Saints receive devastating Erik McCoy news, losing the Pro Bowl center for weeks

The New Orleans Saints got their first major dose of adversity this season in a Week 3 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles, and days later, things have gotten worse. Starting center Erik McCoy went down with a groin injury during the first series of Sunday’s game, and didn’t return. It’s now being reported McCoy’s injury will require surgery, and that he’s expected to miss a significant amount of time.

NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo reported the surgery would sideline the center for about six to eight weeks. While the good news is the injury isn’t season ending, the bad news is New Orleans has to navigate several games without one of their best players.

Saints center Erik McCoy will be sidelined after undergoing surgery

Sunday’s game against the Eagles showed how important McCoy is to New Orleans and the team’s offense. Once he went out, the Saints were unable to run the ball or pass protect, and they allowed Jalen Carter and Philly’s interior defensive line to dominate the game. That shows how brutal of a loss this is to overcome.

McCoy has been with the Saints since the team selected him in the second round of the 2019 Draft, and he has been starting at center since he was a rookie. He’s also been pretty durable, playing in 76 games since coming to New Orleans. He’s been elite as well, going to the Pro Bowl last season.

A player of that caliber, at a position that important, isn’t easy to replace. That was evident on Sunday when the Saints moved Lucas Patrick from left guard to center, and put reserve lineman Oli Udoh in the game at left guard. The offensive line didn’t look anything like it did with McCoy, and there was very obvious confusion amongst the lineman without their leader getting everything organized. As a result, the Saints scored just 12 points.

It’s unclear if the New Orleans will stick with the combination we saw Sunday while McCoy is out, but the Saints entered the year with a thin and questionable offensive line group. With Udoh now in the starting lineup, the only other two depth options are Nick Saldiveri and Landon Young. New Orleans could explore a trade or signing an available free agent, because the team needs to figure something out, or the season will be down the drain by the time McCoy is healthy again.

The timeline of six to eight weeks means he could return between Week 11 and Week 13. That could be seven to eight critical games that could decide New Orleans’ season. So while McCoy will focus on getting healthy as quickly as possible, the Saints need to find an adequate replacement.

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