New Orleans Saints without Moore, Gilmore, Casillas against Detroit Lions
By Keith Null
Three New Orleans Saints players have been officially declared out for Saturday’s playoff match up against the Detroit Lions — wide receiver Lance Moore, linebacker Jonathan Casillas, and tight end John Gilmore.
Moore is perhaps the biggest loss as he has been one of quarterback Drew Brees’ most trusted targets the last three seasons. He has 118 receptions for 1,390 yards and 16 touchdowns since 2009.
That’s not good news for Brees that Moore is out as he loves to look for him during crucial third down plays.
The Saints receiving core though is deep enough that they can plug-in the next man on the depth chart and not suffer much of a drop off in production.
With Moore out receivers Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson, and Adrian Arrington will all get a bump in their offensive snaps alongside Marques Colston.
Once the news broke the he would not play, Moore took to his twitter account to offer a few encouraging words to the Who Dat Nation.
"Since the cat is out of the bag now, no I’m not playing tomorrow. But we need the whole who dat nation to rock the dome for all who are!"
Outside linebacker Jonathan Casillas has been a favorite of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams on the weakside since his stand out preseason performances last year.
Williams loves to deploy him off the edge to rush the quarterback in key situations.
He has started five games for the Saints this season, and has accounted for 43 tackles and three sacks.
He missed weeks 14 through 16 with a knee injury, the same knee that will keep him out against the Lions.
Casillas has been a unique weapon for the defense but one the Saints shouldn’t miss too much as Williams will use Ramon Humber, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, and rookie Martez Wilson to compensate for his loss.
Humber has played exceptionally well for the Saints defense over the last few weeks.
Meanwhile Wilson, the rookie from Illinois and fastest linebacker at last years NFL combine, played his best game as pro in week seventeen notching two tackles and his first career sack on Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.
Veteran tight end John Gilmore was signed to primarily to fill the role of blocker — he has three receptions for 20 yards this season.
To offset Gilmore tight end Tory Humphrey was re-signed.
He had been with the Saints since 2009 before being cut in October when the team added running back Chris Ivory to the active roster from the PUP list.
Humphrey knows the Saints offense and their blocking schemes well.
Moore is perhaps the biggest loss as he has been one of quarterback Drew Brees’ trusted targets the last three seasons. He has 118 receptions for 1,390 yards and 16 touchdowns since 2009.
That’s not good news for Brees that Moore is out as he loves to look for him during crucial third down plays.
The Saints receiving core is deep enough that they can plug-in the next man on the depth chart and not suffer much of a drop off in production.
With Moore out receivers Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson, and Adrian Arrington will all get a bump in their offensive snaps alongside Marques Colston.
Once the news broke the he would not play, Moore took to his twitter account to offer a few encouraging words to the Who Dat Nation.
"Since the cat is out of the bag now, no I’m not playing tomorrow. But we need the whole who dat nation to rock the dome for all who are!"
Outside linebacker Jonathan Casillas has been a favorite of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams on the weakside since his stand out preseason performances last year.
Williams loves to deploy him off the edge to rush the quarterback in key situations.
He has started five games for the Saints this season, and has accounted for 43 tackles and three sacks.
Casillas missed weeks 14 through 16 with a knee injury, the same knee that will keep him out against the Lions.
He has been a unique weapon for the defense but one the Saints shouldn’t miss too much as Williams will use Ramon Humber, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, and rookie Martez Wilson to compensate for his loss.
Humber has played exceptionally well for the Saints defense over the last fee weeks.
Meanwhile Wilson, the rookie from Iowa and fastest linebacker at last years NFL combine, played his best game as pro in week seventeen notching two tackles and his first career sack on Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.
Veteran tight end John Gilmore was signed to primarily to fill the role of blocker — he has three receptions for 20 yards this season.
To offset Gilmore tight end Tory Humphrey was re-signed.
He had been with the Saints since 2009 before being cut in October when the team added running back Chris Ivory to the active roster from the PUP list.
Humphrey knows the Saints offense and their blocking schemes well.