Kellen Moore wasn't able to confirm earlier this week whether or not Travis Etienne Jr. would have to go to injured reserve, only saying that he'd miss time. We now have a floor of just how much time, as the New Orleans Saints officially put Etienne on injured reserve Thursday afternoon.
Etienne having to go to injured reserve gives a minimum of four weeks for him to recover from the hamstring injury, but it doesn't guarantee he'll be back as soon as those four weeks are up. One thing to take into account is the Saints are four weeks away from their bye week, so Etienne will have a built in extra week for recovery.
The earliest we'll see Etienne suit back up is Week 9 against the Cleveland Browns. It's hard to give an exact prediction of what to expect, because all hamstrings aren't the same. The Saints do have some recent experience that's worth looking into.
Travis Etienne Jr. couldn't have gotten hurt at a worse time
Etienne joins Jordyn Tyson as the Saints on injured reserve with a hamstring injury and the list of Saints who have dealt with a hamstring at some point. In addition to Tyson, Cam Jordan is the other player who has dealt with a significant hamstring injury this week.
Jordan was out for about six weeks. He suffered the injury in early August, and he didn't even return to practice in a limited capacity until the Friday before the season opener.
Tyson feels like a special case. He dealt with a hamstring injury since his final collegiate season that continued through the entire draft process. The Saints were then extremely careful and didn't get the rookie wide receiver involved until training camp.
So, when Tyson suffered yet another hamstring injury, it makes sense that his timeline was on the extreme side. The rookie was given a prognosis of at least a two month recovery, and it still could be even longer.
Fans are obviously hoping that Etienne beats both of those timelines or is at least closer to Jordan's timetable. Two months would mean not seeing Etienne until late November and missing two months of games, unlike Tyson's training camp injury.
The way the team has handled hamstring injuries all offseason suggests they handle the serious cases with more patience. Etienne obviously falls in the serious bucket as he's going to injured reserve, so it shouldn't be surprising to see the Saints take the safe, patient route with the running back as well.
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