Coach Dan Quinn called Hooper (knee) a "longshot" to play Sunday at Carolina, Will McFadden of the Falcons' official site reports.
Hooper emerged from the Week 10 win at New Orleans with a sprained MCL, but his timetable for a return remains undetermined. On Wednesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Hooper is expected to be out approximately one month. When informed of Rapoport's report, Quinn refuted it, stating "sometimes with injuries [the recovery] can be faster, so you don't want to pigeonhole a player into a [timeline to return]." Considering the nature of his injury, Hooper seems unlikely to practice this week, but his status bears watching until he's officially ruled out for game action.