New Orleans Saints rookie defensive end Marcus Davenport is set to undergo surgery to repair a thumb injury, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
However, the injury does not sound to be too serious as Davenport can still afford to wait until after the team’s mandatory minicamp this week to get the procedure done. Rapoport adds that despite needing to go under the knife, Davenport is likely to be ready for training camp next month.
The Saints surprised many by trading their 2018 and 2019 first-round picks to the Green Bay Packers in order to move up to No. 14 to select Davenport even though he wasn’t projected to go that high. While head coach Sean Payton and the Saints see the athletic defensive end as a game-changing pass rusher on their much-improved defense, others think he is still too raw to contribute right away.
It’s not exactly ideal for the incoming rookie to miss out on the opportunity to do further work this offseason in preparation for his first year in the league. But the fact that Davenport’s hand injury is relatively minor is promising news for the Saints, who obviously have a lot invested in the rookie and would prefer him to have some sort of impact right away.
It remains to be seen if Davenport can work his way toward starting opposite star defensive end Cameron Jordan. But with Alex Okafor still working his way back from an Achilles injury, Davenport will have a decent shot to play a good number of snaps as a rookie.
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