Tevin Coleman Injury Update: Falcons RB to Avoid Ankle Surgery

Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn revealed Tuesday that running back Tevin Coleman—who suffered an ankle injury during the Super Bowl—won't need surgery, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Coleman, 23, left the game in the fourth quarter and was unable to return.

He rushed seven times for 29 yards and caught one pass for another six yards in the contest, scoring one touchdown. NFL Network shared that score:

While Coleman didn't have a huge role in the Super Bowl—Devonta Freeman stole the show in Atlanta's backfield, accumulating 121 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown—he was a vital cog in the team's excellent offense in 2016, rushing for 520 yards, catching 31 passes for 421 yards and accumulating 11 total touchdowns.

He and Freeman gave the Falcons arguably the best one-two punch at running back in the NFL, and that balance put opponents in a difficult predicament. Focus on the run game, and Matt Ryan and Julio Jones were in a position to torch them down the field. Focus on the pass game, and the Falcons run game could grind them to a pulp.

Not surprisingly, that balance led the Falcons to the top scoring offense (33.8 points per game) and No. 2 offense in total yards (415.8 per contest) in 2016. And it should make the Falcons difficult to slow down in 2017 as well, even with the departure of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who was named the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers on Monday.

Certainly, Coleman would seem to be a huge part of the team's plans going forward. The fact that his ankle doesn't require surgery will come as a relief to the team, and Coleman will have plenty of time to recover and rehabilitate the injury before the 2017 campaign.