New Orleans Saints: Marcus Davenport is a big question mark

With his recent now-deleted posts on social media, New Orleans Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport only added more question marks.

With the 2019 NFL regular season still months away, players are finally getting a chance to do what they’ve been missing out on. For some, it means vacations or spending time with family, while others end up in surgery or physical therapy. The New Orleans Saints players have certainly kept busy thus far.

Unfortunately, there have already been two arrests. However, one player is shrouded in a bit of mystery (though not law-related): Marcus Davenport. Davenport was the Saints’ 2018 draft pick that they traded up for, giving up two first-round picks to select him. Just recently, Davenport admitted he was injured and played through his injury during the season. A picture from a hospital bed confirmed his story, but in a way, it’s more than that.

Davenport’s post shocked many. There was no indication that he was suffering such a lingering injury. Davenport joins a long list of players who spoke up after sustaining an injury during the season. It begs an important question: What made Marcus Davenport play through an injury and hide it?

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Keeping with the first part of the question, Davenport could have thought the injury wasn’t serious. It’s an attitude many of us have and one that sometimes backfires. For an NFL player, their pain tolerance is a lot higher and little things probably don’t bother them compared to a normal person. To Davenport, it might have seemed like something that would eventually go away.

There’s always the possibility of Davenport simply ignoring the injury. When you’re sacking people or getting hit, a toe injury could seem like nothing. It’s not the best attitude to have, but for a 22-year old player, it doesn’t seem unbelievable. For a rookie, it’s just being part of the team and trying to “tough it out.”

The main reason Davenport would play through an injury is not being benched for someone else. Injuries are serious, no matter what, but watching someone else come out and take your spot is tougher to some players. The Saints would have had 10 guys at the door wanting to take Davenport’s roster spot. For Davenport, it could have been a scary thought and a risk he wasn’t willing to take as a rookie.

While we don’t know if Davenport hid his injury from the Saints organization, the fans knew nothing about it. The most important thing to note is that it’s private and something that fans don’t need to know about. For Davenport, dealing with an injury would be hard enough without the pressure of the public. Being as young as he is and new to the league, it’s understandable.

Thankfully, Davenport is now getting the care he needs and looks to be on the road to recovery. Davenport has since deleted his photos from social media, but the future looks exciting for him. With the Saints dealing with the loss of a few players, Davenport will have a chance to become an anchor on the defense.

Even though we don’t know a timetable for his recovery, Davenport will hopefully be ready for the regular season. The Saints are going to need him if they’re hoping for another long playoff run. Hopefully, at 100 percent, we’ll see what he can truly do. Until then, we only hope that Davenport has a quick recovery and returns in good health.