Football is a game for tough people, but even they'll have their limits.
That was the case when Saints WR/RB Ty Montgomery attempted to snare a pass from Trevor Siemian in the first half against the Titans, only to have it ricochet off his hands and leave him grimacing in pain.
Clearly something was wrong. He went into the blue injury tent and emerged with a towel over his hand and in obvious distress. The broadcast showed a stomach-turning look at his finger after the failed catch, with the pinky on his left hand pointed in the wrong direction.
But could he have taped it up, gritted his teeth and finished the game? That's a no, according to coach Sean Payton, the injury was too significant, even to the smallest finger on the hand.
“He’s a tough sucker, now. But that was a lot more serious … it was through the skin, dislocated, the whole 9 yards," Payton said.
With Alvin Kamara inactive due to a knee injury, Montgomery's absence was even more pronounced. Taysom Hill, who likely would've worked in more in that instance, was also "nicked up," Payton said. So that meant some carries for special teams ace Dwayne Washington and even more work for veteran Mark Ingram.
"Mark took a lot of snaps, and really took a lot of snaps on plays that weren’t necessarily going to be plays we ran with him," Payton said, "and did exceptionally well.”
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Ingram's performance was one of the bright spots from the 23-21 loss that dropped the Saints to 5-4, their second straight game that included a rally from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter, only to lose in the final seconds. But Ingram was a key piece of that rally. He ran for 47 yards and a touchdown, taking over the top spot on the Saints' all-time rushing list in the process, and caught a team-leading 4 passes for 61 yards. He was also the target on a 2-point conversion attempt that would've tied the game in the final minutes, but it was broken up by former Saints CB Janoris Jenkins.
The Saints' initial injury report for Week 11 comes out Wednesday afternoon, and there's a good bet that Montgomery, and possibly Hill, are on it. That was represented in workouts held this week, with potential special teams contributors and a backup quarterback option among the players the Saints brought in, according to a report from Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football. That group includes WRs Jalen McCleskey, a former Tulane standout who was with the Saints in training camp, and Cody Core, who was a special teams ace with the Giants in the 2019 season but tore his Achilles last year.
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Should Montgomery miss extended time, they'll lose a player that has contributed in both the pass game (6 catches for 54 yards) and run game (4 carries for 13 yards), but most notably a star special teams contributor with six tackles and one kick return for 33 yards to this point in the season.
The Saints hit the road again to face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11.