NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore (hamstring) is pushing to play against the Cowboys in Week 2:
It doesn’t sound like the New Orleans Saints plan on Marshon Lattimore playing against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, but never say never. And if it were up to Lattimore he’d be out there.
That’s what NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported overnight, saying that Lattimore is “pushing to play, but it’s a long season and him being healthy is paramount. He’ll workout this morning to see.”
The Saints traded up to pick Kool-Aid McKinstry in this year’s NFL draft because of Lattimore’s injury history. And then he pulled his hamstring last week against the Carolina Panthers after missing most of training camp with a hip flexor injury.
There aren’t many tougher assignments a rookie could ask for than being thrown into a game with CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, and the rest of the Cowboys receiving corps, but a trial by fire would tell the coaches what they have in McKinstry.
And it’s worth remembering the other corners on the 53-man roster include a rising star in Paulson Adebo and Defensive Player of the Week snub Alontae Taylor, as well as preseason fan-favorite Rico Payton. They have quality depth at the position. If giving Lattimore another week to rest his injuries helps him endure the next 15 games, going without him in Dallas might be worth it. But we won’t know if he’s able to go for sure until he tests his leg in pregame warmups.
Taliese Fuaga traveled to Dallas while dealing with back tightness that has kept him out of practice. He’ll be a game-time decision against the Cowboys:
Taliese Fuaga traveled to Dallas. My understanding is that he’ll be a gametime decision.
Taliese Fuaga traveled to Dallas for Sunday’s Saints game, per New Orleans.Football’s Nick Underhill, but his status will be a game-time decision ahead of kickoff with the Cowboys. Dennis Allen wasn’t concerned that the injury would be a major issue, but he never said Fuaga would play this week. He didn’t shut the door on that possibility, either.
Fuaga making the trip is the first step in the right direction. That keeps hope alive he could play. He’s currently dealing with back tightness, so that’s a tricky one. The injury kept the rookie out of practice for the majority of the week. He’ll have an opportunity to warm up on the field at AT&T Stadium and see how his back is feeling.
If Fuaga can’t play, Landon Young would join Trevor Penning as the starting tackles. Young filled in for Fuaga at practice during the week. Like Fuaga, Young shifted from the right side of the offensive line to the left this offseason. Olisaemeka Udoh is another option but he’s been focused on backing up Penning on the right side as of late.
The offensive line still has questions to answer and doing it without Fuaga will be a more difficult task. Fuaga will workout in pregame warm ups. It isn’t until then we’ll know whether he can go. It’s a long season and the Saints may not want to jeopardize their standout left tackle in Week 2.
Every way to watch or listen to Saints vs. Cowboys whether you’re in New Orleans or Dallas
The New Orleans Saints go on the road for the first time this season to face the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. The Saints go from facing one of the worst teams in the NFL to playing a true NFC contender. The change in scheme under Klint Kubiak was the biggest story of Week 1. Derek Carr, Alvin Kamara and the offense will have to continue executing at a high level this upcoming week.
What: New Orleans Saints (1-0) vs. Dallas Cowboys (1-0)
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
When: Sunday, Sept. 15, Noon CT (1 p.m. ET)
Streaming options include FuboTV (try it free) in each team’s regional market, with fans outside that range able to stream with NFL Sunday Ticket via YouTube TV.
If you’re listening in over the radio, WWL 870 AM or 105.3 FM (and its local affiliate stations) with Mike Hoss and Deuce McAllister. The game is available on KRLD 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas as well as its affiliate stations.
Each team is looking to extend their undefeated record for another week. The Saints are coming off a huge victory over the Panthers to open the season. The same can be said about the Cowboys. They put up 33 points on one of the best defenses in the NFL. They’re in for a similar challenge in Week 2 while the Saints are in for a bigger challenge than last week.
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Ahead of their game versus the Dallas Cowboys, the New Orleans Saints are elevating safety Ugo Amadi and linebacker Isaiah Stalbird from the practice squad.
Each week teams are allowed to bring a maximum of two players from the practice squad to the main roster each week. After three elevations, a player has to be signed to the main roster to appear again.
That’s not an imminent future at the moment. It’s only Week 2, and this is the first time either team has been elevated to the active roster this season..
For Stalbird, this will be his first career game. The Saints picked up the linebacker as an undrafted free agent out of South Dakota State. The Saints called up Khaleke Hudson last week before the Browns signed him off the Saints’ practice squad.
Amadi was on last year’s active roster for all 17 games. He’s played safety and slot corner, but it’s unlikely he’ll see much time in those positions against the Cowboys. Like Stalbird, Amadi will see the majority of his snaps on special teams. Marshon Lattimore’s health could push him into getting defensive snaps.
