Replay of Trevor Penning injury pic.twitter.com/2ngHP2kbTT
— Rod Walker (@RodWalkerNola) August 27, 2022
This isn’t good. New Orleans Saints rookie left tackle Trevor Penning exited Friday night’s preseason game with the Los Angeles Chargers on a medical trainer’s cart after taking some friendly fire on a Mark Ingram II touchdown run. Penning was blocking an opposing lineman when tight end Juwan Johnson collided with him while crossing the formation, putting a lot of stress on Penning’s left leg. Team medical staff initially looked at Penning’s left foot in the blue sideline tent before moving him to the locker room for further evaluation.
Hopefully it isn’t a serious injury, but it can be tough to diagnose these problems right away. Penning needs to stay healthy and get all the reps in practice he can get after making the jump to the NFL from Northern Iowa. He’s a very raw talent who is actively learning on the job. And while the Saints didn’t draft him expecting him to start right away in Week 1, the projected starter James Hurst has been inactive in practice in recent weeks while recovering from a toe injury.
The Saints have two weeks to get healthy before they kick off the regular season in Atlanta. We’ll see whether it’s Hurst, Penning, or someone else entirely is getting the start at left tackle protecting Jameis Winston’s blind side.