New Orleans Saints Ramon Humber Latest Linebacker Injured
The New Orleans Saints injury woes continue as the they suffered another blow to their linebacker corps. Ramon Humber sustained a hamstring injury during yesterday’s practice and interim head coach Joe Vitt said Humber will be out for the next 10 days. I don’t know if it is something in the water but the Saints’ linebackers are dropping like flies. This is a huge blow for the Saints as their linebacker corps was already desperately thin. Linebackers Curtis Lofton, David Hawthorne, and Chris Chamberlain are all facing separate injuries and are not available at the moment.
Despite having to serve a three game suspension at the start of the regular season, Humber was expected to replace the injured Lofton at middle linebacker. Humber will now miss significant time and will likely not play for the rest of the preseason. The Saints are dramatically depleted at the linebacker position and other guys will have to step up.
Newly acquired linebacker, Barrett Ruud, will now be expected to play big minutes with all of the injuries and suspensions to the linebacker corps. Ruud was acquired Monday by the Saints from the Seattle Seahawks. Now Ruud will most likely be the starting middle linebacker and he and the other healthy linebackers all need to step up.
However, Saints’ interim head coach, Joe Vitt, did say that he has yet to select a middle linebacker for the Saints’ next preseason game against the Houston Texans on Saturday, August 25th. Furthermore, Vitt said that Ruud would likely not start against the Texans because he would not have gotten much practice time in. The injuries to the Saints’ linebackers are really untimely since the start of the regular season is fast approaching.
The Saints’ defense will be in for a test this season. The Saints need to find some consistency with their defense if they hope to make a run for the Super Bowl. As great as the Saints’ offense is, they cannot do it alone and will rely on their defense to make some stops. Hopefully this injury bug that has plagued the team’s linebackers will end soon so the players can get back on the field for the Saints to find some continuity.
Alejandro Aviles is the Featured Writer for the New Orleans Saints at Rant Sports.
You can follow him on Twitter @aaviles312
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