The New Orleans Saints suffered their eighth loss of the season on Sunday, falling to the Los Angeles Rams 34-10. However, as the afternoon reached its end, the team lost more than just a game. They also lost Taliese Fuaga.
The second-year right tackle hobbled off of the field near the end of the fourth quarter on Sunday, before needing to be carted to the locker room. Appearing to be a left foot injury, NewOrleans.Football's Mike Triplett said the former first-round pick declined to comment on his injury after the game. The fact Fuaga wasn't wearing a boot felt like a positive sign until Monday rolled around.
Saints head coach Kellen Moore announced that Fuaga suffered a high-ankle sprain and is not expected to play this week, officially calling the injury a week-to-week situation. The news is a major blow for the New Orleans offensive line, which has had few positive aspects this season.
In the wake of Fuaga's injury, the Saints have to acknowledge a crucial need
The fact that the Saints might be without Taliese Fuaga for a couple of weeks really exposes a crucial need. Currently, the situation over at the offensive line is dire, to say the least, and that's something that will now only get worse without their starting right tackle.
That might seem cruel to some, but it's the truth. The Saints offensive line was already ranked near the bottom of the league, allowing their quarterbacks to get sacked 21 times through the first nine weeks of the 2025 season before Fuaga hurt his ankle. If you tuned into the games, you could actually see the struggles in real time, but if you didn't, the 16:07 of possession in last Sunday's game should tell you enough.
To be honest, I really don't know what the solution is here for the Saints, but all I know is that they aren't in need of a short-term solution. You could try to pull something out of a hat at the trade deadline, but that wouldn't be an easy or smart thing to do for many reasons. There is free agency, but the current pool of candidates isn't remarkable.
Does that mean that Saints fans might have to wait until the offseason to see offensive line improvements? If that's the case, then it'll be a rough ride for the Who Dat Nation.