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Some reinforcements could be on the way for the New Orleans Saints. While the team was expecting to get all-star wide receiver Michael Thomas back from his early-season ankle sprain (and a single-game benching after a fight in practice), on Monday they also designated two veteran players to return from injuries on the official NFL transactions wire: linebacker Kiko Alonso and running back Ty Montgomery.
Alonso started training camp on the physically unable to perform list after suffering an ACL tear back in January’s playoffs; despite some offseason optimism, he wasn’t able to get medical clearance to return to work until Oct. 19. It’s unclear how involved he’ll be once he’s back to his old self, because the Saints have played so little base defense. Linebackers Demario Davis and Alex Anzalone are the only ones to log meaningful snaps, with strongside starter Zack Baun seeing just 13 plays so far this year. But Alonso proved last year he can play so the Saints will find ways for him to help out.
As for Montgomery: he was an exciting free agent addition in training camp, but the pass-catching specialist got on the field for just 10 snaps on offense before going down with a hamstring injury. He was placed on injured reserve, but players can be designated to return after three weeks of inaction this year due to COVID-19 rules changes. Most of Montgomery’s action came on special teams (he only had 3 targets and 1 carry on offense) so that could continue once he’s active again on game days.
The Saints welcomed multiple starters back into the lineup after a spat of early-season injuries before the bye week: defensive end Marcus Davenport (elbow, toe), left guard Andrus Peat (ankle), cornerback Marshon Lattimore (hamstring), and tight end Jared Cook (groin) all got on the field in Week 6’s win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and right tackle Ryan Ramczyk returned from a Week 5 concussion. Adding Thomas to that group would be huge, but bringing in more veteran depth like Alonso and Montgomery would also be moves in the right direction.
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