Quinn Snyder Hawks Jaylen Johnson gets key injury notice

The Atlanta Hawks entered the new year without one of their key players, as Jaylen Johnson was ruled out with an injury to the right shoulder. During the Hawks’ trip to the West Coast, Johnson played in just one of their six games, and they ended up going 2-4 in that stretch.

Before their game against the Phoenix Suns, head coach Quin Snyder gave an update on Johnson’s progress.

“I think he’s making progress and hopefully we’ll get him back soon,” Snyder said.

Johnson was recently seen at Hawks practice shooting, so he may be making progress as Snyder says.

It’s safe to say the Hawks are stuck in no man’s land when Johnson doesn’t play, and they’re 2-4 this season when he’s not on the court. He’s been responsible for a lot of the Hawks’ success and what he brings to the court, and serves as a great option alongside Tree Young.

That can be said Johnson is having a breakout season for the Hawks, averaged 19.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. He played well last season after getting the first real minutes of his career as a starter, but injuries throughout the season kept people from seeing what his true potential could be on the team.

Jalen Johnson proved to be a big key for the Hawks

The Hawks were without Jalen Johnson for much of the season last year, and Quin Snyder believes the team learned from that experience. Regardless, he knows that replicating what Johnson brings to the floor is difficult, and that it will take a group effort.

“We went through this last year when Jalen hurt his wrist,” Snyder said. “It wasn’t pretty. We learned from that, this is a new year. I don’t think that says anything negative about the rest of our team. Some of the things he did for us. It’s hard for other people to push it the way he does, the defensive rebound, his height, his athleticism. Ask the rest of the group to do this collectively. The key is to do it over a long period of time.”

The Hawks have struggled to stay healthy all season, but when everyone is available, they’ve played some of their best basketball. Prior to their road trip, the Hawks were clicking on all cylinders and ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference. Since then, the Hawks have fallen to ninth in the table and are looking to find the position they once held.