Kenny Vaccaro out this week, could miss another week too
New Orleans Saints strong safety Kenny Vaccaro (32) tackles Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd (15) in the fourth quarter of their game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
New Orleans Saints rookie safety Kenny Vaccaro suffered a concussion in yesterday’s big win over the Dallas Cowboys, as he took Jason Witten’s knee to his helmet after attempting to tackle the Cowboys star tight end. The Saints were already without veteran safeties Roman Harper and Malcolm Jenkins yesterday, so they can only hope that at least one of those two players returns for next week’s huge game against the San Francisco 49ers, given the bad news regarding Vaccaro.
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Saints will be forced to play without their first-round pick next week against the 49ers, and there’s a chance that Kenny Vaccaro will miss the Saints Week 12 game against the rival Atlanta Falcons. The Saints can most definitely survive a game against the Falcons without Vac, so that’s not much of a worry.
However, the news that Vaccaro will not play this week against the 49ers with a significant concussion is definitely bad news, and it goes beyond the quality of the opponent. Vaccaro is an excellent all-around safety already as a rookie, and he means a lot as far as scheme usage goes, since he’s a real weapon for Rob Ryan. Vaccaro’s ability to stop the run will be missed against the 49ers, who are a heavy running team with Frank Gore and running QB Colin Kaepernick. If Kaep gets back on track next week with Vaccaro out, then that could spell trouble for the Saints, who are flying high after yesterday’s monstrous win.
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