The New Orleans Saints escaped Week 1 of the 2023 NFL regular season with a 16-15 win against the Tennessee Titans at home Sunday but not without absorbing a tough injury blow. Third-year defensive end Payton Turner reportedly suffered a serious lower-body injury that will likely keep him sidelined for a considerable length of time, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
“Saints DE Payton Turner is believed to have suffered turf toe in today’s win over the #Titans, an ailment that should require surgery, sources say. A frustrating outcome for the talented former first-rounder.”
Although Rapoport did not mention a timetable for return for Turner, it is safe to say that he will be out for at least a few weeks given the fact that he is expected to have surgery on his injured toe. The possibility that he can return to action before the end of the 2023 campaign is still there for Turner, who suffered the injury in the third period. Before he sustained the said injury, Turner posted a tackle against the Titans, who struggled to put points on the board amid New Orleans' stout defense.
Turner's injury could once again increase the attention given to the artificial turf of Caesars Superdome, as New Orleans has had a number of players who dealt with the same type of toe injury in 2022, including Trevor Penning and Michael Thomas.
Turner was taken in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft (28th overall) by the Saints, who then signed him in the same year to a four-year 12.5 million contract.
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