Saints’ young starter confirms suspicion about his injury without saying a word during Week 2 performance against 49ers
A long-term concern for him at this point.
New Orleans Saints offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga is expected to be one of the most notable pieces of the puzzle that Kellen Moore is solving on offense for the future in The Big Easy. With that, the team and its fans hope that the blocker can stay on the field as often as possible.
Playing through injury is a part of life in the NFL. For Fuaga, doing exactly that may actually do more bad than good for New Orleans in the short and long-term when you consider how impactful he is expected to be down the road for the Saints, though.
Injury situation for Taliese Fuaga
The young right tackle for New Orleans is dealing with a knee injury. With how often injuries have mounted for the Saints in recent seasons, this piece of news has always been a scary one to consider for fans of the team. In Week 2, Fuaga’s injury became a bit clearer without him saying a word about it.
Fuaga did practice last week, but it wasn’t a consistent sort of process in preparation for Week 2. Before the week began, Kellen Moore revealed that Fuaga was day to day with his knee injury. The young offensive tackle dealt with the injury in Week 1 and even left the game in the second half. Fuaga was limited during practice to finish the week ahead of the 49ers matchup.
With the knowledge that he was banged up, did the ailment hinder Fuaga’s performance in Week 2? It certainly seems like it did – when you consider how well Fuaga played last season while healthy. He was incredibly technically sound, but there were times on Sunday against SF
Fuaga’s performance simply looked different in Week 2
Fans and media both noticed one major aspect of Fuaga’s game that was altered against the 49ers. At times, it was noticeable in Week 1, too, presumably, due to his knee injury.
Fuaga was seemingly favoring his injured knee during pass sets, including the one on the final offensive play for New Orleans that resulted in immediate pressure on QB Spencer Rattler.
Setting up yourself as an offensive lineman is incredibly important, especially against skilled rushers on defense. For Fuaga, his lower half just did not seem as trusted for him as it normally is in Week 2, and that showed at times. He had some bright moments as well, but overall, you could tell that he may be trying to be extra careful with that knee.
You love to see Fuaga trying his best to give it a go, but New Orleans must be smart with this sort of situation. New Orleans just saw and felt and early retirement from star offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk due to knee issues. Now, your first-round pick from the 2024 NFL draft is dealing with a knee injury, and he is still being started.
Only the player and staff understand his true health, but the risk involved there seems a bit too hefty for a team that is in the middle of a rebuild. Fuaga is a massive part of that on the offensive side, and he and Kelvin Banks Jr. need to be long-term stalwarts at OT for the Saints. The draft capital involved for those two in recent years tells that story.
We’ll see how much Fuaga practices this week. The Saints will travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks in Week 3.
