This is really unfortunate. Payton Turner led the charge on a fourth-down stop for the New Orleans Saints defense, but disaster struck as he tried to wade out of the pile. One of his teammates drove a Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman into the turf and on top of Turner’s left leg, bringing him down to clutch at his ankle in a lot of pain.
Members of the Saints training staff evaluated him on the field and quickly signaled for a medical cart, which wheeled Turner to the locker room. The Saints announced that Turner is questionable to return, which honestly feels like a relief — things looked very serious, so it might be a good sign that he wasn’t just ruled out immediately. But we’ll see if he’s able to return in the second half.
New Orleans is dangerously shorthanded without him. Starting defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport were unavailable with injuries of their own, leaving a rotation of Tanoh Kpassagnon, Carl Granderson, and practice squad call-up Jabari Zuniga in the game.
Update: The Saints announced midway through the fourth quarter that Turner’s status was downgraded. He will not return.
