Tag: Eagles

Rashid Shaheed, Chris Olave could be in line for big games vs. Eagles

Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed could feast on an Eagles secondary that’s given up the third-most yards to receivers this season so far:

https://twitter.com/pff_saints/status/1836817573129736604

Numbers suggest a big game could be in store for Rashid Shaheed, Chris Olave and the New Orleans Saints wide receivers corps

Not including the New England Patriots who have played three games, the Philadelphia Eagles have allowed the fifth most passing yards in the NFL.

If you boil down those yards strictly to catches made by receivers, the Eagles allow the third most yards wide receivers despite having Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell at cornerback.

For Shaheed, this could mean more of the same. He’s been Derek Carr’s favorite target and team leader in yards against both the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. A large percentage of of his yardage came on the touchdown in this game. You could see him receive more targets and become more involved beyond the deep shot.

Olave still feels like he hasn’t been completely unlocked. He was more productive in the second game. His 81 receiving yards is solid, but it still feels like there’s another level. This could be completely be because the Saints are putting up so many points that it feels like your top receiver should be putting up monster numbers.

This could be the game where Olave goes over the century mark, or gets into the touchdown. If the Saints really feel dangerous, Olave may achieve both for the first time this week.

Saints have good news in the final injury report for Week 3 vs. Eagles

Friday’s injury report provides points of optimism for the New Orleans Saints leading into their Week 3 game with the Philadelphia Eagles:

While the New Orleans Saints streak of having the longer injury report continues, Friday’s report gives plenty reason for optimism. The Saints had five players go from DNP to limited reps or limited to full participation on Friday.

There were big names among that group such as Tyrann Mathieu, Taliese Fuaga and Marshon Lattimore. All three men made the jump to full participant and have no injury designation for Sunday’s showdown with the Philadelphia. This mean they’ll be set to go unless they encounter a setback on Saturday.

Taysom Hill is one of five players who are listed as questionable for Week 3. Hill suffered a chest injury last week, and had to go to the hospital after the game.

An underrated player to watch is Will Harris. Harris won the starting spot next to Mathieu. He’s made a couple of plays in the first two games of the season.

Philadelphia’s injury report is simple. Wide receiver A.J. Brown will miss the game with a hamstring injury and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson is questionable with a foot issue. The road team have no other health concerns heading into the game.

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C.J. Gardner-Johnson injury: Ex-Saints DB is questionable for Eagles

C.J. Gardner-Johnson has missed two games against the Saints with injuries. He was a midweek add to the Eagles injury report but his old team is ready if he plays:

C.J. Gardner-Johnson has already missed two rematch games against the New Orleans Saints with injuries on two different teams, so he’s probably looking forward to his third chance for some payback. But he was a surprise midweek addition to the Philadelphia Eagles injury report with a foot issue. That has made him questionable for Sunday’s game.

His old team is ready if he plays. Saints head coach Dennis Allen was asked Friday about planning for instigators who bait opponents into hotheaded penalties, and he had a great response.

“Is there a particular player you’re talking about?” Allen quipped.

Gardner-Johnson has developed a reputation as one of the NFL’s best trash talkers. When he was with the Saints, he was known for getting under opponents’ skin and drawing flags — and a punch or two. That’s continued after he left the team. Last Monday night he taunted another player into swinging on him and hurting their team.

So the Saints are going to be ready, if Gardner-Johnson does end up playing. They know him better than any other team around the league. It just comes down to health. The Saints traded him to the Eagles in 2022 but a lacerated kidney put Gardner-Johnson on injured reserve before they could play each other later that season. He signed with the Detroit Lions in 2023, another Saints opponent, but a torn pectoral muscle sidelined him again before kickoff.

Now he’s gone back to Philadelphia and is dealing with another untimely injury. We’ll have to wait to see whether he can gut it out. When approached by Eagles beat reporters in the locker room on Friday, Gardner-Johnson offered only a brief comment: “See ya Sunday.”

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Marshon Lattimore (hamstring) feeling better, expected to play Week 3

Marshon Lattimore missed last week’s game, but it’s expected he’ll be able to suit up as the Saints take on the Eagles — who are without A.J. Brown

This story was updated to add new information.

