Here’s some good news. Alontae Taylor was a full participant at Tuesday’s New Orleans Saints practice session, signaling that the team has opened the three-week window for Alontae Taylor to return to practice. It’s a big development: the rookie cornerback was lost to injured reserve back on Sept. 24, but could return in time to reinforce a secondary that hasn’t met expectations in recent weeks. Taylor suffered an MCL strain in practice that made it hard to run with an injured knee, but he’s now practicing with his teammates and working to get back on the field on game days.
If Taylor is fully recovered within 21 days of returning to practice (and that could happen much sooner), he’ll come off of injured reserve and return to the 53-man roster. Hopefully his return is days away rather than weeks — the Saints secondary has been hit hard with injuries to top cornerback Marshon Lattimore, free safety Marcus Maye, and versatile backup P.J. Williams. Getting Taylor back in the mix should make it easier for the Saints to work around their other issues. Taylor is also a big help on special teams covering punts and kickoffs.
And it would be nice to have another rookie draft pick contributing this year. Of the five Saints players selected in the 2022 NFL draft, only wide receiver Chris Olave has played meaningful snaps — left tackle Trevor Penning isn’t expected back until November due to a preseason turf toe injury, while linebacker D’Marco Jackson was lost for the year to a training camp knee injury, and defensive lineman Jordan Jackson has spent the first six weeks of the season on New Orleans’ practice squad. Here’s hoping Taylor continues to heal up so he can get back on the field help the team.
