With a loss to the Cowboys in Week 13, the New Orleans Saints' playoff hopes dwindled. Unfortunately, that trend continued after news came on Monday that they'll be without one of their most impactful offensive players for the next three games and could be missing a star on the defensive side of the ball for Week 14 as well.
ESPN's Field Yates revealed that wide receiver Deonte Harris, who has been a spark plug all season and was a lone bright spot against Dallas, with 96 yards and a touchdown, will serve a three-game suspension for his July DUI arrest.
Harris doesn't have the same role and sample size as many of the top receivers in the NFL, but he's been very impressive all the same. He currently ranks fifth among all wideouts in the league with an 86.6 overall PFF grade, ahead of names like Tyreek Hill and DeAndre Hopkins. For a Saints offense that could use all the help it can get right now, this is a big blow.
"You're waiting, and now we'll go through that process," head coach Sean Payton said of Harris (via Saints team website). "We kind of knew at some point that was going to be something he was dealing with and then we as a team would deal with it."
Harris is less of a household name than the other player in Yates' aforementioned report, however, as defensive star Cam Jordan tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Jordan is vaccinated against COVID-19, as noted by Johann Castro of WWL-TV, and so he could return ahead of Week 14 if he tests negative twice before then.
Luckily, the Saints might not need him to win their Week 14 contest against the lowly Jets, who were just beaten pretty handily by the Gardner Minshew-led Eagles in Week 13.
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