
Penix added that Daniels was “talking to his teammates as he left the field Sunday,” according to Josh Kendall, who covers the Falcons for The Athletic.
“He said, ‘Y’all go finish this off,'” said Penix, according to Kendall’s report. “So, he was in good spirits.”
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