The Philadelphia Eagles will be down one of their lead receivers Sunday as A.J. Brown is still recovering from a hamstring injury. On the other side of the ball, the New Orleans Saints could be getting Marshon Lattimore back from a hamstring injury of his own.

The cornerback was a full participant on Friday and had no injury designation on the final injury report, meaning he’s expecting to play.

Lattimore missed the Week 2 matchup versus the Dallas Cowboys due to an injury suffered against the Carolina Panthers. Lattimore was a game-time decision. Ultimately, Dennis Allen held the cornerback out to keep from further injury.

Kool-Aid McKinstry joined Alontae Taylor and Paulson Adebo as the three cornerbacks in the secondary. Lattimore hopes to rejoin the lineup in Week 3.

When looking at the lead up to Week 2. It was clear Lattimore was close to ready. Allen’s tone after the game felt like the corner would have a good chance playing this week.

After the week off, Lattimore feels healthier. He actually practiced this week, which he didn’t do last week. Allen thought the cornerback would be mad at him for the decision. In the moment, maybe he was, but Lattimore agreed it was the right call to sit in hindsight.

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Dennis Allen says Taysom Hill will be questionable vs. Eagles

Saints coach Dennis Allen says Taysom Hill will be listed as questionable before kickoff with the Eagles: ‘If he’s able to go, he’ll be out there for sure’

This is worth watching. New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen told reporters Friday that do-it-all tight end Taysom Hill will be listed as questionable on Week 3’s injury report. We won’t know for sure whether he’s playing until just before kickoff with the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

“If he’s able to go, he’ll be out there for sure,” Allen said.

Hill was held out of Wednesday’s first practice session with a chest injury suffered last week against the Dallas Cowboys, which required a trip to the hospital and a couple rounds of imaging. We still haven’t learned exactly what’s ailing him, but it’s a good sign that Hill never had to wear a red non-contact jersey in practice this week. He was a limited participant on Thursday and practiced again Friday.

So we’ll just have to wait and see whether he’s ultimately able to play. Hill has remained a key piece to Klint Kubiak’s offense as a blocker, runner, and receiver, and his presence alone forces the defense to line up in more base personnel than they’d probably like. If he can’t go on Sunday the Saints would have to ask more of fullback Adam Prentice and maybe rookie tight end Dallin Holker. But as we’ve learned over Hill’s career, no single player can fill his shoes.

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Saints vs. Eagles is a revenge game for C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Zack Baun

Former New Orleans Saints defenders C.J. Gardner-Johnson return to the Caesars Superdome, but this time as members of the Philadelphia Eagles:

The New Orleans Saints versus Philadelphia Eagles is better known in certain circles as the C.J. Gardner Johnson and Zack Baun revenge game.

It’s unclear if Baun has any animosity towards the Saints, but Gardner-Johnson certainly held a grudge upon his departure. There was even a point where he called the Saints his favorite opp.

Ironically, the Saints have played Gardner-Johnson’s team in each of the past two seasons. The safety has been unable to dress out, however, due to injuries. He did miss Thursday’s practice with a foot issue so he may miss this revenge game for the third year in a row.

Gardner-Johnson rose to prominence as one of the best nickel corners and trash talkers in the league with New Orleans. Since departing he has transitioned into becoming a safety. He was punched in the face again during “Monday Night Football,” so it’s safe to say his position is the only thing that changed.

Baun looked like a star in the making in Week 1. In Brazil, Baun made 15 tackles and had two sacks. That sack total ties his season high with New Orleans from last year. Most surprisingly, he is doing this from inside linebacker. Baun has left the Saints for a more important role. He is a starting linebacker who is going to beat all of his season high marks possibly before Week 5.

The Saints offense will look to exploit both of their former players and come down with a third straight victory.

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Almost two-thirds of experts pick Saints to beat Eagles in Week 3

The good news? Almost two-thirds of experts are picking the Saints to beat the Eagles in Week 3. The bad news? They were almost all wrong about the Saints in Week 2:

Beating the snot out of the Dallas Cowboys helped the New Orleans Saints  win over a lot of doubters, but they don’t have everyone on their side just yet. According to surveying done by Pickwatch, about 37% of former players, media analysts, national writers, and other experts like the Philadelphia Eagles to pull off a road win at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday. Roughly 63% picked the Saints on Friday.

