Tag: Update

Saints announce inactive players for Week 9 game vs. Panthers

Injuries in the Saints’ cornerback room highlight the inactive players in Week 9. Here’s who will be sitting this one out for both teams:

Injuries took a toll on the New Orleans Saints cornerback room going into the Carolina Panthers matchup. Marshon Lattimore and Kool-Aid McKinstry were ruled out on Friday due to injury. McKinstry suffered his injury during practice. Lattimore exited a game with a hamstring for the second time this season

Kendre Miller and Bub Means are also dealing with injuries, but they aren’t on the inactive players because they’re on injured reserve. Jamaal Williams was also listed as doubtful.

No Miller. No Williams. Expect the typical heavy dosage of Alvin Kamara.

The Panthers will be without Adam Thielen, but Xavier Legette is available to Bryce Young. Offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu is out after leaving last week’s game with an ankle injury. Young’s supporting cast being at less than full strength will impact an already struggling offense.

This is a rematch from the season opener. The Saints trampled the Panthers and started the Saints hype train. Fast forward to Week 9 and these teams have the two longest losing streaks in the NFL.

Here is the full list of inactive players in Saints versus Panthers:

New Orleans Saints inactive players:

  • CB Marshon Lattimore (hamstring)
  • CB Kool-Aid McKinstry (hamstring)
  • CB Rico Payton (back)
  • RB Jamaal Williams (groin)
  • DT John Ridgeway (oblique)
  • LB Jaylan Ford
  • QB Spencer Rattler (emergency quarterback)

Carolina Panthers inactive players:

  • LT Ikem Ekwonu (ankle)
  • TE Felipe Franks (concussion)
  • S Jammie Robinson (knee)
  • CB Shemar Bartholomew
  • OLB DJ Johnson
  • TE Tommy Tremble

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Is Xavier Legette playing today? Saints vs. Panthers injury update

Xavier Legette is dealing with an injury suffered in practice, but is expected to be the focal point of the Panthers’ passing attack against the Saints:

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette is expected to play in Week 9 against the New Orleans Saints, per FOX Sport’s Jordan Schultz. Legette’s became in jeopardy when appeared on the injury report Thursday with a toe injury.

Dionte Johnson is the Panthers’ leading receiver on the season. The thing is he was traded to the Baltimore Ravens earlier this week. That makes Legette the leader in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns among players still on the Panthers roster.

There is no other receiver on the team with multiple touchdowns or over 200 yards. Legette is still looking to get his feet underneath him in his rookie season, but the importance of his development and presence to the Panthers’ passing game is clear when looking at the rest of the roster.

As the Saints prepare to stall out a stagnant Panthers passing attack, the focal point is the rookie receiver. He hasn’t had a big game, but he was still a first round pick this year. If Legette has a breakout game this year, it wouldn’t be shocking. The Saints just need to make sure that game doesn’t happen against them.

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Kickoff time moved for Florida football vs. Georgia

Kickoff has been moved to 3:50 p.m. ET for the Gators matchup with Georgia.

Florida football faces the Georgia Bulldogs in Jacksonville this afternoon, and the kickoff time has been moved to 3:50 p.m. ET after originally being slated for 3:30 p.m. ET.

The Gators and Bulldogs are coming off bye weeks, so both teams will be well rested and ready to go for this big-time rivalry game.

Running back Treyaun Webb and receiver Eugene Wilson III highlight the key inactives for the Gators this afternoon. You can view the full availability report here.

Florida’s last game was a dominant 48-20 victory against the Kentucky Wildcats. The Gators ran for a total of 197 yards and look to carry over that success this afternoon. But it’ll be a tough challenge against an elite Bulldogs football team.

Georgia’s last game was a road victory against the Texas Longhorns. The Bulldogs won by a score of 30-15 and held Texas to a total of just 29 rushing yards.

Will the Bulldogs make the Gators look lost today? Or can Florida find ways to make it close and maybe pull off the upset? We’ll find out at 3:50 p.m. ET.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Saints injury report: 4 players ruled out, 6 more questionable vs. Panthers

The Saints and Panthers are both banged up. Between the two teams, Week 9’s final injury report ruled out 7 players, with 4 doubtful and 11 questionable:

It’s another rough injury report for the New Orleans Saints in Week 9, but the Carolina Panthers aren’t in much better shape. The Saints ruled out four players with six more questionable for Sunday’s game — and another one, running back Jamaal Williams (groin), is doubtful to play.

As for Carolina? Three Panthers players have already been ruled out, three more are doubtful to play at all, and five are questionable with injuries. You could almost make a 53-man roster out of all the injured players between the two teams.

But back to the Saints. New Orleans will be without cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore (hamstring) and Kool-Aid McKinstry (hamstring) as well as running back Kendre Miller (hamstring) and rookie wide receiver Bub Means (ankle). The group of questionable players includes cornerback Rico Payton (back), wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. (hip), left guard Nick Saldiveri (shoulder), guard/center Shanne Lemieux (knee), linebacker Nephi Sewell (knee), and defensive tackle John Ridgeway (oblique).

That’s a lot to remember. Here’s the final Week 9 injury report from both teams:

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Saints rule out both cornerbacks for Week 9 vs. Panthers

Dennis Allen announced that cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Kool-Aid McKinstry are both out for Week 9’s game with the Panthers due to hamstring injuries:

This isn’t good.  New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen announced Friday that cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Kool-Aid McKinstry are both out for Week 9’s game with the Carolina Panthers due to hamstring injuries. Because veteran starter Paulson Adebo is also out for the year with a broken leg, three of their four top cornerbacks are going to miss this game.

