By Ross Jackson
NEW ORLEANS — The injury impact cannot be understated for this season’s New Orleans Saints. In trying to quantify the team’s injury losses earlier in the season, that became dramatically apparent.
Since then, things have only worsened for New Orleans with 14 major Week 1 contributors having now missed a combined 63 games with a variety of injuries including impacts, broken bones, concussions and soft tissue ailments.
With only two games remaining, that total is set to rise with injuries to center Erik McCoy and guard Lucas Patrick.
Per interim head coach Darren Rizzi, while McCoy “avoided major damage” with the elbow injury he suffered against the Green Bay Packers on Monday night, he may end up not being available for the remainder of the season.
“I don’t know if Erik’s going to be able to play here in these last couple of games,” Rizzi said in his Tuesday conference call with New Orleans media. “It looks like, from the initial feedback and the initial scans and MRIs and all that stuff, that he avoided surgery. So that’s certainly a positive. It’s going to be a matter of whether or not he can function and get back for these last couple of games.”
Mccoy has already missed eight games this season with a groin injury that he suffered in Week 3. He briefly returned for the Week 12 contest with the Cleveland Browns. During that game, he aggravated the injury and missed the following week. He had been back for a pair of games in Weeks 14 and 15 before playing just seven snaps against the Packers.
It’s good news that the center will avoid surgery for his long-term future. But for the end of the season, the Saints could be back to a backup center. Expect veteran lineman Shane Lemieux to hold that role if McCoy does not return.
With just over one minute remaining in the Monday night matchup, starting left guard Lucas Patrick went down with a knee injury. Rizzi gave updates on his status as well, which does not look good for the remaining pair of games.
“That looks like that’s probably going to be a deal where he misses the last couple of games,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be surgical or not at this point, but it looks like that’s going to be a significant missed time. And when I say ‘significant’ I mean he’s going to miss these last couple of games.”
Rizzi did say that Patrick will be seeking additional opinions, but the outlook remains bleak for him to wrap up the season on the field.
That would amount to six games missed for Patrick this season after signing a one-year deal in the offseason.
The Saints are likely to be looking at adding or even revamping their offensive line in 2025, at least the depth. The trenches on either side of the ball are likely to be a top priority in the offseason.
