Entering Week 11, the New Orleans Saints were excited about where they were at health wise— something that hasn’t been the case throughout the year. The main catalyst for this excitement was the return of Erik McCoy. New Orleans’ starting center injured his groin back in Week 3 and was sidelined ever since. On Sunday, he finally made his return.
Unfortunately, the return was short lived, as McCoy was back on the sideline before the game finished. The Pro Bowl center re-injured his groin and was pulled from the game. Naturally, this caused a lot of worry, as fans feared McCoy would have another lengthy stint on the sideline.
Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Interim head coach Darren Rizzi provided an update for McCoy on Monday, saying the starting center is going to be ok. Rizzi explained that McCoy went through a bunch of test, and that the team was being cautious with him. Still, the interim head coach said it’s probably a good thing New Orleans doesn’t have a game in Week 12.
Darren Rizzi said Erik McCoy went through a bunch of test last night and this morning. "We just really wanted to be cautious with that."
— John Hendrix (@JohnJHendrix) November 18, 2024
He said that he's going to be okay in the long run, and that it's a good thing the Saints have a bye week this week.
Darren Rizzi says Erik McCoy will be ok after leaving Week 11 game with re-injured groin
The upcoming bye week will be huge for McCoy and the rest of the Saints. For McCoy, he’ll have two weeks to get right after re-aggravating the injury that forced him to miss seven games, and that extra time should prevent him from missing another game.
He’s not the only Saints player that will benefit from not playing a game in Week 12. New Orleans has been decimated by injuries all season, and even the guys that have been on the field have been dealing with various issues. This bye week will give everyone some much needed rest, helping them to heal up for their final six games— games they need to win if they want to make the postseason.