Raiders Vs. Falcons, Week 6: Falcons eyeing Stephen Nicholas' ankle

Atlanta Falcons linebacker Stephen Nicholas injured his ankle Sunday against Washington, so his status for Week 6 against the Raiders is up in the air.

"It was an ankle injury and Stephen tried to play. He came out there in the second half," Falcons coach Mike Smith said on Monday. "I thought he did a nice job of trying to get back out there, but he just wasn't able to push off. Hopefully, he'll get to feeling better in the next couple of days."

Akeem Dent and Robert James helped fill the hole left by Nicholas on the strong side during Atlanta's 24-17 win over the Redskins on Sunday.

Nicholas leads the Falcons with 39 total tackles and 30 solo tackles this season. The sixth-year man out of South Florida also has an interception and two pass deflections for the 5-0 Falcons.

Nicholas played in just 10 games last season. He suffered a quadriceps injury and a knee injury in December 2011.

Atlanta hosts Oakland (1-3) on Sunday at 1 p.m.