The New Orleans Saints are still hard at work at their 2024 training camp, but the number of players not on the field continues to grow.
That group now includes both starting linebackers from last year in Demario Davis (hamstring) and Pete Werner (shoulder), as well as both starting outside corners in Marshon Lattimore (hip) and Paulson Adebo (groin). And that's just the top end of the list. It's no big surprise that the scenario has left Deuce McAllister a little exasperated.
"All you can do is shake your head, I mean,' because hey, I can give you film where you’re showing up," McAllister said. But man, if you’re out for an amount of time that, you know, doesn’t allow you to go out and play, at some point, you know, there’s nothing that the team can do."
There are names like Kendre Miller and Equanimeous St. Brown, who have both missed significant time with hamstring issues. Another pair of young players in Bub Means (shin) and Nick Saldiveri (calf), who have now missed multiple days.
The latest additions include a familiar name in Payton Turner, who is dealing with a toe injury on the same foot that kept him out from Weeks 2-17 a year ago. The former first-round pick is in a contract year and under significant pressure to prove he can stay on the field after an injury-ravaged first 3 seasons in the NFL.
"It’s on you to kind of have to take care of your body and if I’ve got to wear steel-plated whatever for protection of that toe, that’s what I’m gonna do, just because I can’t allow it to stop me from playing and I understand it’s a difference between being injured, hurt and I can’t go out and perform," McAllister continued. "If it’s a pain issue, I know it’s tough to say, hey, I’ve got to suck it up during camp … just because I’ve got to prove not only to myself, but to my teammates as well as the coaches that they can depend on me.”
The Saints are back in action on Monday before an off day on Tuesday (Aug. 6).
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MORE FROM DEUCE
On going back to shells after five padded practices; what's the difference?
"It’s not a different tempo. I think the toughest is for the offensive and defensive line because now they can’t, it’s tough, I can position block they can’t really fire off and that’s on both sides of the ball. For the other guys it’s just like normal, because normally you wouldn’t get tackled. You still see guys on the ground and you hear them saying stay up, stay up, you know, both sides, but don’t let it affect your steps. Don’t let it affect the window, because the window is the window, whether I have pads on or whether it’s 7-on-7 or shells. The window is the window, and so for the quarterback, for the receivers, for the running back, the look has to be the same, you’re just changing out equipment.”
On too many flags
“Six overall [procedural penalties], and I think when you’re rolling in that many people it’s tough, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter. And so from a false start, from a shift, you have shifts, you have motions, the quarterback is killing the play, he’s changing the direction the play goes, it’s a different quarterback, you know, I worked with the 2s and now this quarterback’s voice is a little different — doesn't matter, work through it. You’ve got to figure it out and if I’ve got to listen to a quarterback a little different, that’s what I’ve got to do. And if the quarterback has to get the center and the offensive line over there so they can hear him say a count or go through a cadence, so be it, because at the end of the day it’s either getting off the ball and you’re late or you’re early and it’s illegal. They have to get that cleaned up. It’s something that cannot happen.”