Erik McCoy will be out of the New Orleans Saints lineup for a significant portion of the season.
The Saints center, who hurt his groin during Sunday’s 15–12 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, will require surgery and miss the next six to eight weeks, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The injury is a devastating blow to a Saints offensive line that entered the season with lots of uncertainties. Despite playing well in the first two games, the team found it difficult to handle the Eagles, particularly after McCoy was injured three plays into the contest.
As the Saints’ best offensive lineman, McCoy was selected in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He has started 77 games in his career and was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time last season. Since his calf injury that caused him to miss four games in 2022, this is his first serious injury.
McCoy’s surgical needs were initially revealed by the NFL Network.
The Saints benched McCoy in favor of veteran Lucas Patrick, and they will probably rely on him in McCoy’s absence. Patrick, who began the game for the Saints at left guard, has a ton of experience playing center because he spent the previous season playing for the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers.
Dennis Allen, the coach, stated on Monday that Patrick filled in for McCoy and did a “nice job.” In 28 pass-blocked snaps, Patrick didn’t give up a pressure, per Pro Football Focus.
The bigger question for the Saints will now be what the team does at left guard. After Patrick was moved to center, New Orleans started veteran Oli Udoh there. However, swingman Landon Young had earlier started in Patrick’s place after the latter missed a portion of the team’s season opening due to a toe injury. Young just made one snap in the Eagles game, but he had been out of practice all week due to a foot issue.
The Saints also have 2023 fourth rounder Nick Saldiveri, who was competing in the offseason to start at left guard before suffering a calf injury that sidelined him for most of training camp.
In any case, McCoy is no longer available to the Saints. In the event that the 27-year-old misses a full eight weeks, he wouldn’t play again until after the Saints’ bye week, on December 1, when they meet the Los Angeles Rams. By then, the Saints would have played six games remaining, including the Rams.
Dennis Allen, the coach of the Saints, stated on Monday, “Look, I mean, nobody wants to see a Pro Bowl center go down.” He’s undoubtedly one of our offensive line’s better players. So, yes, the game (against the Eagles) was challenging. And yet those are the difficulties that every NFL player faces. We want our guys to be able to go in there and perform.”
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