Tag: Vonn Bell

Saints rule out Vonn Bell, four others on final Colts injury report

The final injury report for Week 15‘a Monday Night Football game between the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts ruled out Vonn Bell.

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The New Orleans Saints are set to faceoff against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football in Week 15. There have been numerous questions surrounding the defense, the offensive line, and tight end Jared Cook. The final injury report has provided clarity on those issues.

On the Colts side of the house, wide receiver T.Y. Hilton will be a game time decision on Monday night.

New Orleans is playing for the first seed, and a first round bye in the NFC. Indianapolis represents the first chance for the Saints to get back on track after a heartbreaker of a loss in Week 14 to the San Francisco 49ers.

Any changes to Friday’s practice status are noted in bold text, and players listed without likelihood of playing on Monday (whether they are Out or Questionable) should be considered ready to go. Here’s what we’ve learned.

From the Saints

  • TE Jared Cook (Concussion), Full
  • OL Will Clapp (Elbow), Full
  • LB A.J. Klein (Knee), Full
  • FB Zach Line (Knee), Full
  • OL Andrus Peat (Arm), Did not participate, OUT
  • OL Terron Armstead (Ankle), Full
  • LB Kiko Alonso (Thigh), Did not participate, OUT
  • DE Cameron Jordan (Abdomen), Full
  • S Vonn Bell (Knee), Did not participate, OUT
  • CB Patrick Robinson (Calf), Did not participate, OUT
  • QB Drew Brees (Right Elbow) Full
  • CB/ST Johnson Bademosi (Foot) OUT

From the Colts

  • WR TY Hilton (Calf), Did not participate, Questionable
  • CB Pierre Desir (Groin), Full, Questionable
  • CB Kenny Moore (Ankle), Did not participate, OUT
  • G/T Le’Raven Clark, Full
  • DT/DE Denico Autry (Rest), Did not participate
  • T Anthony Castonzo (Rest) Did not participate 
  • S Clayton Geathers (Rest) Did not participate 
  • DE Justin Houston (Rest) Did not participate 
  • DE Jabaal Sheard (Rest) Did not participate 

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NFL projects 2020 salary cap to climb as high as $201.2M, Saints to benefit

The New Orleans Saints will have room to spend when the NFL reveals its salary cap for the 2020 fiscal year, with projections reaching high.

The New Orleans Saints and every other NFL team learned Tuesday that the league projects the 2020 salary cap to be set as high as $201.2 million, with conservative estimates coming in around $196.8 million. That would mean a big increase over the 2019 salary cap, which was established at $188.2 million.

The analysts at Over The Cap project the Saints to be on the hook for a little over $180.4 million in salary cap commitments when the NFL’s new fiscal year begins, which accounts for dead money payments to quarterbacks Drew Brees and Teddy Bridgewater, who are each scheduled to test unrestricted free agency next March. Depending on where the NFL and NFLPA agree to set next year’s salary cap, the Saints would go into the offseason with between $16.4 and $20.8 million to spend.

That’s slight work for Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and his financial team, which includes salary cap wunderkind Khai Hartley. They’ve proven able to manipulate contracts and structure salary cap commitments with ease, and shouldn’t face significant hurdles from it next season.

The real challenge is going to be retaining so many valuable free agents. Beyond the quarterbacks situation (Brees, Bridgewater, and Taysom Hill are each going to see their current deals expire), New Orleans must navigate contract situations with key contributors like safety Vonn Bell, cornerback Eli Apple, defensive tackle David Onyemata, linebacker A.J. Klein, and left guard Andrus Peat, to name just a few. The clock will also start ticking on new contracts for big-time playmakers including running Alvin Kamara and safety Marcus Williams, with fifth-year options in play for cornerback Marshon Lattimore and right tackle Ryan Ramczyk. This could be a year where the Saints keep most of their investments in-house and remain quiet on bidding in the open market.

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Saints snap counts analysis: Vonn Bell logged 104 plays vs. Falcons

By playing both defense and special teams, New Orleans Saints safety Vonn Bell saw his snap count climb to 104 against the Atlanta Falcons.

This year’s NFC South division championship belongs to the New Orleans Saints, just as it did last year, and the year before that. The Saints still haven’t played a complete game with penalty-free, clean execution in all three phases, but they’re still 10-2 and have clinched a playoff berth in November. They have time to improve before the postseason kicks off.

Snap counts got weird in this game, particularly on defense. They ran a season-high 93 plays when Atlanta had the ball, which is a huge disparity against the 50 plays the Saints ran on offense. When the Saints go 2-for-10 on third down while the Falcons go 6-for-16 (and get helped out by a number of dubious penalties against the Saints defense), that’s going to happen. Here’s our snap count analysis:

Offensive backfield

  • QB Drew Brees, 48 (96%)
  • RB Alvin Kamara, 41 (82%)
  • QB Taysom Hill, 13 (26%)
  • RB Latavius Murray, 13 (26%)
  • FS Marcus Williams, 1 (2%)

Hill didn’t see a huge jump in playing-time on offense (he’s averaged 11.4 snaps per game this year) but this game was easily his biggest day of the year so far. He scored both of the Saints’ two touchdowns (one through the air, another on the ground) and consistently gave the team a spark when they needed it on critical downs.

