Taliese Fuaga’s knee injury showed up on the Saints’ injury report Thursday, and by Friday morning the concern had only grown. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill reported the offensive tackle is undergoing testing on a knee sprain, and with Jaelan Phillips and the Carolina Panthers looming, the timing could hardly be worse.
Underhill’s wording is what has people paying attention. “Initial expectation is that it is not a significant injury, but further evaluation will determine.”
That sounds encouraging on the surface, but it also leaves plenty of room for a longer absence. Kellen Moore said the Saints do not expect Fuaga to land on injured reserve, though that still points toward more than a one-game issue.
It may not be four weeks, but it also does not sound like he’ll be ready for next week.
If Fuaga can’t go, the Saints could be forced to patch together the entire right side of the line. Cesar Ruiz is a starter and a natural center, but he’s been the team’s starting right guard, and moving him over would send Jeremiah Wright into the lineup at right guard.
At tackle, the expectation is that Asim Richards would replace Fuaga, just as he did last season when he filled in for Kelvin Banks Jr. The results then were not inspiring, and the Saints will need more from him now.
There is at least one way to look at it with a little optimism: all three of those players have starting experience, even if Wright’s is limited to one game. The less comforting version is that the Saints may be asking three players who do not normally line up together, or even at those spots, to sort out their chemistry on the fly.
That would be a problem against Phillips if he is able to play. He has been limited to five games this season and is questionable this week after returning from Carolina’s bye only to suffer a setback early in his first game back. Even so, he made an impact against the Eagles, recording .5 a sack in just 28 snaps.
Phillips usually works on the right tackle side, which made this matchup one of the more notable ones for Fuaga coming into the season. If Fuaga is out, that burden shifts to Richards, and it is a heavy one.
The Saints already had trouble keeping Tyler Shough clean last week, and that challenge would be even bigger against a Panthers team that can actually score. Pressure can wreck an offense in a game where the Saints need theirs to be better, and Fuaga’s injury opens the door for it. If Phillips is out there, he may be ready to kick it wide open.
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