The New Orleans Saints showed plenty of promise the first two weeks of the season as they took the Lions to overtime in Detroit in Week 1, and then beat the Ravens in Baltimore in Week 2. Since then, it’s all gone downhill as the Saints lost to the Raiders, Falcons, and Vikings in consecutive weeks. The loss of RB Travis Etienne due to a hamstring injury has contributed to New Orleans’ downslide.
Below, we will offer up an Etienne injury update and look at when he will return to the Saints lineup.
Travis Etienne injury update: When will Saints RB return?
Etienne suffered what is believed to be a hamstring strain in the third quarter of New Orleans’ Week 3 loss to the Raiders. At the end of a 16-yard run, Etienne began to grab his left hamstring. He left the game and did not return.
The Saints placed Etienne on injured reserve on October 1, meaning that the RB will miss at least four games per NFL rules.
He has already missed two games and he will miss the Week 6 game at the Giants, and the Week 7 game at the Caesars Superdome against the Steelers.
Week 8 is the Saints’ bye week, so the earliest we could see Etienne return is Week 9 against the Browns.
Here is a look at the Saints’ schedule around the time that Etienne is expected to be back.
- Week 9 Sunday, November 8: Browns at Saints
- Week 10 Sunday, November 15: Panthers at Saints
- Week 11 Sunday, November 22: Saints at Bears
- Week 12 Sunday, November 29: Saints at Bengals
When Etienne was put on IR, Saints head coach Kellen Moore was asked if he expected his running back to return close to the initial four-game projection.
“It’ll take a little while,” Moore said. “So obviously we felt like it would be at least four weeks and then we’ll just kind of see how this thing progresses.”
Most NFL players return from a Grade 1 hamstring strain in 1-3 weeks. The recovery time for a Grade 2 strain is typically 3-8 weeks.
Given that, Etienne is likely dealing with a Grade 2 strain. If he were return for the Week 9 game against Cleveland, it would be exactly 6 weeks from the time of the injury.
Travis Etienne fantasy football stock
Etienne had a fantasy football ADP of 32 overall at FantasyPros this past summer. He was around RB17.
The 27-year-old had a decent start to his Saints career before going down with the injury. In Week 1 against the Lions, Etienne had 46 yards rushing and 32 yards receiving on 7 catches. In Week 2 against the Ravens, he had 25 yards rushing and 6 yards receiving on 2 catches. In Week 3 against the Raiders, he had 57 yards rushing and 13 yards receiving on 2 catches.
Saints odds
The Saints began the season with +10000 Super Bowl odds at Fanatics. They are currently +12000 to win it all.
New Orleans is currently +400 to win the NFC South, and its win total projection is 7.5.
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