Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan did not practice Tuesday because of a personal matter.
It was believed to be the first practice that Ryan missed since a turf-toe injury in 2009.
Ryan is not injured. Ryan was in the team facility early in the day before leaving for an appointment. The team said he may have returned before the end of practice, but did not. He is expected back at practice Wednesday.
The Falcons play the Eagles in an NFC divisional playoff game at 4:35 p.m. Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field.
“Matt will be listed as a ‘did not participate in practice for a non-injury related matter’,” team spokesman Brian Cearns said after practice. “Our goal is to make him available to (the media) tomorrow. The same schedule that it would have been today. There is no other update. ... If anything changes, we’ll let you know.”
Ryan and his wife, Sarah, are expecting twins, but it is not known if that was the nature of his appointment.
“I won’t get (into that), and I know coach (Dan) Quinn won’t tomorrow,” Cearns said. “If that’s something that Matt would like to do tomorrow, we’ll leave that up to Matt.”
The twins are not expected to be born until April.
“I’m not going to comment on Matt’s personal issue and personal agenda that he had today,” Cearns said. “We’ll leave that for Matt to address if he decides to do so, but (with) it being a personal matter, I think out of respect for him and Sarah, I’ll let them deal with that piece of it.”
Ryan likely attended team meetings earlier in the day.
“He was in the building this morning and then left for the appointment,” Cearns said.
Ryan also is expected back at practice Thursday and Friday, which is scheduled to be a light walk-through practice to get ready for the Eagles.
Ryan, who was the league MVP for the 2016 season, completed 21 of 30 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown in the Falcons’ victory over the Rams in the wild-card playoff round Saturday.
Sports books have the Falcons as a three-point favorite over Philadelphia. It marks the first time a No. 6 seed has entered a game against the No. 1 seed as the favorite.
The Falcons normally put in most of their game plan in their “Wednesday” practice, which was held Tuesday this week because of the Saturday game.
Backup quarterback Matt Schaub was at practice during the open porition and likely led the first team during the closed 11-on-11 part of practice.
When Quinn spoke to the media before practice, he made no mention of Ryan possibily missing the workout.
“Today, I’m hopeful that we’ll see this kind of communication that I’ve seen over the last few weeks,” Quinn said. “That’s usually where it starts, player to player out on the field. And past that, I just want to make sure we throw a hell of a day today.”
Quinn did mention some of the intangibles that Ryan brings to the team.
“I would say No. 1, man, has he really come into his own as a leader amongst the guys,” Quinn said. “And it’s not to say he wasn’t in that way, but when you go through the team together his toughness shows where (he’d) take a shot, (he’ll) get lit (up), and he’s right back up going to battle.”
Ryan, a 10-year veteran, has not played as well this season after throwing 38 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions in 2016. In 2017, he had 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
The Falcons finished with 29 dropped passes, which was tied for first place in the league with the 49ers. Seven of the drops led directly to interceptions.
“There are definitely some routes that he is throwing better, but I would say it might be some of the intangibles this year that show up, maybe not on the stat sheet, but show up inside our locker room, inside the walls to make sure he puts us in the right spot at the right time,” Quinn said. “Although those don’t show up on the stat sheet, they’re a big part of who we are and how we want to play.”
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