NFL injury rundown: Olave in for Saints, Kamara questionable; Browns, Patriots rule out starters
The New Orleans Saints will have Chris Olave on Sunday. Alvin Kamara is another matter. Cleveland and New England spent the day subtracting starters instead, and in both cases the hole sits in a spot that's hard to scheme around.
Olave is set to play for the Saints against the Vikings, and Kamara is questionable. Olave's availability is the part that changes Minnesota's plan: with a receiver the Vikings have to account for outside, the safety can't live in the box, and that's a different afternoon for whoever carries the ball in New Orleans. Kamara's status changes the Saints' plan. Between the tackles is where a Kamara absence is hardest to hide, so I expect New Orleans to lean on quick game and screens early and reintroduce the run only if the score stays close. I'd be wrong if they come out handing off on first down and it works anyway.
Cleveland ruled out defensive tackles Mason Graham and Mike Hall Jr. for Sunday's road game against the Jets. That's the interior of the Browns' front gone in one line, and the winner is easy to spot. The Jets can run between the tackles and let their quarterback step into a pocket that won't collapse from the middle. I expect New York to test that interior on its first possession, and I expect Cleveland to answer by walking linebackers up, which leaves the Jets' backs and tight ends alone underneath. For the Browns, this is the kind of absence that turns a road game into a track meet.
New England will be without starting cornerbacks Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis this week. There's no clever fix for losing both outside corners. The Patriots can play more zone and concede the middle of the field, or keep safeties over the top and lighten the box, which hands away the run. My read is that New England picks the second and manufactures pressure to protect a secondary that can't hold up in man coverage. Whoever the Patriots play should throw it early and often. If they don't, that's a coaching failure rather than a talent one.
The league-level read: this is what October looks like. No stars lost for the season, just depth quietly removed from rosters, and the clubs that survive it are the ones whose backups were drafted to play rather than to fill a jersey. Cleveland, New England and New Orleans each have a specific weakness on tape now, and opponents get a week to build a plan around it.
My verdict, and I'll own it: the Patriots' problem is the one that loses a game. A defensive front can absorb a hit through scheme and effort. A cornerback room cannot, because there's nowhere to hide a player who can't cover. I expect New England in a shootout it didn't want. The thing that makes me wrong is a pass rush that arrives fast enough that coverage never gets tested, and that's the only version of this week that goes well for the Patriots.
