New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders is expected to miss a couple of weeks due to a calf injury, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. This news comes on roster cut-down day and leaves the Saints with some pretty intriguing questions to answer as they begin to trim down the roster to its official 53-man size.
The Saints have options, as they could place Saunders on injured reserve, leaving him out of the lineup for four games but opening an extra roster spot for the duration. Otherwise, they could keep him on the active roster if the injury is expected to have a shorter duration than that and find a way to replace him for two to three weeks until he is healthy.
As for his replacement, the presumably obvious answer would be Nathan Shepherd, who started all 17 games for the Saints with Saunders along the defensive line. The other possible option would be rookie sixth-round pick Khristian Boyd, who has been the subject of quite a bit of hype throughout the offseason process. He has exceptional athletic skills and physical traits that make him an intriguing prospect, and may lead to him getting at least some share of the snaps left behind by Saunders. Bryan Bresee had already replaced Saunders in the starting lineup next to Shepherd so expect a big season for the second-year draft pick.
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