This is brutal: New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen opened his press conference on Saturday by sharing that running back Eno Benjamin suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon at their Aug. 5 training camp practice. Benjamin will undergo further evaluations but these are simple injuries to diagnose on the field and likely season-ending.
It’s a really tough break for the backup running back. Benjamin was competing with Kirk Merritt and Ellis Merriweather to reinforce the depth chart behind Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams. NewOrleans.Football’s Brooke Kirchhofer reported from the scene, saying that Benjamin “planted to take off on a route and immediately went down. He was carted off and didn’t return to practice.”
The 24-year-old landed with New Orleans last year after bouncing around the league — he was waived by the Arizona Cardinals, claimed by the Houston Texans, then waived again before the Saints picked him up. Now he’ll have to recover from a painful injury and hope to continue his career after a delay of months if not a full year. New Orleans may look to sign a free agent running back to maintain depth through training camp.
