New Orleans Saints fans weren’t the only ones surprised to see A.T. Perry get waived last week. The wide receiver was blindsided, too. Perry signed with the Denver Broncos practice squad after clearing waivers, and the former sixth-round draft pick reacted with words of criticism upon being let go.
“It was kind of a shock that I was released just for them to bring another o-lineman in,” Perry told the Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel.
That lineman the Saints brought in was Connor McGovern, who played 24 snaps at center on Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs after Lucas Patrick suffered a collarbone injury. When Patrick returned to the lineup in the second half, he went to left guard while McGovern remained at the pivot.
And those 24 snaps McGovern played were more than Perry totaled through the first four games this season. Obviously this was a disappointing turn of events, but the writing was on the wall when rookies like Mason Tipton and Bub Means were getting on the field and Perry wasn’t.
“It was kind of confusing for me,” Perry continued, speaking with Gabriel. “Just wanting to play in that offense — (Derek Carr) was throwing the ball around and I wanted to be part of that. Unfortunately, I wasn’t. I was on the active roster but inactive (on game days) each week. They said it was my hand.”
Perry was listed with a hand injury on the injury report for the first two weeks, but minor ailments continued to trip him up after that. He was limited by an illness in Week 3 and a hamstring injury slowed him down in Week 4. Then he was let go.
So while injuries may have played a factor, the bigger issue was Perry’s poor performance at practice. He only caught one pass from Carr in team drills throughout all of training camp. When speaking about the decision to start Spencer Rattler this week while Carr is dealing with an injury, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak may have inadvertently shared some insight to Perry’s situation: “I haven’t met a lot of gamers. Usually, what people do in practice is what they do in games.”
Good luck to Perry in Denver, where he’s reunited with Pete Carmichael and some other familiar faces. If he can quickly learn their playbook he might get on the field next Thursday when Sean Payton makes his return to New Orleans. No one questions his physical gifts and athletic talents. It’s just a shame he couldn’t put them to use in an offense lacking someone with his skills at wide receiver. It’s why the Saints are working so hard to trade for Davante Adams.
