The New Orleans Saints weren’t certain to have Alvin Kamara active for their game on Sunday.
When the inactive report emerged, though, Kamara wasn’t on it. He was questionable this week, but he was active for Week 6 against the New York Giants.
After the dust settled, though, it’s hard to say whether Kamara will actually get a lot of work. There were already some signs that he could lose action going forward, even with Travis Etienne Jr. on the IR, and that’s how it looked early on Sunday.
The Saints had three carries on their opening drive. Two of them went to Kendre Miller. One went to CJ Donaldson. None went to Kamara.
Why Isn’t Alvin Kamara Playing?
This isn’t totally unexpected to anyone who followed the Saints a week ago.
Kamara was already dealing with his back injury, but he was active in Week 5.
Despite Kamara being active in Week 5, he had just three carries. Miller led the RB group with 10 carries, and the undrafted rookie Donaldson had four runs a week ago.
Kamara’s work all came quite early, too — it seemed he may have still been dealing with the injury problem.
Given that Kamara was questionable for Sunday, he’s clearly not fully healthy.
It feels a bit like a situation where the Saints want Kamara active in case they need him, but that they don’t feel like they can use him heavily at the moment.
Where is Travis Etienne?
Etienne remains on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
The big free agent signing for the Saints wasn’t effective before he got hurt, and then he hurt his hamstring — the kind of nagging injury that can be problematic for a running back.
Saints’ Curious Upcoming Schedule
One of the most interesting moments in the Saints’ season is coming up next. After they play on Sunday, they fly to France.
The Saints are playing in Paris in Week 7 when they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’ll be the first-ever NFL game in France.
That probably doesn’t impact workload this week, but there is a big flight coming soon, and everything about a week in Paris will be a bit different for the Saints.
They’ll still have to figure out this backfield rotation, but for now, Kamara appears to be getting a short straw.
Why Saints Using Kendre Miller, CJ Donaldson Over Alvin Kamara at RB