So that’s more than one-third of the football cognoscenti picking against the Saints. New Orleans is slightly favored in this game but it’s understandable to still see so many questions being raised about them. They’re the highest-scoring offense in the league, having proven those experts wrong one week ago, but how real is this resurgence? The last two years with Dennis Allen at head coach could be meaningful than their last two games.

Which means the mission is the same as it ever was: Prove these doubters  wrong. The Eagles were a trendy preseason Super Bowl pick and their uneven 1-1 start has left them looking vulnerable. The Saints could stick a fork in them with another dominant win this Sunday.

You figure New Orleans is bound to slow down sooner or later. Klint Kubiak’s offense is new and teams don’t have much film to study on it just yet. They may have a favorable strength of schedule but at some point teams are going to start keying in on Kubiak’s tendencies and adjusting accordingly. That could start as soon as this week. The Eagles aren’t an opponent they can take lightly.

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Taysom Hill (chest) returns to practice on Thursday after last week’s injury

Taysom Hill returned to practice Thursday. His Week 2 chest injury held him out of practice on Wednesday, but he’s trending up before Week 3:

The New Orleans Saints seem to have gotten multiple of their players back Thursday, including Taysom Hill, who returned to practice after a Week 2 chest injury and a DNP at Wednesday’s practice. This is good news as Dennis Allen had said yesterday his hope was to get Hill on the practice field in at least a limited capacity.

One day after Marshon Lattimore returned to practice, the Saints got back Hill, who is a critical component in their offense. He was used primarily in a blocking role last week but we all know what his talents truly are.

We will get further information when the official injury report releases later Thursday afternoon as to whether or not this was a limited practice for Hill or a full practice. The assumption would be the prior, but any status update that results in positive momentum towards him playing Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles is a great sign.

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Dennis Allen shares brief update on Taysom Hill’s chest injury

Dennis Allen shared a brief update on the injury Taysom Hill sustained and his timeline going forward:

https://twitter.com/FletcherWDSU/status/1836486485245137318

New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen spoke to the media today after practice to discuss various topics and injury updates, one such update was on the chest injury Taysom Hill sustained during the Week 2 game against the Dallas Cowboys. We had previously known that Hill returned to New Orleans with the team and initially, the injury seemed less concerning than initially thought, Allen further discussed the current situation Wednesday.

When asked if he had any update on Hill, Allen stated: “No, he didn’t practice today, we’ll see where he’s at tomorrow. Kind of hopeful that he’ll be able to get out and at least get some limited work in tomorrow. So, we’ll just monitor him throughout the course of the week and hopefully, he’ll be ready to go, and if not, some other guys will have to step up.”

This provides us with at least some marginal insight into Hill’s injury, in that they clearly do not expect this to be a long-term injury at this current juncture, as they hope he will get on the field this week for practice. We will see how it plays out, specifically Thursday as that will be a critical day for where he stands in practicing.

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Marshon Lattimore (hamstring) returns to practice on Wednesday

Marshon Lattimore returned to practice Wednesday, and Dennis Allen says the hope is he can play against the Eagles this Sunday:

The New Orleans Saints may be getting a key piece back this week, as they have cornerback Marshon Lattimore returning to practice in a limited capacity on Wednesday. According to Dennis Allen, the hope is for Lattimore to play on Sunday, but we’ll have to wait and see how he progresses in practice this week. Lattimore was held out as a coach’s decision in last week’s win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Ultimately, the decision will likely come down to whether Lattimore can get back up to full practice reps, or at least show Allen that he has recovered enough to not create further issues with the hamstring when playing.

Having Lattimore back after missing practice all week leading into Week 2 and then being held out of the game will be a good thing, as despite the secondary playing decently well against Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and the Cowboys, having that true number one lockdown cornerback against the Philadelphia Eagles will be critical. Despite the current unknown nature of when A.J. Brown will return, DeVonta Smith will be a difficult receiver to handle on his own.

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