How do you stop Micah Parsons? Landon Young is looking for the answer through studying Parsons’ tendencies
The New Orleans Saints have to deal with one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers, Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons, this week.
Parsons had 13 sacks as a rookie and has added an extra half sack to his season total the following two years. He’s finished top-three in the Defensive Player of the Year each season as well.
With Taliese Fuaga’s back injury, slowing down Parsons may come down to Landon Young and Trevor Penning.
It’s difficult to say something about Parsons that hasn’t already been said, so Young kept it simple. He says Parsons “has all the attributes as what you want as a pass rusher.”
Young sees film study as the most important aspects as he tries to mitigate Parsons’ impact on the game. Young is looking for how Parsons’ varies his approach on a down by down basis. Knowing what he likes to do will help Young anticipate it and hopefully be prepared.
Parsons clearly has the advantage in the matchup, and Young has to look for any advantage, and those advantages must come from exploiting tendencies. Penning should be doing the same.
Drew Brees previewed this week’s Saints-Cowboys game with ex-NFL coach Jon Gruden. He doesn’t envy Derek Carr having to prepare for Mike Zimmer’s defense:
Gruden still has a lot of connections and fans around the league. His old quarterback Derek Carr is one of them. Another Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, is another. Brees joined Gruden on his YouTube channel to discuss a wide range of topics including youth football, fatherhood, and this week’s matchup with the Dallas Cowboys.
Brees visited the Saints at their training camp in Southern California, and he’s eager to see more of their offense with Klint Kubiak calling plays into Carr’s headset: “I love what that offense brings, both in the run game and I think the mentality, the way it shapes up the play action the passing game as well. I think there’s a renewed enthusiasm there. I think Derek’s about to have some of his best years. He’s got some explosive weapons around him.”
Interestingly, Brees pointed to what the Saints are doing now in comparison to what he and Sean Payton did back in 2006. Just like Payton learned much from Gruden as a coaching mentor in adapting the West Coast offense for his own designs, Kubiak is making Kyle Shanahan’s system his own in New Orleans. “It came from the same source, right?” Brees added.
As to this matchup in Dallas? Brees is hoping Carr can build on his strong performance: “That’ll be a heck of a matchup. I’ll be glued to the TV for that one.”
One wrinkle to this year’s game Gruden pointed out? Mike Zimmer’s return to Dallas. He’s once again the Cowboys defensive coordinator after a couple of seasons out of the league, running the defense where he first rose to prominence as Payton’s coworker so many years ago. And Brees doesn’t envy Carr and Kubiak having to outwit a defensive coach he has a ton of respect for.
“I’ll say this, we played against Zim a bunch. And there was never a week I expended more mental energy preparing for a defense than a Zimmer defense,” Brees said. “Because just like you said, the minute they walk those two linebackers up in the A gaps, even if they’re just bluffing them, it gets you thinking so much about, ‘Where can I get the ball out? What coverage are they potentially rolling to?'”
That sounds exhausting just from the description. What’s really intriguing about the Kubiak-Zimmer chess match is that Kubiak last worked as an offensive coordinator calling plays under Zimmer on the Minnesota Vikings. But the offense he’s running now is more heavily derived from Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers system than what Kubiak used in Minnesota, so it’s not like either coach has an inside track on what the other is planning. It’s all going to come to a head on Sunday. Like Brees (and Gruden), we’ll be watching.
Cowboys star cornerback Trevon Diggs had a blithe response to the challenge of guarding Chris Olave: ‘Is that a trick question?’
Sunday’s game between the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys has a couple of marquee matchups, but Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs isn’t sweating the task of guarding Saints wideout Chris Olave. Diggs responded with indifference when asked what challenges Olave presents as New Orleans’ No. 1 wide receiver.
“Is that a trick question?” Diggs replied. When pressed, he responded, “He’s a good player.”
Fans looking for disrespect are going to find it in a statement like that, though you could just as easily read Diggs’ comments as quiet confidence. He’s earned that swagger after intercepting 19 passes through his first 48 games, which won him two Pro Bowls and a spot on the All-Pro first team in 2021. If Diggs isn’t eager to talk his opponent up too highly, well — that’s his choice.
At the same time, it’s not like Diggs is an invincible cover corner. He’s known as a gambler with as many big takeaways and clutch pass breakups as big completions allowed into his coverage. Pro Football Reference found that he led the league in receiving yards given up (907) during that same 2021 season he won All-Pro recognition. And the gap between Diggs and the next-ranked cornerback, James Bradberry, was almost as wide as that between Bradberry and the sixth-ranked corner.
