This is tough. The New Orleans Saints are going to be without starting center Erik McCoy for at least four weeks after putting him on injured reserve Saturday; McCoy exited last week’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens with a calf injury, which kept him out of practice throughout the week. That’s a big blow to an offensive line that’s been a strength of the team at times this season.
In his place, the Saints brought up backup center Josh Andrews from their practice squad. A former left guard at Oregon State in college, Andrews has spent time at both guard and center through 42 games in the NFL, and he could start in McCoy’s place this week. That would keep Cesar Ruiz at right guard and put either Calvin Throckmorton or Lewis Kidd at left guard, filling in for Andrus Peat (who is out with a triceps injury).
Ruiz also played center in college and slid over to that spot last week (and he started in McCoy’s place for about a month last sesaon), so he could be an option. We’ll get a better idea of the situation once the team hits the field for warmups before kickoff with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday.
