The New Orleans Saints have had a moving target for their running back room all season long.
It continues to shift as they approach Week 10 on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. Travis Etienne is making a bid to come back off of IR from his hamstring injury, and the Saints are getting new injury updates on Alvin Kamara and CJ Donaldson, too.
Meanwhile, it was Audric Estime who led the backfield in touches in Week 9.
And one of their previous reliable rushers, Kendre Miller, was released over the weekend and now plays for the Dallas Cowboys.
Try and keep up.
Travis Etienne Injury Update
Etienne remains on injured reserve but has been on the practice field each of the last two days.
He had his 21-day window for IR activation opened earlier this week. That means that Etienne has to be brought back to the active roster during that time or else spend the rest of the season on IR.
A couple of practice appearances already suggest Etienne is close — maybe as soon as this week, or maybe next week.
Either way, it’s big news for the Saints, who have played more than half the season without the guy they signed to be their No. 1 running back.
Etienne hadn’t been great before being hurt, but his injury definitely made the RB situation more complicated.
When Etienne returns, he may not get a giant workload right away as the Saints ease him back in, but expect him to eventually take over the lead in this backfield.
For Etienne to return to regular season action, he’ll have to be officially activated from IR by the Saints. That’s the roster move to watch out for at the end of this week to know if Etienne will play on Sunday.
Alvin Kamara, CJ Donaldson Injury Updates
The veteran Alvin Kamara missed practice on Wednesday, but he was back out on the practice field Thursday.
In contrast, undrafted rookie CJ Donaldson was not. Donaldson was inactive in Week 9.
Travis Etienne continued to participate with a chance to come off IR for Sunday’s game vs. Carolina.
If Etienne returns, one of Donaldson or Estime would likely be in jeopardy of being left inactive on gameday. If Donaldson isn’t healthy yet, though, that makes that decision-making process a bit easier for the Saints in the meantime.
Saints Dealt Major Injury Updates on Travis Etienne, Alvin Kamara, CJ Donaldson