Marcus Davenport: Never a good time for Saints injuries
By Tony Twillie
Other injuries
As noted, injuries are part of the game and everyone deals with them. By this time last year, we had 19 players listed on IR, including rookie LB Alex Anzalone and veteran LB Nate Stupar. We were about to lose guard Larry Warford for a couple of games and we were still a few weeks from losing the aforementioned Okafor to an Achilles’ injury, as well as A.J. Klein.
This year’s injury list is not as long, but equally daunting. Cornerback Patrick Robinson has a broken ankle and torn ligaments. I know the Saints would like to designate him to return if he could late in the season, but his surgically repaired leg may not be ready for this year.
Other notable injuries include Ted Ginn, Jr. who is out with a knee injury, and reserve offensive lineman Josh LeRibeus who has an ankle injury. The development of Tre’Quan Smith will determine if the Saints designate Ginn to return.
Interior lineman Cameron Tom stepped in and did a solid job replacing LeRibeus in the Baltimore game, so they may or may not be looking to bring him back this season. The Saints also signed Dallas offensive lineman Chaz Green to help handle the offensive tackle duties LeRibeus used to sub in for as well.
The Saints have done a good job of gaining depth, so when a starter goes down, there are reasonable backups in place. Only in the defensive backfield do we find serious depth issues. It wouldn’t be surprising even though the trade deadline has passed to see the Saints possibly return a Sterling Moore-type person for the stretch run, a free agent back who they know well.
It was interesting also to see Ken Crawley inactive on Sunday night in Minnesota. He was not listed on any injury report prior to the game, seeming to be a healthy scratch. Now there is a report that he’s dealing with an undisclosed injury. Unfortunately, the lightning Crawley caught last year now seems to be burning him along with several wide receivers.
dark. Next. Davenport to miss significant time with toe injury
We’ll be keeping an eye on the Davenport injury, as it’s currently the most significant blow aside from P-Rob. Hopefully some down time will be the remedy and he’ll make a solid return and continue to help blow up some offensive lines and stress some quarterbacks. Last season, the Saints defensive improvements is what made the playoff run possible. This year should be no different.