The New Orleans Saints are 1-4 to start what looked like it would be a promising season.
The best chance they have of turning things around in Week 6 is to get a big game from Chris Olave against the New York Giants.
That’s easier said than done, though, because Olave is no sure thing to play.
Is Chris Olave Playing This Week?
It has yet to be determined whether Olave is going to play in Week 6 against the Giants.
The Saints’ No. 1 WR has been on the injury report all week, and this could be a waiting game until 90 minutes before kickoff on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, 12 noon Central).
Why is Chris Olave Questionable?
Olave is officially listed as questionable on the final injury report of the week that the Saints released on Friday.
He missed practice on both Wednesday and Thursday due to illness.
Olave did return to practice Friday, pointing his status for Sunday in the right direction. But with the two missed practices, it’s standard for a player to be listed as questionable even with a return to practice on Friday.
An illness feels a bit trickier than an injury, because there’s no way to know for sure that it’ll get better into the weekend.
But at least the news for Olave is trending in the right direction as he gets back on the practice field on Friday.
Saints WR Depth Chart
Olave has been at the top of the Saints’ WR depth chart all season as the unquestioned No. 1 target for Tyler Shough.
If Olave were to miss out on Sunday, that would shake things up in a major way.
Devaughn Vele would likely benefit as the guy to get the most targets in the offense, and then it’d be rookie Bryce Lance being asked to step into a bigger role and make plays.
The Saints actually only have four receivers on their active roster right now. The explosive return man Barion Brown is the other.
It would make sense for New Orleans to call up a practice squad wideout for this weekend even if Olave is good to go.
The Saints have Cedric Tillman and Kevin Austin Jr. on the practice squad as logical candidates, as well as Kyrese Rowan and Jalen Cropper.
New Orleans was reported to have begun dealing with an illness last weekend, but maybe it took a while to get to Olave. The Saints will hope that heading into this weekend, he can feel healthy again so that he can be on the field as they try to improve on a rocky start to the season.
Is Chris Olave Playing This Week? Why Saints’ Star WR is Questionable for Week 6