The final New Orleans Saints injury report ahead of Week 8’s game with the Indianapolis Colts doesn’t look great, but we’ll take a positive spin on it. Nine players are questionable for Sunday’s game at Lucas Oil Stadium, but just one player has been preemptively ruled out due to injury. Three others received treatment this week but are expected to play.
So it’s looking like a good number of players listed as questionable will ultimately be able to suit up on Sunday. We just shouldn’t assume that everyone receiving that designation will get the nod.
What’s concerning is who the injuries are impacting. Left tackle James Hurst (ankle) has already been ruled out for the game, but his immediate replacement Andrus Peat (ankle) was a late addition to the injury report on Friday, and he’s one of those listed as questionable to play. If Peat can’t go, the Saints would likely start Landon Young (hip), who was limited earlier this week but upgraded to full practice reps on Friday.
Another positive is that right tackle Ryan Ramczyk practiced fully again and is likely to start this week after he missed time in the concussion protocol. The Saints want to send Trevor Penning in games as a reserve coming in for overloaded sets rather than expose him to mismatches in a starting role.
Several safeties are questionable: J.T. Gray (hamstring), Tyrann Mathieu (foot), and Marcus Maye (hamstring/illness); Maye was limited earlier in the week with his hamstring injury but missed practice Friday with an illness that’s been going around. Mathieu was upgraded to full reps on Friday after also being limited.
Other Saints players who are questionable Sunday include linebacker Demario Davis (knee), quarterback Taysom Hill (chest), and cornerback Alontae Taylor (hip), plus offensive guard Max Garcia and tight end Jimmy Graham (both illnesses). We’ll monitor the inactive list closely on Sunday morning to see who can’t go. Here is the full injury report from both teams going into Week 8:
