Coach and player gave confident reports about Jameis Winston's availability for Thursday's Saints practice in London, it wasn't the case.
The Saints starting quarterback missed his second consecutive practice, with Andy Dalton taking first-team reps and Taysom Hill continuing to fill in for backup reps. Jake Luton is also on the practice squad at quarterback.
Winston spoke Wednesday, his normal day to address the media, and indicated the decision to sit out was not made by him. He and his coach indicated it was more for rest than an indicator that the back or ankle injury he's working through had worsened.
When asked whether he'd return on Thursday, he kept is simple: "Yea, I'll be out there."
The availability will officially set Week 4 on a different track than the two weeks prior, when Winston was limited all three days of practice but with his lightest involvement on Wednesday. It's still possible Winston could return to practice on Friday and start against the Vikings on Sunday, but that appears to be very much up in the air.
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Wide receivers Jarvis Landry (ankle) and Michael Thomas (foot) are another pair of players to watch closely, after leaving the Week 3 loss to the Panthers early with injuries. Landry was back working at practice Thursday, while Thomas was absent.
The official injury report will be issues later in the day.
Steve Geller contributed to this report from London