With Dennis Allen gone, Saints RB Kendre Miller is ready to change his narrative
Running back Kendre Miller has only been with the New Orleans Saints for two seasons, but his career has already been a journey. Through his first two years, he’s been stuck in a cycle of flashing his promising abilities, and sustaining injuries that sideline him for weeks at a time. It’s an unfortunate cycle that everyone has been frustrated with.
No person was seemingly more fed up than former Saints head coach Dennis Allen. Every time Miller sustained an injury, the former head coach would just unload on the running back to the media as if the injuries were Miller’s fault. Allen’s breaking point seemingly came after Miller’s second hamstring injury this season, because the young running back was placed on injured reserve, even though the injury wasn’t that severe.
Now, Allen is fired, and Miller is ready to be activated from injured reserve. With Darren Rizzi now the interim head coach in New Orleans, he has made it clear that everyone, including Miller had a clean slate.
#Saints interim HC Darren Rizzi on Kendre Miller:
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) December 3, 2024
“Kendre Miller’s a talented football player. There’s no one that’s gonna sit here and ever deny that.”
“You’ve seen that when he’s been active and healthy, that he’s a guy that can produce for the team. He’s a really good change… pic.twitter.com/mfNFxMDrhu
Darren Rizzi is allowing Kendre Miller to start with a clean slate
As Rizzi put it, Miller isn’t in the dog house like he seemingly was with Dennis Allen. That news is exciting to Kendre Miller, because he sees himself as a dog that’s ready to be unleashed. With five games left in the season, he’s going to have the opportunity to show what kind of dog he is.
Kendre Miller on being out of the doghouse and on good terms with Darren Rizzi: “We’re gonna let that dog off the leash. I’m ready to get out there and bark a little bit.”
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) December 5, 2024
The Saints recently lost Taysom Hill for the season, and while Alvin Kamara is playing his best football, New Orleans would love for him to have help in the backfield. That’s where Miller comes in. Additionally, with five weeks left in the season, the 4-8 Saints aren’t playing for much, so it only makes sense to let young players get valuable reps.
This season, Miller has only appeared in two games. In those games, he carried the ball nine times for 52 yards. As a rookie, he appeared in eight games, carrying the ball 41 times for 156 yards, and one touchdown, while adding 10 receptions for 117 yards. His talent is evident; now it’s time for him to stay on the field and consistently showcase that talent.
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