Report: Saints expect Erik McCoy to miss 6 to 8 weeks with groin surgery

The Saints expect starting center Erik McCoy to miss 6 to 8 weeks after groin surgery, a brutal blow to their offense for the foreseeable future:

The blows keep coming for the New Orleans Saints. After a 15-12 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, all eyes turned to the health of Pro Bowl center Erik McCoy, one of their most crucial components on offense. Unfortunately, a report from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo says that McCoy is expected to miss 6 to 8 weeks, as he will be having surgery for his groin injury. This is a catastrophic blow to the Saints offense, which had been thriving through the first two weeks before he went down early in Week 3, which led to all sorts of dysfunction.

The replacement for McCoy will be a critical thing to figure out in the coming days, whether that be someone on the roster, a free agent, or a rare early trade if they want to get really competitive. Unfortunately, replacing him will be near impossible at his level of play, but finding someone that can at least be serviceable in his stead until he returns is paramount. Based on the current timeline expect, the sooner end has him returning for Week 10 against the Atlanta Falcons, and the far end would have him back for Week 13 against the Los Angeles Rams, due to the bye week slotted in-between. Once the surgery concludes and he begins his healing process, the timeline will become more clear in the days that follow.