But it’s a new year. Diggs didn’t allow nearly as many yards in 2022 and he missed all but two games in 2023 due to injury. He had an interception in the season opener last week while yielding just 19 yards in coverage on 11 targets, so he’s clearly playing well right now. The Saints should be looking to lean on their run game against the Cowboys, but there will times when they need to complete a pass. It would be awful vindicating for his fans if Olave can get the better of this matchup when the ball goes his way.
Derek Carr climbed up three spots in the QB rankings after an efficient season opener. Can he fly higher in Week 2?
After a strong open to the season, New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr has risen up the NFL QB rankings. NFL.com’s Around the NFL writer Nick Shook writes a weekly quarterback rankings and was impressed with the performance Carr put on versus the Carolina Panthers.
After opening the year at No. 20, Carr is now ranked at No. 17. While no one is saying Carr is in the upper echelon of the league, that small rise is the difference from being in the average class to below. Carr’s 200 yards don’t jump off the screen. He was efficient and paired his yardage with 3 passing touchdowns. Here’s what Shook had to say about his performance:
I caution everyone to avoid overreacting to Week 1, but it sure was refreshing to see Carr have some fun playing football. After trudging through most of the 2023 season, Carr had new life in the Saints’ season opener, letting it fly with no fear and cashing in each time via a 59-yard touchdown strike to Rashid Shaheed, a risky floater to Foster Moreau while scrambling, and a rollout toss to Juwan Johnson for a third score. Carr’s stat line matched the ease with which he operated against the lowly Panthers, but I can guarantee the going will be tougher in the weeks ahead. We’ll see if Carr can carry this momentum into more difficult matchups.
Now Carr walks into one of those more difficult matchups on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are simply a better team than the Panthers with Pro Bowl and All-Pro talent on defense. The offensive line will have deal with a more dynamic pass rush and more dangerous secondary.
The Saints offensive line was last week’s pivot point, and they’ll be even more important this week. Carr will also have to look out for the Cowboys’ cornerbacks who have reputations as ballhawks. Trevon Diggs led the league in interceptions in 2021, and DaRon Bland did the same last year.
A good performance this week should put Carr in the top half of the rankings. Let’s see if he can get it done on Sunday.
Landon Young came in for Lucas Patrick at left guard vs. the Panthers, and he may have to fill in for Taliese Fuaga vs. the Cowboys
Landon Young came in for Lucas Patrick at left guard against the Carolina Panthers, and there is a chance he may have to fill in for Taliese Fuaga against the Dallas Cowboys this week.
The New Orleans Saints drafted Young as an offensive tackle. This year he became more versatile by adding guard to his repertoire. That has come in handy just a week into the season.
This week in practice he’s gone from guard to tackle and he discussed the difficulties of it: “It has its challenges. It’s a little bit easier to go from outside to inside than inside to outside.”
Unfortunately for Young, the Saints are asking him to take the harder route. Being a natural tackle may make his transition easier. The most important and beneficial thing for Young is getting reps at the position he’ll end up playing.
Adjusting to different players on your own team and opposing teams is a huge difference Young pointed out. He goes from blocking smaller, agile players on the edge to bigger, powerful players on the interior.
There’s also the chemistry factor of understanding the tendencies of the center or the guard next to you. This understanding is crucial as you pass off defenders to teammates.
The New Orleans Saints ruled out two players against the Cowboys, but they say five are questionable on the final Week 2 injury report:
The New Orleans Saints released their final Week 2 injury report ahead of Sunday’s game with the Dallas Cowboys, but we’ll have to wait until Sunday morning for confirmation on several key playmakers.
Just two players were ruled out for this game by New Orleans, in defensive tackle Khalen Saunders and linebacker D’Marco Jackson. Both of them are dealing with calf injuries.
What’s complicated is the group of five players who are questionable to suit up. That group includes keystones like left tackle Taliese Fuaga (back) and cornerback Marshon Lattimore (hamstring), plus young defensive linemen Bryan Bresee (illness) and Isaiah Foskey (back). Rookie linebacker Jaylan Ford (hamstring) is also questionable for Sunday.
As far as Dallas is concerned? They’ve already ruled out backup tight end John Stephens (hamstring), but the starter Jake Ferguson (knee) is doubtful to play after getting banged up in Week 1. Being so shorthanded at tight end could limit what the Cowboys offense can do on Sunday, but at the end of the day what it really comes down to is whether the Saints can contain dynamic slot receiver CeeDee Lamb.
