This isn’t good. New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen announced Friday that cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Kool-Aid McKinstry are both out for Week 9’s game with the Carolina Panthers due to hamstring injuries. Because veteran starter Paulson Adebo is also out for the year with a broken leg, three of their four top cornerbacks are going to miss this game.
That presents a serious challenge for the secondary, but there’s more to consider. Normally, rookie backup Rico Payton would be expected to start in this situation. But he’s been dealing with a back injury and may not be able to suit up, either. That leaves Alontae Taylor as the only healthy corner on the 53-man roster, so fans should expect either Shemar Jean-Charles or Tre Herndon to come up from the practice squad on Sunday, if not both of them.
Soft-tissue issues like hamstring and groin injuries have plagued the Saints this season; few teams have had as many problems managing these specific ailments. Both Allen and general manager Mickey Loomis have noted that it’s unusual to see them occurring so often at specific position groups like cornerback, so the team will need to make some changes to curb them in the future. But that’s a challenge which will have to wait until the offseason. For now, all they can do is prepare as best they can for Sunday.
