Report: Saints rookie WR Marquez Callaway diagnosed with minor knee sprain

The New Orleans Saints could be without wide receiver Marquez Callaway, who was lucky to avoid a season-ending knee injury vs. the Broncos.

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It seemed like the New Orleans Saints were in the middle of a scary situation when rookie standout Marquez Callaway was immediately ruled out of their recent game with the Denver Broncos after suffering a knee injury, but NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Tuesday that the first-year wideout received some good news.

Pelissero reports that Callaway was diagnosed with a “minor knee sprain” which could sideline him, though it’s a far cry from a feared season-ending injury. Depending on the exact issue and damage, he could miss New Orleans’ next game or several contests remaining on their schedule. At this early stage, we just don’t know. So keep an eye out for updates on the Saints injury report, which will be released on Wednesday and updated throughout the week before their Sunday rematch with the Atlanta Falcons.

Callaway, 22, signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee and initially earned his way onto the roster by impressing on punt coverage drills in training camp. He’s gone on to fill in well for All-Pro return man Deonte Harris (fielding 10 punts for 106 yards and 4 kicks for 94 return yards) while earning trust from the Saints quarterbacks on offense, going 15-of-19 for 136 receiving yards.

The downside here is that Harris also absent. He suffered a neck injury in their first game with the Falcons and wasn’t able to practice in the following week, getting downgraded from questionable to out altogether before kickoff at Denver. If Harris and Callaway can’t go, and neither can the nominal next man up (backup running back Ty Montgomery, limited recently with a hamstring injury), the Saints may have to turn to some familiar faces like Alvin Kamara, Taysom Hill, or Austin Carr and Tommylee Lewis, currently on the practice squad.

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