The New Orleans Saints continue to have some of the worst injury luck in the NFL.

First, star quarterback Drew Brees was injured in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams and hasn't returned. Next, it was running back Alvin Kamara, who missed the week 7 tilt against the Chicago Bears and is questionable again (ankle). In addition, starting tight end Jared Cook remains injured with an ankle. Cook missed Week 7's win with and missed practice again on Wednesday.

Cook isn't a heavy utilized offensive weapon, but his presence would be a help to the Saints. He is the team's primary pass-catching tight end, aka a safety blanket for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater or Brees if he returns soon.

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JC Latham (Alabama), Chris Braswell (Alabama not Jaguars), Cornelieus Johnson (Michigan) in action behind a New Orleans Saints logo with a 2024 NFL Draft background.

Dylan Bruton ·

Without Cook in Week 7, the Saints tweak the offensive game plan. Fullback Zach Line saw more playing time, totaling 36% of the offensive snaps. That is a big jump from the past two weeks, where he topped out at 27% of snaps played. Tight end Josh Hill saw a slight uptick in usage, as did third-string tight end Dan Arnold. Interestingly, do-it-all “player” Taysom Hill was used sparingly, despite Cook's absence.

While Cook has had an unproductive start to the season, he has plenty of time to pick it up. During the 2018 season with the Oakland Raiders, Cook was a Pro Bowler who tallied 896 yards receiving and six touchdowns. Although he wasn't expected to replicate that production, an improvement on his current play is undoubtedly on the minds of the Saints coaching staff.