The list of battered and bruised saints grows longer

Just as they started to show signs of recovery, the New Orleans Saints added a few more key names to their injury list. As if Sunday’s 26-8 loss to the Chargers wasn’t bad enough, New Orleans also lost a few key players in their sixth straight loss.

The Saints still have WR Rashid Shaheed, CB Paulson Adebo and C Erik McCoy on injured reserve, while Shaheed and Adebo are out for the year. However, other key players returned to the lineup on Sunday. Taysom Hill, offensive linemen Cesar Ruiz and Lucas Patrick, WR Chris Olave and LB Pete Werner were all back after missing two or more consecutive appearances.

It didn’t bode well, as New Orleans lost six straight for the second time in 25 years. In the process, the Saints also saw other players added to their incredible injured list.

Some of these players could miss some time as we enter another week of closely monitoring the injury report. Here are the notable Saints who have put Sunday’s loss behind them and added their names to the list of the walking wounded.

It went largely unnoticed during the broadcast, but Johnson left the game against the Chargers with a concussion. John Hendrix of the Saints News Network initially reported that the incident happened late in Sunday’s loss. No further news was available immediately after the match.

WWL Louisiana’s Ross Jackson reported Monday that Johnson had cleared the concussion evaluation process. As a result, he will not have to go through the NFL’s five-step concussion protocol to be cleared for next Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers.

Johnson caught three of his four targets for 48 yards against the Chargers. On the season, he has 18 receptions for 184 yards and a score. Fourteen of those catches came in the last four games.

New Orleans got some good news from Johnson’s injury. The same cannot be said for some of the others eliminated from defeat this weekend.

Already without Adebo, who suffered a season-ending loss last week, Lattimore left Sunday’s game late in the third quarter. His initial diagnosis was a hamstring injury, which was confirmed on Monday. Even worse, the hamstring was on the same leg he injured earlier in a loss to Denver on Thursday.

Soft tissue injuries have plagued New Orleans this season and have often lingered beyond the average recovery period. A position that relies on agility and returns to the same muscle can be particularly concerning.

The first reports this week about Lattimore won’t reveal much. He also probably won’t see much, if any, practice time during the middle of the week to get as much rest as possible. Thursday or Friday’s injury reports may provide a better indication, but it’s possible we’ll get an early start next Sunday before we know for sure whether Lattimore will face Carolina.

Lattimore is one of the few defensemen from New Orleans who has played outstanding football. He has broken up two passes, but teams have often discarded him due to excellent overall coverage. If they have, Lattimore has given up just a 55% completion percentage without a touchdown against him.

A rookie fifth-round pick, Means clearly endured a tough performance against the Chargers. It was clear that he was in pain early in the match and left the field several times to visit the injury tent.

Means he has scored 14 times against the Chargers. He caught his only target of the game, a 36-yard strike from QB Jake Haener on New Orleans’ final drive. After the match, it was revealed that Means had suffered a high ankle sprain.

The ankle injury will likely sideline Means for some time. How many weeks will probably become clearer this week. It’s possible he could be placed on injured reserve, meaning he’ll miss at least four weeks of action.

Means has nine receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown so far. All nine catches and 14 of his 15 goals have happened in the last three weeks. The Saints are already without Shaheed and have a banged-up Chris Olave. With Means likely out of action, they will have to rely more on undrafted rookie Mason Tipton, practice squad player Equanimeous St. Brown and newly signed Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

Well, we’ve made it almost two full weeks without a Kendre Miller injury. In only his second game back from injured reserve with a hamstring ailment, Miller left in the third quarter of the Chargers game with another hamstring problem.

The possible good news is that this injury wasn’t the leg that kept Miller out for all of training camp and the first six regular season games. The reality is that this is yet another problem for a back who has been plagued by injuries throughout his short career.

Miller showed impressive burst and promise against the Chargers. He had three rushes for 16 yards and a kickoff return for 41 yards, with two other nice gains negated by a penalty. However, Miller has always shown tantalizing talent. The problem is actually staying in the lineup to deliver on that promise.

Miller missed nine of 17 games as a rookie in 2023 and made more than 10 appearances in just three of those nine games. When he’s on the field, his burst, vision and ability to make good things happen is undeniable.

Kendre Miller is just one of the new names we’ll be keeping a close eye on in this week’s injury report. Bub Means and especially Marshon Lattimore are the others, along with status QB Derek Carr, as the 2-6 Saints take on the Carolina Panthers.