Falcons’ Weatherspoon (Achilles) out for 2014

Sean Weatherspoon will miss the entire 2014 season. (USATSI)

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Atlanta Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon has missed 12 games over the past two seasons due to injury, now he's going to miss 16 more. The Falcons announced on Tuesday that Weatherspoon will miss the entire 2014 season after rupturing his Achilles tendon during a workout.

"During Sean's run today with our medical staff, he suffered an injury," coach Mike Smith said in a statement. "We sent Sean to the doctor for some additional testing and evaluation and unfortunately the results showed that he ruptured his Achilles tendon. Sean had been working extremely hard to get back on the field, but regrettably he will miss the entire 2014 season. He will have a procedure done in the near future and we expect him to make a full recovery."

Weatherspoon spent most of the 2013 offseason recovering from knee surgery, but returned in time for training camp. In August, he suffered a badly dislocated finger on his left hand that cost him some practice time.

The 2010 first-round pick played in the 2013 season opener, but later suffered a foot injury that cost him nine games last season. Weatherspoon also missed three games in 2012 due to a foot injury.

Despite missing those three weeks in 2012, Weatherspoon still finished with 95 tackles, a number that ranked second on the team that season. In four years with the Falcons, Weatherspoon has only made it through an entire season once and that came in 2011.

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