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— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 19, 2024
The New Orleans Saints were dealt an unfortunate hand during their second preseason matchup, in which they lost 16-10 to the San Francisco 49ers and sustained a couple of injuries. Rookie cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry exited during the first quarter and Dallin Holker was hurt during pregame warmups. Head coach Dennis Allen shared updates for both players during his postgame press conference.
Regarding McKinstry, Allen said that “He has a knee injury, I think we avoided anything serious. Now, what kind of time we are looking at, I really have no idea. But I think we escaped the game, at least on initial report, without any major injuries.”
His statement saying that the Saints seemed to have gotten away without any major injuries is most definitely a notable one, as the injury to McKinstry looked bad upon first glance. Considering he went to the medical tent twice and then to the locker room, we had no real indications of the severity, though it seems less dangerous than first feared.
As for Holker the severity is unknown, however Allen did not seem specifically concerned about it and did not go beyond a short response about it: “He sprained his ankle pre-game. Prior to really pre-game, just throwing with the quarterbacks early on.”
Hopefully this shows faith in it being short-term issues for both first-year pros, but we will see how it develops in the coming days. Two other rookies were also banged up with former Tulane center Sincere Haynesworth being carted off with a leg injury, and sixth-round draft pick Khristian Boyd leaving under his own power before returning. We’ll watch for updates on both.
