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Katherine Terrell, ESPN Staff WriterSep 29, 2024, 03:09 PM ET
- Katherine Terrell came back to ESPN to cover the New Orleans Saints in the summer of 2022. She left the company in 2019 after joining in 2016 to cover the Cincinnati Bengals. Katherine is a graduate of LSU and a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native, and she has covered the NFL since 2013. You can follow Katherine on Twitter: @Kat_Terrell
ATLANTA — New Orleans Saints tight end Taysom Hill injured his ribs in a 26-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, according to coach Dennis Allen.
Allen said the rib injury was on the opposite side of Hill’s previous injury, which was listed as a chest injury on the injury report. Fox Sports said that Hill bruised his lung in a Week 2 game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Hill left that game early to be evaluated at a local hospital and did not return, nor did he play in a Week 3 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Hill scored two rushing touchdowns against the Falcons in the first half but appeared to feel the effects of the new injury in the second quarter.
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Hill appeared to be clutching at his chest/ribs and left the game to briefly go inside the medical tent before quickly leaving for the locker room.
Allen said Hill’s absence changed things for the running game in the second half. Running back Alvin Kamara (hip/ribs) who has at least one broken rib, was relied on heavily with Hill out.
“I think when you get into the game and he’s on a roll, like he is, it’s kind of hard not to try to get him some touches,” Allen said. “I think that’s where probably with Taysom being out, that changed the plan just a little bit but we’ve gotta have some other guys that can step up and make some plays other than just Alvin.
Kamara rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown in the final two minutes while catching seven passes for 42 yards.
“He’s been awesome. He’s been outstanding. He’s probably been our best offensive player. He’s done a really good job for us and we’re going to need him to continue to do that,” Allen said.
Hill and Kamara are just some on a long list of injured Saints. The team went into the Falcons game without linebacker Demario Davis (hamstring), who missed the first game of his career due to injury. Backup linebacker Willie Gay injured his hand during the game and was ruled out.
The Saints also did not have center Erik McCoy, who went on injured reserve with a groin injury, and right guard Cesar Ruiz (knee).
Safety Tyrann Mathieu also briefly left the game with what was listed as a groin injury, but he said he is still feeling the effects of a heel injury that dates back to last year and a calf injury from earlier in the season.
Chris Olave played through a hamstring injury that occurred during Friday’s practice and finished with eight catches for 87 yards.
“For him to … come up with that huge catch across the middle to give us a chance to take the lead and possibly win a football game,” quarterback Derek Carr said of Olave. “There were seven catches before that, but for him to gut that out and catch that ball, that is huge for our team.”
Allen said that the team felt sure that Olave would be OK after imaging tests on the hamstring.
“He tweaked it on Friday … we got the imaging, we really didn’t see anything on the imaging,” Allen said. “This is something that he kind of has dealt with before, so we felt very confident that he was going to be able to go out and play, and I thought he played well today.”
