First Saints injury report for Week 5 will leave New Orleans fans feeling bittersweet
Injuries have quickly become a storyline for the New Orleans Saints. That’s the brutal reality of football, especially for an older team like the Saints. However, New Orleans is still 2-2 entering Week 5, and has quickly proven to be a competitive team. It’s just a matter of if health will prevent the team from reaching its ceiling this week.
With a Monday Night Football matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs next on the schedule, New Orleans didn’t release its first Week 5 injury report until Thursday. The long-awaited report was a mixed bag of good and bad injury news for the Saints.
Saints Week 5 injury report
Player (Position) | Injury | Thursday’s practice status |
|---|---|---|
Taysom Hill (Everything) | Rib | Did not practice |
Willie Gay Jr. (LB) | Hand | Did not practice |
Shane Lemieux (OL) | Ankle | Did not practice |
Payton Turner (DE) | Knee | Did not practice |
Cesar Ruiz (OL) | Knee | Did not practice |
Blake Grupe (K) | Right hip | Did not practice |
Demario Davis (LB) | Hamstring | Limited practice |
Taliese Fuaga (LT) | Back | Limited practice |
Alvin Kamara (RB) | Hip/Ribs | Limited practice |
A.T. Perry (WR) | Hamstring | Limited practice |
Juwan Johnson (TE) | Forearm | Limited practice |
Bryan Bresee (DT) | Ankle | Limited practice |
Kendre Miller (RB) | Hamstring | Limited practice |
Chris Olave (WR) | Hamstring | Full practice |
Cedrick Wilson Jr. (WR) | Ankle | Full practice |
The biggest, and most positive, news is Kendre Miller returning to the practice field. The second-year running back has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since the first day of training camp. He’s technically still on the injured reserve list, but the team has opened his 21-day practice window. At any point in the next 21 days, he can be activated to the active roster.
With both Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill dealing with fractured ribs, New Orleans could use a healthy Miller in the backfield to help carry the load.
In addition to Miller returning, Demario Davis is back on the practice field. He missed the first game of his career because of injury in Week 4 with a hamstring issue, and didn’t practice at all a week ago.
Miller and Davis returning are the only sweet things about the injury report; everything else is extremely bitter. There are 14 total players listed, and six players missed practice all together. One of those players is offensive lineman Shane Lemieux, who found his way into the starting lineup after Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz went down. The Saints simply can’t afford to lose anymore lineman.
By playing on Monday night, New Orleans will have one extra day to get healthy, and the team certainly needs it. This extensive injury report will be monitored closely leading up to the game.
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