The New Orleans Saints offense ground to a halt in Week 3 with center and team leader Erik McCoy exiting early with a groin injury, and the outlook is not a good one.
The 27-year-old is expected to require surgery to repair the issue, according to a report from Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network. The recovery timetable is in the range of 6-8 weeks.
Such a timeline would mean the Saints shouldn't expect to see their Pro Bowl center until mid-November at the earliest, should the recovery go to plan. It's a very disappointing bit of news for McCoy, who has been largely healthy throughout his career, but also for a Saints offense an offensive line that came into the season with major question marks but that put up 91-points and ran the ball well during a torrid start to the season.
That didn't continue against the Eagles with McCoy absent, with the Saints only managing 12 points and 89 rushing yards on their 29 attempts. The team opted to shift starting LG Lucas Patrick to center to finish out Week 3, while Oli Udoh took over at left guard.
"Nobody wants to see a Pro Bowl center go down and obviously he’s one of our better players on our offensive line, so that’s a challenge, and yet everybody in the NFL has to deal with those challenges and we expect our guys to be able to go in there and perform," head coach Dennis Allen said on Monday. "I thought Lucas Patrick did a good job going in and filling in in Erik’s spot, so yea, I mean, it was a challenge for us, but that wasn’t the difference in the game. “
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The Saints have options to consider going forward. They could continue with Lucas Patrick or potentially turn to Cesar Ruiz, who came up as a center and has filled in for Ruiz in the past. Either way that would require shuffling at the guard spots. Landon Young took over at left guard for the second half against the second half against the Panthers with Patrick dealing with an injury, but he was managing a foot injury of his own heading into this week. Second-year pro Nick Saldiveri is also a clear option, though he's been toward the back of the rotation as he works back from a calf injury that cost him a majority of training camp.
New Orleans could also scour available free agents or try to sign a player off another team's practice squad to fill the void. It's likely that McCoy lands on IR to open up a roster spot.
The Saints (2-1) head to Atlanta this week for what will be a pivotal early NFC South showdown with the Falcons (1-2) on Sunday.