Between injuries and COVID-19, the Saints' roster will be thin Sunday when New Orleans faces the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
The Saints are looking to, along with a Green Bay loss and Seattle win, clinch a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs with with a win against the Panthers but will do so without all of their running backs as they’ve all been ruled out due to close contact with Alvin Kamara who’s been placed on the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list.
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Several other Saints are out for the matchup due to injury or COVID-19 as well.
Here’s a look at who’s currently available:
Quarterback
Active roster: Drew Brees, Taysom Hill, Jamies Winston
Practice squad: Trevor Siemian
Hill heads in to Sunday’s game as the team's available leading rusher. He’s rushed for 416 yards and seven touchdowns this season.
Running back
Active roster: Ty Montgomery
Practice squad: Tony Jones Jr.
Montgomery is in his first season with the Saints and has appeared in five games this season but only has 21 yards from scrimmage on three touches. Jones Jr., an undrafted rookie out of Notre Dame, will likely make his NFL debut. The 5-foot-11, 224-pound back, played four years for the Irish and tallied 1,481 yards and 12 touchdowns in 37 career games.
Tight end
Active roster: Jared Cook, Adam Trautman
Practice squad: Garrett Griffin, Ethan Wolf
Tight end Josh Hill was ruled out of Sunday’s game with a hand injury.
Wide receiver
Active roster: Emmanuel Sanders, Marquez Callaway, Jake Kumerow, Austin Carr, Juwan Johnson
Practice squad: Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Jake Lampman, Tommylee Lewis
The Saints are without receivers Michael Thomas, Tre’Quan Smith and Deonte Harris who’ve all been placed on injured reserve.
Offensive line
Active roster: Ryan Ramczyk, Terron Armstead, Cesar Ruiz, Nick Easton, Will Clapp, Derrick Kelly II, James Hurst, Ethan Greenidge, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy
Practice squad: Cameron Tom, Calvin Throckmorton
After playing without two starters, Peat and Easton, Friday the Saints offensive line is relatively healthy ahead of Sunday’s game.
Defensive line
Active roster: Malcolm Brown, Trey Hendrickson, Marcus Davenport, David Onyemata, Cameron Jordan, Carl Granderson, Sheldon Rankings, Shy Tuttle, Malcolm Roach
Practice squad: Anthony Zettel, Christian Ringo, Ryan Glasgow
The Saints are relatively healthy on the defensive line after playing without sacks leader Trey Hendrickson Friday.
Linebacker:
Active roster: Demario Davis, Alex Anzalone, Zack Baun, Kaden Elliss,
Practice squad: Andrew Dowell, Chase Hansen
The Saints placed linebacker Kwon Alexander on injured reserve this week after he suffered an ankle injury in the Christmas Day win against the Vikings.
Defensive back
Active roster: Janoris Jenkins, Marshon Lattimore, Ken Crawley, P.J. Williams, Justin Hardee, Malcolm Jenkins, J.T. Gray,
Practice squad: Grant Haley
New Orleans heads into Sunday’s game very thin in its secondary. Defensive back C.J. Gardner Johnson was places on the reserve/COVID-19 list earlier this week and safety D.J. Swearinger will reportedly be out due to the virus as well. Practice squad cornerback Keith Washington is on the COVID list and Safety Marcus Williams is out with an ankle injury.
Special teams
Active roster: Wil Lutz, Thomas Morstead, Zach Wood
Practice squad: none