Christmas week was always going to represent an atypical schedule for the Saints, with the holiday falling two days before a Monday Night Football showdown against the red-hot Miami Dolphins.
But as I’ve learned in recent weeks when settling down to write this column, perhaps a short winter’s nap might’ve been beneficial. Because every top headline from early in the week only seems to last a few hours before a heavier one emerges.
What I’ve learned quickly: It’s important to be patient when deciding on a column theme in the 2021 season. Like the weather in New Orleans, wait 15 minutes, things will change.
On Wednesday the Saints lost tight end Adam Trautman to the COVID list. He followed tight end Juwan Johnson on Tuesday. With tight end Garrett Griffin already on injured reserve, the Saints were looking at being without three of their five tight ends just 4 days before kickoff. It felt like a theme was brewing there. But having an extra day for this team to work with, it was fair to reason that just meant extra time for more less-than-great things to happen. Nothing shocks us anymore, we are officially numb to it.
But even with that being the case, Thursday was a doozy. That brought the news of nine more players hitting the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Among them were the Saints’ top two healthy quarterbacks in Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian. That list also included ironman safety Malcolm Jenkins.
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That result was the Saints penciling in rookie Ian Book as the starting quarterback for Week 16.
That’s just a phrase we use, “penciled-in,” but I’m sure it’s become quite important not to use any ink on the roster these days. Pencils only, and make sure the eraser works.
Friday was Christmas Eve, and the early top headline was Saints head coach Sean Payton returning to the facility following his own COVID absence. But later that day, four more Saints players landed on the COVID list, including two team captains in linebacker Demario Davis and special teams ace J.T. Gray. Just a few days earlier Gray earned his first Pro Bowl honor, while Davis was robbed yet again.
Even Christmas day provided no respite, with defensive end Carl Granderson and three assistant coaches joining the COVID list that is neither naughty nor nice, just detrimental.
Of course, Sunday added four more players to the list along with special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi. That’s the complete list, I think, I hope. It’s now at 19 active players, and 20 total if you include suspended WR/KR Deonte Harris (Harty) who couldn’t play anyway.
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It’s absolutely possible (or maybe even expected?) that more players could test positive before Monday night. It’s also possible that some players on the list could log the negative tests necessary to rejoin the team for the game. But I don’t expect the team is counting on that in their preparation for the Dolphins.
I can also confidently say I’ve never spent so much time researching all 16 players on the Saints practice squad. They’ll likely be needed this week, and even some of them are gone to the COVID list as well.
You remember my Wednesday headline of Saints having to deal with a depleted tight end group? That simple of a headline would feel pretty good right about now.
How much can possibly change in 4 days? Well, we just found out.
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