Saints’ risky play with $48 million player backfires, but Kellen Moore has confidence in what comes next
The New Orleans Saints will not have starting running back Travis Etienne Jr. at their disposal for Week 4’s “Monday Night Football” against the Atlanta Falcons. Etienne, who signed a four-year, $48 million free agent deal with New Orleans this offseason, left the game with his hamstring injury in the third quarter of the Saints’ 35-27 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The New Orleans Saints will not have starting running back Travis Etienne Jr. at their disposal for Week 4’s “Monday Night Football” against the Atlanta Falcons.
Coach Kellen Moore could not say to reporters whether or not Etienne will go on the Reserve/Injured list with his injury.
“We’re gathering information,” Moore said. “Travis will be time loss with the hammy. We’ll see ultimately what that timeline looks like.”
Travis Etienne Jr. injury outlook
Etienne, who signed a four-year, $48 million free agent deal with New Orleans this offseason, left the game with his hamstring injury in the third quarter of the Saints’ 35-27 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. He was taken to the locker room shortly after and did not return.
The injury stings a bit harder considering it did not come out of nowhere. Etienne was listed with a hamstring injury on the injury report and was limited on Wednesday and Thursday. He was a full participant during Friday’s practice.
This was a case of Etienne trying to play through injury, and getting bit in the process.
Kellen Moore still optimistic about run game
Etienne entered Week 3 with 18 carries and was on track to hitting that total on Sunday before leaving the game. He ended up with 13 rushes for 57 yards, both season-highs for him. Pro Football Focus also had him with 41 yards generated after contact.
New Orleans had its best game running the ball, even when Etienne wasn’t in the game. Alvin Kamara looked much better in his second game back from his knee injury, churning out 36 yards on nine attempts. Kendre Miller and rookie CJ Donaldson chipped in with five combined carries as well.
Moore was pleased with the ground game, and highlighted the tight ends for that success.
“I think ultimately it takes all 11,” Moore said of the run game. “I thought there was some physicality in there, I think there were some physical runs, some finish runs. Tight ends, I thought Noah [Fant] stepped up and did some really good stuff in the run game as far as blocking. Oscar [Delp]’s kind of had a little bit of a role from week-to-week. Juwan [Johnson]’s in there as well, and I just thought we executed better.”
The Saints will announce whether or not Etienne will go on I.R. in the coming days. While he’s out, expect Kamara to get the lion’s share of touches.
