New Orleans Saints fans will have to wait at least another week to see Chase Young make his season debut, and there'll be one other major question that rolls into a Week 2 showdown with the 49ers.
Young hasn't practiced since leaving early with a calf injury on the Wednesday ahead of Week 1. The Saints will again turn to Carl Granderson and Cam Jordan for significant roles in his absence, though Chris Rumph and others will be expected to rotate in.
The bigger mystery will be the status of RT Taliese Fuaga, who practiced again in a limited capacity on Friday and is listed as questionable for the game due to a knee issue. Saints head coach Kellen Moore said the plan is to assess how Fuaga's knee reacts from the work on Friday and make a decision from there. If Fuaga can't go, expect to see Asim Richards take over at that spot as he did for the 4th quarter of last week's game. Richards told me that was his first time ever playing at RT in a game at any level, so a week's worth of reps should help him tighten up things going into a matchup with a stout San Francisco defensive front.
Here's how the full Saints injury report broke down on Friday, along with gameday designations (questionable/doubtful/out):
DNP = did not participate; LP = limited participation; FP = full participation
- S Julian Blackmon (shoulder): DNP | DNP | DNP - out
- OT Taliese Fuaga (knee): DNP | LP | LP - questionable
- G/T Trevor Penning (toe): DNP | DNP | DNP - out
- DE Chase Young (calf): DNP | DNP | DNP - out
- RB Velus Jones (knee): LP | LP | FP
- LS Zach Wood (elbow): LP | DNP | FP
- S Jordan Howden (oblique): FP | FP | FP
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Saints safety Julian Blackmon is likely to land on IR ahead of the game after suffering a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery during the loss to the Cardinals last week. The Saints will also be without LG Trevor Penning, who hasn't practiced since suffering a foot injury in the preseason opener.
There was some good news with long snapper Zach Wood (elbow) and RB Velus Jones (knee) both being upgraded to full practice on Friday. Neither has a gameday designation, indicating they are expected to play.
The 49ers only ruled out one player, but it's an important one in QB Brock Purdy. Star TE George Kittle has also been placed on IR. Here's how the 49ers side of the injury report broke down as of Thursday:
- DE Nick Bosa (rest): DNP | FP | FF
- DE Yetur Gross-Matos (knee): DNP | LP | n/a
- WR Jauan Jennings (shoulder): DNP | DNP | LP - questionable
- RB Christian McCaffrey (rest/calf): DNP | FP | FP
- QB Brock Purdy (left shoulder/toe): DNP | DNP | DNP - out
- OT Trent Williams (rest/knee): DNP | DNP | LP - questionable
- G Ben Bartch (knee/elbow): LP | LP | FP
- RB Jordan James (finger): LP | LP | FP
- WR Jordan Watkins (ankle): LP | LP | FP
- LB Luke Gifford (knee): FP | FP | FP
- QB Mac Jones (knee): FP | FP | FP
- G Dominick Puni (knee): FP | FP | FP
The Saints (0-1) host the 49ers (1-1) at noon Sunday inside the Caesars Superdome. Catch all the action on WWL and Audacy.