Peria Jerry Injury: Mike Smith expects injured DT back this week

Atlanta Falcons head coach doesn't expect defensive tackle Peria Jerry to be out for long with his knee injury. Jerry was injured in Sunday's game against the Cowboys and didn't return. But after further evaluation of his knee, Smith said the defensive tackle to be back on the field by the end of the week.

Of course the Falcons don't want to rush anything with Jerry, who missed most of the 2009 season with a major injury. By the time Jerry returned, he'd lost his job to Corey Peters.

Smith said this injury isn't nearly as serious as the previous one, since there is no ligament or cartilage damage. It's mostly swelling, and a week of rest and mostly light work in getting back would presumably keep the swelling down.

Here's Smith from the team website's transcript:

"Peria's knee, he had a study done on it today. We're anticipating that he should be out with us by the end of the week. It's not anything like his knee injury of two years ago. We're hoping that we give him a few days rest and let him get a lot of treatment and he'll be back out there with us."

Jerry has just six tackles in six games this season. The Falcons are 8-0 after defeating the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night.