Sam Baker was back at full practice back during OTA's in May after recovering from his knee injury last year. But injuries tend to happen from time to time, and the Atlanta Falcons were bit by the injury bug quite hard last year. Julio Jones went down with a foot injury. Sam Baker went down with an injury to his left knee.
At this point, it is only assumed he was probably trying to compensate with his right knee when he was seeing more game action in the second preseason game of the year against the Houston Texans. Then he was carted off of the field, as seen in the picture above, which is always the worst case scenario for an injury. It is always best to see the player walk of the field under their own strength, and then to have them helped off the field by other players or staff, and carted off is definitely the worst, which likely signifies a major ligament tear.
However, because a team can never have enough offensive lineman, the Falcons drafted Jake Matthews out of Texas A&M in the first round with the sixth overall pick. With the injury to Baker, Matthews is now the next man up and will likely take over at the left tackle position, since it is a more crucial position than at right tackle where he had been practicing. Matthews is a member of the famed Matthews family, with relatives like Clay Matthews III of the Green Bay Packers and Casey Matthews of the Philadelphia Eagles. Matthews should be able to rise to the challenge, being able to pass protect for Johnny Manziel in college last year.