Oct 17, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo (29) leaves the field with an injury during the second quarter against the Denver Broncos at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
After another injury-riddled season, the New Orleans Saints have taken some notable steps towards improving their injury issues ahead of 2025.
If the team is looking to find success this year, those changes will have to yield positive and notable change. Keeping the star players on the field will be vital to the Saints taking a step forward sooner rather than later.
Hiring Director of Sports Performance Ted Rath is sure to go a long way. Head coach Kellen Moore has praised Rath and his staff often this offseason. Aside from two minor injuries to rookie safety Jonas Sanker and offensive lineman Nick Saldiveri, the roster has stayed healthy throughout offseason programs. Rookie cornerback Quincy Riley went from not participating in rookie minicamp to running in seven-on-seven drills at the end of mandatory minicamp.
Progress is already demonstrable.
But the Saints, who had 14 Week One starters miss a combined 84 games in 2024, will need more than just camp health to stay afloat throughout the regular season. The good sign though is fewer practice injures, something the snakebit Saints struggled with on multiple occasions last year.
Moore helped the team stay healthy by keeping his focus on training camp availability while the team installed and laid its foundation during OTAs and minicamps. The team didn’t run a single 11-on-11 team drill and strictly did walkthroughs without helmets through the offseason programs as a means of reducing contact and limiting physicality.
With such a clear focus on player health and retention, the Saints are off to a good start. But how they manage availability and attrition, which is inherent to the game, will be most important if they want to surprise in 2025.
