The Saints are heading into Week 1 in Detroit short-handed on offense, and the losses are piling up fast.
First came rookie receiver Jordyn Tyson, the eighth overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, who is expected to miss two months because of a hamstring injury. Then came another hit: ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that All Pro running back Alvin Kamara suffered a sprained MCL in training camp this week and will be out for “at least the next month.”
That leaves New Orleans dealing with two major absences before the season even gets rolling. The timing is especially rough for a team trying to rebound under new head coach Kellen Moore after a messy first season. The Saints finished 28th in scoring at 18.0 points per game, though they did close last year with some life, winning four of their final five games and putting up 24.8 points per game over that span.
Kamara’s 2024 production was well below his usual standard. In 11 games, he posted 471 rushing yards and 186 receiving yards.
Even so, New Orleans clearly planned for a shift in the backfield, signing Travis Etienne to a four-year, $48 million deal to take over as the lead runner. Etienne ran for 1,107 yards and seven touchdowns with the Jaguars last season.
Tyson may end up being the bigger miss. He had been turning heads in camp and looked like a real boost for a receiver room that got a serious overhaul this offseason.
The Saints used three draft picks on receivers this year, adding Tyson along with fourth-rounder Bryce Lance and sixth-rounder Barrion Brown. They still have Chris Olave and Devaughn Vele in the mix, but Tyson’s injury takes some of the shine off a group that was trying to take a step forward.
“Jordyn’s had a great camp,” Moore said this week. “He’s played really good football.
Inevitably, this is the unfortunate part of what preseason and training camp football is. We’ve already had a few of these guys, that you just have something that comes up and […] we’ll just work through it.”
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