That’s tough. The New Orleans Saints designated cornerback Bradley Roby to the injured reserve list on Tuesday’s update to the daily NFL transactions wire, using that open spot on the 53-man roster to re-sign wide receiver Keith Kirkwood. More moves should be coming this week as the team gets a better feel for various injury situations.
In the meantime, they’re left with just one healthy cornerback on the 53-man roster in Alontae Taylor. Paulson Adebo was unavailable last week with a knee injury. Marshon Lattimore wasn’t able to play while managing an abdomen injury, and the Saints have used up the three single-game activations for Chris Harris Jr. from the practice squad. If they want Harris to continue playing (he’s helped guard the slot as of late) he’ll need to sign with the 53-man roster. Backups Jordan Brown and Vincent Gray are also on the practice squad.
And at receiver, Kirkwood returns after having been waved just a week ago. He’s part of a group missing two starters (Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry) to injuries, joining Chris Olave, Marquez Callaway, Tre’Quan Smith, and Rashid Shaheed on the 53-man roster with Kirk Merritt and Kevin White on the practice squad. White has been elevated twice before, so he can be brought up for one more game before he maxes out his eligibility.
The Saints are hoping their injury woes are behind them after an extended rest following last week’s Thursday night game, though head coach Dennis Allen cautioned Tuesday that the latest news from the training staff wasn’t quite as optimistic as he’d hoped. We’ll see what the injury report is looking like on Wednesday ahead of Sunday’s kickoff with the Las Vegas Raiders.
