METAIRIE, La. – The New Orleans Saints are still hoping to get attacking stars Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas back into the lineup for Sunday’s playoff opener against the Chicago Bears.
But they shut out one of their best defensive playmakers, defensive end Trey Hendrickson, with a neck injury on Friday.
Hendrickson was one of the NFL’s bigger surprise peaks this year with a team-high 13.5 sacks. He originally sustained the injury in week 15 and did not play in week 16. But he returned to play in week 17 and practiced on a limited basis on Wednesday before being sidelined on Thursday and Friday.
However, the Saints’ No. 4-ranked defense has good depth at DE. They have two experienced starters in the multi-year Pro Bowler Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport. And young backup Carl Granderson has delivered some juice with four bags for the past five weeks.
The Saints also ruled out veteran guard Nick Easton with a concussion. But the rest of their injury report looked up this week. Nickel safety CJ Gardner-Johnson was activated from the reserve / COVID-19 list on Friday. Start safety Marcus Williams (ankle), versatile backup quarterback Taysom Hill (concussion) and veteran tight-end Josh Hill (hand) are also expected to return from injuries.
Kamara (reserve / COVID-19), Thomas (ankle) and receiver / return specialist Deonte Harris (neck) are not on the daily injury reports as all three are still on reserve lists. However, signs continue to point out that all three will return to the lineup on Sunday as well.
Thomas and Harris both returned to practice on Wednesday after spending the past three weeks in the injured reserve. Coach Sean Payton has refused to give Thomas official status for this week’s game, but he previously explained that the plan was to give Thomas three weeks off to get him as close to 100% as possible for the playoffs . And quarterback Drew Brees said Sunday night, “I know we’re getting Mike Thomas back – I think the last three weeks he was down has been great for him.”
Kamara, meanwhile, won’t be eligible to return from the reserve / COVID-19 list until Sunday, meaning he hasn’t been able to practice all week and even stay at the team’s hotel Saturday night. However, Kamara suggested on Twitter Thursday night he expects to be free to play.
A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Kamara has watched practices remotely via a live video feed at his home, with Payton on the microphone to guide Kamara through the plays.
“There’s a live video camera and we’ve had some stuff. But I don’t want this to be the big story because we still have to wait and see if he can play,” Payton said Friday. “We clearly have the Zoom technology [to allow Kamara to participate in meetings], the exercise video, all those things. And it really helps that he is an extremely intelligent player. “