NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A day after losing for the sixth time in seven games, the Saints learned Monday that they will play the rest of this season without veteran center Erik McCoy or emergent running back Kendre Miller.
The knee injury that took Miller out of Sunday's 26-14 loss in Chicago
was diagnosed as a torn anterior cruciate ligament, which will require reconstructive surgery, Saints rookie coach Kellen Moore said.Center Erik McCoy's biceps injury
sustained during the game also will end his season, Moore said.
"It’s really unfortunate because both those guys, I felt like, had been playing some really good football,” Moore said.
Even before the extent of those injuries were clear, the Week 7 loss to the Bears had to be tough for the Saints to stomach.
A Bears defense overseen by coordinator Dennis Allen, who was fired as Saints head coach last year, derailed the offense that Moore — who replaced Allen — designs and calls.
Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler was intercepted three times, took four sacks and lost a fumble.
While the ugly result does not necessarily portend sustained failure for Moore, it does demonstrate how far the Saints have fallen. A franchise that made the playoffs nine times and won a Super Bowl between 2006 and 2020 is now well on its way to not only missing the playoffs for a fifth straight season but also could post its worst record since going 3-13 in 2005.
“We're all trying to chase perfection and we are so far from it,” said 15th-year defensive end Cameron Jordan. "You've got to be realistic with yourself, sitting at 1-6. ... We're at an impasse and we have to figure out a way to overcome it.”
The Saints' red zone defense was solid in Chicago, limiting the Bears to four field-goal attempts on six possessions inside the New Orleans 20-yard line.
The Saints' running game gained just 44 net yards on 17 attempts, while the Saints' run defense, which had been solid earlier this season, gave up 222 yards.
Receiver Chris Olave, a 2022 first-round draft pick who is in a contract year, had five catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns for his first career game with multiple TD catches.
Olave “played awesome," Moore said. "Super fired up for him. Made some big plays downfield. A couple of those were in contested-catch situations.”
Versatile veteran running back Alvin Kamara is coming off a rare game in which he failed to gain even 40 yards from scrimmage. He rushed for 28 yards on 11 carries (2.5 yards per carry) and gained only 1 yard on three receptions.
“We want to be explosive in the run game, but we have to find it,” Kamara said. "It's getting away from us right now.”
Meanwhile, after his four-turnover performance in Chicago, Rattler saw his record as a starter drop to 1-12. Rattler remains the starter, Moore said. However, if his level of play doesn't improve soon, it could be in the Saints' best interest to give backup Tyler Shough, a second-round draft choice last spring, a chance to show his potential.
Miller, a third-round draft pick out of TCU in 2023, has struggled with injuries in each of his first three seasons, never appearing in more than eight games a season. However, he rushed for a career-high 193 yards this season to go with one touchdown.
“I’m really proud of what Kendre had turned this season into from an individual standpoint, the progress he’s made," Moore said, calling the timing of Miller's latest injury “really unfortunate.”
McCoy, a 2019 second-round draft choice out of Texas A&M and a starter throughout his career, will now miss the last 10 games of this season after missing 10 games in 2024 because of injuries.
“Certainly he’s one of our most impactful leaders," Moore said. “Just a really, really consistent player. He just doesn’t make mistakes. … He brings that whole (offensive line) together."
Moore said options at center include Luke Fortner, who took over for McCoy in Chicago. Or veteran guard Cesar Ruiz — a center in college — could move to that spot.
Meanwhile, Miller's injury means rookie running back Devin Neal's role "obviously will increase quite a bit moving forward,” Moore said.
27.3 — The Saints' fourth-down conversion percentage, which ranks last in the NFL, after failing on both of their fourth-down attempts in Chicago.
New Orleans stays home this week to host the NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who've won five of their previous six meetings.
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