New Orleans Saints: Kenny Vaccaro’s injury decimates defense
Kenny Vaccaro’s injury puts the New Orleans Saints in a bind defensively moving forward and heading towards the postseason.
It seems as though the injury bug has hit the entire NFL this season, and now it appears the New Orleans Saints are the latest victims. On Thursday, it was announced Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro was headed to injured reserve with injuries to his groin and wrist per multiple reports.
Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com notes that Vaccaro has been playing in pain all season. He has played with an adductor muscle that is “completely torn off the bone” as well as an injured wrist. Earlier in the day, it was reported Vaccaro was dealing with a wrist injury and that his status for Sunday was “in doubt.”
Vaccaro was having a tremendous season, despite playing through all the pain. He finished with 59 tackles, 1.5 sacks, three interceptions and seven passes defensed in 12 games played.
This is a big loss for the Saints. Vaccaro was a huge part of their defense, ranking third on the team in tackles. He seemed to be wherever the ball was and had a knack for making key plays. Now it will be up to safety Von Bell to take over the reins at the position. Even still, Bell is a tremendous replacement. He leads the team with 70 tackles and has shown he is capable of being a dependable player.
Another player that needs to help fill the void of Vaccaro’s absence is linebacker Craig Robertson. He has 66 tackles on the year in correlation with a forced fumble and an interception. The Saints may have him drop back in coverage in certain situations to make up for the fact that there will be a slight deficiency at safety. It will be interesting to see what kind of personnel packages the Saints bring to the table game in and game out to try to mask the hole at the position.
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The Saints will already have their hands full the rest of the season as they try to secure an NFC South title, and now with Vaccaro out, their path to success becomes that more difficult.