Several key Saints are dealing with injuries as New Orleans prepares for the Falcons

Welp, the honeymoon phase for the 2024 season is officially over for the New Orleans Saints. Reality has officially hit the team, but not just in the form of an ugly loss, in the form of injuries. As the Saints returned to the practice field on Wednesday, preparing for a Week 4 game against the Atlanta Falcons, they were without several key players.

It was already reported on Tuesday starting center Erik McCoy would be undergoing a groin surgery that’s going to sideline him for six to eight weeks, but that was just the start. In addition to McCoy, Alvin Kamara, Cesar Ruiz, and Alontae Taylor we’re all absent during the open part of practice. Linebacker Demario Davis was present, but he didn’t participate.

Saints veterans are already banged up entering Week 4

If fans are looking for a singular straw of positivity to grasp, Taysom Hill and Khalen Saunders both returned to practice, and Marshon Lattimore is still healthy after returning in Week 3. Aside from that, things are looking pretty bleak for the Saints.

An optimistic way to look at this is through the lens of the Saints being a veteran team. Often in the NFL, established veterans get off days early in the week, as a way to manage their health and protect their bodies for a long season. While they’re undoubtedly banged up, a couple more days of rest and recovery allows them to get back near peak form once game day rolls around on Sunday.

That’s the glass-half-full way to look at things, but who are we kidding, fans aren’t optimistic. Saints fans are likely panicking, and cherishing the first two weeks of the season, because it’s seemingly all downhill from here.

Everyone will be closely monitoring the injury report throughout the week to check these players’ statuses, but if the veteran team looks like this ahead of Week 4, conventional wisdom says things are only going to get worse as the season progresses.

READ MORE