Skills positions

  • WR Michael Thomas, 40 (80%)
  • WR Tre’Quan Smith, 37 (74%)
  • TE Josh Hill, 29 (58%)
  • TE Jared Cook, 29 (58%)
  • WR Ted Ginn Jr., 27 (54%)
  • WR Krishawn Hogan, 11 (22%)
  • TE Jason Vander Laan, 5 (10%)

Smith ran a lot of routes but didn’t get open often against Atlanta, catching two targets for 14 yards. Cook was frustratingly inconsistent. The veteran tight end has clear playmaking ability — just look at his latest 40-yard catch-and-run — but he’s dropped three would-be touchdown passes in the last two weeks, and went 3-for-6 as a receiver on Thursday. At least Brees is still giving him chances to make an impact.

Offensive line

  • C Erik McCoy, 50 (100%)
  • T/G Patrick Omameh, 50 (100%)
  • G Larry Warford, 50 (100%)
  • T Ryan Ramczyk, 50 (100%)
  • G Nick Easton, 50 (100%)
  • G/C Will Clapp, 6 (12%)

New Orleans had to start two new faces at left tackle (Omameh) and left guard (Easton), and they both responded well when called up. The Saints gave up six sacks in their last game with the Falcons but rebounded to keep Brees clean and upright in this meeting. Their success in a pinch was a huge reason for the Saints’ success.

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Watch: Vonn Bell recovers his fifth fumble of the season, ties NFL lead

New Orleans Saints safety Vonn Bell recovered a fumble out of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, his fifth of the year, tying the lead.

The Atlanta Falcons may have just been snakebit on Thanksgiving night against the New Orelans Saints. Things just didn’t go there way in high-leverage situations, like on this third down midway through the fourth quarter.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan dropped back to pass, but none of his receivers were open thanks to tight coverage by the Saints defense. The pass rush bore down on him so he burst out of the pocket and jogged upfield for what should have been a first-down conversion.

Unfortunately for Ryan, he’s not as well-rounded an athlete as Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport, who chased after the fleeing quarterback before crashing down on him, jarring the football out of Ryan’s grasp. And who should be in the right spot to recover that fumble than Saints safety Vonn Bell?

Bell went into Thursday’s game tied with several other players for the second-most fumble recoveries in the NFL (4), trailing only Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson (5). Now that Bell recovered this fumble from Ryan, he’s tied Watson for the NFL’s lead, and he’s the only defensive player to do so.

This comes two weeks after Bell recorded his first career interception off of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, a day in which four different Saints defenders picked him off. If the Saints defense can continue making game-changing turnovers like these and cut down on a handful of mental errors, they’ll be able to compete against any unit in the lead.

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Panthers Highlights: Christian McCaffrey makes Vonn Bell miss, scores again

He’s up to 16 on the season, now.

Tackling Christian McCaffrey is easier said than done. Watch Saints safety Vonn Bell do his best and come up with nothing but air before McCaffrey scores his second touchdown of the game. He’s up to 16 on the season, now.

The Panthers still trail the Saints 31-24 going into the fourth quarter.

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Saints didn’t learn from Myles Garrett incident

A week after the Myles Garrett fiasco, NFL players are still breaking safety rules.

Apparently, last week’s violent incident between Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and Pittsburgh’s Mason Rudolph hasn’t made the rest of the league settle down this week. At least for one team’s defense.

The New Orleans Saints defense made two violent plays in the first half of Sunday’s game with the Carolina Panthers. New Orleans’ Cameron Jordan punched Carolina quarterback Kyle Allen in the facemask.

A bit later, New Orleans safety Von Bell did essentially the same thing to Carolina running back Christian McCaffery.

The league made a big issue out of last week’s fiasco and fined 33 players for their roles in the incident. Shouldn’t New Orleans defensive coordinator Dennis Allen have told his players to stay within the rules – especially this week? Apparently, Allen didn’t get the memo.

 

Pat Yasinskas has covered the NFL since 1993. He has worked for The Tampa Tribune, The Charlotte Observer and ESPN.com and writes for numerous national magazines and websites. He also has served as a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Watch: Vonn Bell sends the Saints into halftime with his first career interception

New Orleans Saints safety Vonn Bell sent his team into halftime with his first career interception, snagging a deflected Jameis Winston pass

It’s taken some time, but after 61 games in the NFL, New Orleans Saints safety Vonn Bell can say he’s earned his first interception. Bell was able to send his team into halftime with a turnover, having been in the right spot to recover a ball tipped into the air by Saints linebacker Kiko Alonso. It was the second interception of the day credited against Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, who had another pass (which was also deflected) picked off by Demario Davis earlier in the game.

This was obviously a huge moment for Bell, who entered the NFL with a reputation as a ball hawk for the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Saints obviously valued his abilities and proved that by trading up in the 2016 NFL Draft to pick him, even if it’s taken some time for his ball skills to manifest in the NFL. Bell is having his best season as a pro with this interception, two forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries in his first ten games. Check out the highlight reel-worthy play for yourself:

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