New Orleans Saints rookie leaves practice early with injury, causes more concern for depth chart weakness
The New Orleans Saints received some horrid news on Thursday afternoon. Rookie offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga had to leave practice early. The offensive line has been a concern during the offseason. Now, the suspense turns up another notch. Saints rookie OT Taliese Fuaga suffers back injury Fuaga left practice with a trainer early on and […]
The New Orleans Saints received some horrid news on Thursday afternoon. Rookie offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga had to leave practice early. The offensive line has been a concern during the offseason. Now, the suspense turns up another notch.
Saints rookie OT Taliese Fuaga suffers back injury
Fuaga left practice with a trainer early on and did not return. The severity of his injury is not known yet.
Losing Fuaga for any amount of time would be worst-case scenario for New Orleans. You could argue that he was the team's second-best OL in the Saints' first preseason game. He was clearly the best tackle on the roster.
Fuaga had 12 pass-blocking snaps and allowed zero pressures. The rookie tackle recorded a 77.2 pass-blocking grade via Pro Football Focus. New Orleans needs to be safe with Fuaga, avoiding risk in the preseason.
Saints head coach Dennis Allen says Fuaga will play this weekend if healthy, though. Only time will tell.
If Fuaga has to miss time, expect Trevor Penning and Landon Young as the starting tackles this weekend. The depth would truly take a massive hit.
The Saints have already been searching for clear starters at two OL spots. Without Fuaga, they would only have two expected starters healthy on the unit, Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz. Everything else remains fluid along the OL.
Keep an eye out for updates regarding the young offensive lineman. Hopefully, his removal from practice was more precautionary than anything.
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