That presents a serious challenge for the secondary, but there’s more to consider. Normally, rookie backup Rico Payton would be expected to start in this situation. But he’s been dealing with a back injury and may not be able to suit up, either. That leaves Alontae Taylor as the only healthy corner on the 53-man roster, so fans should expect either Shemar Jean-Charles or Tre Herndon to come up from the practice squad on Sunday, if not both of them.

Soft-tissue issues like hamstring and groin injuries have plagued the Saints this season; few teams have had as many problems managing these specific ailments. Both Allen and general manager Mickey Loomis  have noted that it’s unusual to see them occurring so often at specific position groups like cornerback, so the team will need to make some changes to curb them in the future. But that’s a challenge which will have to wait until the offseason. For now, all they can do is prepare as best they can for Sunday.

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Spencer Rattler won’t be the Saints’ QB2 in Week 9 vs. Panthers

With Derek Carr returning this week, Jake Haener will be the backup quarterback. Spencer Rattler will go back to being the emergency QB3:

The New Orleans Saints are going back to the way things were as they prepare for the Week 9 showdown against the Carolina Panthers. After getting a slew of players returning from injury a week ago, they’ll get another major piece back on offense.

Derek Carr will return from an oblique injury and take his role as the starting quarterback, and it will cause the rotation to shift again. Dennis Allen announced Jake Haener will be Carr’s backup and Spencer Rattler will be the emergency third quarterback. This is a return to how things were prior to Carr’s injury.

Haener’s role has remained constant throughout the entire season. Whether Carr or Rattler was the starter, Haener was always the number two. There was a question of why Haener either didn’t start or why isn’t Rattler now the backup. Allen declined to share insight on the thought process.

Rattler was benched for Haener in his final start. That could have been the reasoning for the decision. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Haener get the start if Carr has to miss another game this year.

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Panthers announce their starting quarterback vs. Saints

Will there be an Andy Dalton revenge game in Week 9? The Panthers just announced whether Bryce Young will remain their starting quarterback against the Saints:

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young returned to the starting lineup in their Week 8 matchup against the Denver Broncos. There were questions of whether that change would be permanent. The change happened on the heels of Andy Dalton spraining his thumb in a car accident.

It’s not permanent, but Young will be the Panthers’ starter again against the New Orleans Saints. Dave Canales stressed the decision at quarterback is still being made on a weekly basis.

“Bryce will be starting this week,” Canales asserted with emphasis on the word this. He continues by saying, “we’ll collect all of the information over the week with Andy, with Bryce, how he plays this week, and we’ll make another decision next week.”

Beyond Week 9 is irrelevant to the Saints. This is the second meet-up between these two teams in 2024, and both times Bryce Young has been the starter. Carolina’s offense continues to be limited, and New Orleans’ defense should handle them well.

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Saints offensive starter avoided a concussion vs. Chargers

Juwan Johnson exited late in Week 8’s Chargers game to be evaluated for a concussion. Dennis Allen announced he is good to go against the Panthers:

Dennis Allen announced starting tight end Juwan Johnson is good to go ahead of the New Orleans Saints divisional matchup versus the Carolina Panthers.

Johnson caught a pass late in the New Orleans Saints’ contest against the Los Angeles Chargers, immediately left the game and didn’t return. It looked like Johnson took a slight hit to the head or his head went straight to the ground as he made the catch.

You may not have noticed because it was late in the game. This was on the final possession right before the two-minute warning. Johnson was then ruled out for the remainder of the game while being evaluated for a concussion.

Allen announcing Johnson is good to go on Monday means Johnson didn’t suffer a concussion and doesn’t have to go through the steps of concussion protocol.

Johnson has been more involved in the offense lately after a slow start. With the limited amount of wide receivers at the Saints’ disposal, Johnson should continue to be featured.

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Saints lost another receiver to injury late in loss to Chargers

The New Orleans Saints lost wide receiver Bub Means to an ankle injury on Sunday. They can’t afford many more hits to the receiving corps:

The New Orleans Saints lost wide receiver Bub Means to injury on Sunday when he was carted off the field late in the 26-8 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Head coach Dennis Allen noted after the game that Means had suffered an ankle injury, but he declined to share specifics. Means had previously left the game with a hand injury but returned in an attempt to play through it.

While the Saints have had plenty of other issues abound contributing to their lack of success, injuries have been one of the key problems. And wide receiver is a particular area that has caused many woes.

Among those names include Rashid Shaheed (out for the season after knee surgery) and Cedrick Wilson Jr. (who didn’t play this week due to a hip injury). Depending on how things shake out with injuries at the position moving forward will have great bearing on just how soon a newly-signed Marquez Valdes-Scantling could see the field.

Valdes-Scantling was inactive for Week 8, shortly after joining the Saints. If he is to take the field sooner rather than later, expect him to make an impact as a deep threat as he totals 22 career catches of 40 or more yards.

The Saints will aim for a (much) better offensive performance when they face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at 12 Noon CT/1 p.m. ET.

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Several key Saints offensive players upgraded on Week 8 injury report

Chris Olave, Taysom Hill, and Cesar Ruiz were among the players upgraded to full practice reps on the new Saints-Chargers injury report:

There’s more good news on Thursday’s New Orleans Saints injury report. Offensive playmakers including wide receiver Chris Olave, tight end/fullback Taysom Hill, and starting right guard Cesar Ruiz were among the players upgraded to full practice reps ahead of Week 8’s game with the Los Angeles Chargers.

That means just a few players continued to miss practice (starting quarterback Derek Carr and left guard Nick Saldiveri were joined  by veteran wideout Cedrick Wilson Jr., dealing with a hip injury) and five more were limited. Six players practiced fully while receiving treatment for their injuries, which at least feels like the most in weeks.

Here’s the full injury report. We’ll get game statuses on Friday, but things are trending up for the black and gold:

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