Told this morning that the Saints do not expect to have Marshon Lattimore, Mike Thomas or Jarvis Landry back in time for the Cardinals game on Thursday night. There's optimism that Chris Olave will be back, though.
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) October 17, 2022
This was expected, but that doesn’t make it any easier to accept. A rash of injuries and a short turnaround between games mean the New Orleans Saints will still be without several starters in Week 7’s game against the Arizona Cardinals — Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan reports that the Saints don’t expect cornerback Marshon Lattimore (abdomen), wide receiver Michael Thomas (foot), or slot receiver Jarvis Landry (ankle) to suit up on Thursday night. Lattimore’s absence is most troubling given Arizona will welcome superstar wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins back into the lineup after serving his six-game suspension.
They’ll have a longer rest between games after this midweek kickoff, so it does make sense to avoid rushing those guys back. What’s concerning is that there absolutely does need to be a sense of urgency this week. The Saints are 2-4 and increasingly look like a squad that won’t even reach the “in the hunt” graphic weeks before the postseason begins. And there isn’t much of a light at the end of the tunnel after they traded their next first-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles. They could lose every game left on their schedule and still not get on the board until Nos. 32 or 33 overall.
Hopefully Dennis Allen can tighten things up and prove he was the right man for the job. He was hired for his ability to build and maintain an elite defense that could carry the team to wins while the offense figures things out, but his unit has fallen on its face. They rank 29th in points allowed and gave up a touchdown on 3 of their final 4 drives (also yielding a field goal, and we aren’t counting Joe Burrow’s kneel-down to end the game) in a second-half collapse against the Cincinnati Bengals. If Allen is going to rebuild any confidence with the fanbase, it has to start here, in a prime-time game without his best defensive back.
So keep an eye out for the Saints injury report this week. We’ll be looking for official word on each of these players as well as starting left guard Andrus Peat, who exited the Bengals game with an undisclosed injury, plus backup guard Calvin Throckmorton (inactive with a hip issue) and reserve defensive end Payton Turner (inactive with a chest injury).
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