It's almost time for the New Orleans Saints to play some football again. However, don't expect to see many of the starters when the Jacksonville Jaguars come to town later this week, as Kellen Moore confirmed. Right now, it's the backups time to shine.
"We'll get through this joint practice and then see where our numbers are," Moore said to the media. "But most of the starters are just going to get really good work in the joint practice and then they won't play."
The news really shouldn't come as that big of a surprise to Saints fans, because it's as Moore said, starters will get their reps in during the joint practices.learning how they fare against competition apart from their teammates in a controlled environment like these practices is invaluable to many NFL teams. What's more is that if this is the case now, then it'll likely be the case throughout the entire preseason.
The Saints will likely use the preseason to settle some position battles
In the next few weeks, the Saints will also have joint practices with the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys, in addition to the Jaguars. Both playoff-caliber teams, the practices should be just as intense as the ones with the Jags. This means their starters will likely play very little during the entire preseason.
However, that doesn't mean there won't be any players of note seeing the field. There are still position battles happening, after all. Camp darling Barion Brown should get some good reps on national television, along with Bryce Lance, Trey Palmer, and Ronnie Bell. The back end of the receiver room is honestly one to watch over the next three games.
There's also the shuffling that's happening with their offensive line after Dillon Radunz's ACL tear. A huge blow to the o-line, the Saints now have to find out who their sixth offensive lineman heading into 2026 could be. Players like Torricelli Simpkins III, Xavier Truss, and Jeremiah Wright will have to hit their second gear.
As the preseason is getting ready to go, those two position battles are just a small example of all the competition that'll take place. All of them should be gritty, though, because for some it's their last chance to get any meaningful snaps in the regular season this year.
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