You hate to see this. New Orleans Saints wide receiver Shaquan Davis is out of commission after being placed on injured reserve Monday, though the specific injury he’s dealing with has not been disclosed (teams are not required to list them on the injury report like players on the 53-man roster). Davis quickly won over the fanbase during the Saints’ preseason games with his combination of size, speed, and acrobatic catches, but he wasn’t able to win a roster spot.
Still, the team liked him enough to bring him back to the practice squad. But now he’s dealing with an injury and has to go on the mend. Practice injuries aren’t common in the NFL, but they do happen, and right now the Saints have two practice squad players on injured reserve between Davis and veteran linebacker Ryan Connelly (who aggravated a preseason knee injury in September). Hopefully they can both heal up and get back on the field to develop their craft.
But this wasn’t the only move the Saints made with their practice squad. They also released rookie cornerback Anthony Johnson. New Orleans signed several veteran corners to the practice squad in recent weeks like Cameron Dantzler and Faion Hicks, both of whom had more experience than Johnson as an undrafted first-year pro. Both guys must have shown more in practice to warrant a longer look.
Take these two moves with backup offensive lineman Tommy Kraemer signing with the 53-man roster last week (only to be waived on Monday) and the Saints currently have three open spots on the 16-man practice squad. Expect Kraemer to return should he clear waivers, but New Orleans could be hosting free agent tryouts in the near future with so many vacancies.
