Alvin Kamara had a disappointing campaign with the New Orleans Saints in 2019 due to injuries and they may have been worse than people realized. While Kamara prepares to bounce back in 2020, Joe Thomas — the Saints running backs coach — revealed the details to the running back's tough season in 2019.
Saints RB coach Joel Thomas is talking about the season Alvin Kamara had last year. Said no one really knows how much Kamara went through to play with knee, ankle and back injuries. Pointed out body language interpreted as something else, but Kamara was playing through a lot.
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) June 15, 2020
In the first three weeks of the 2019 campaign, Kamara was his usual self in the backfield. Throughout his first three starts, he would combine for 390 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.
However, after a stellar Week 3 performance versus the Seattle Seahawks, his health began to deteriorate. From Weeks 5-17, the versatile running back would average only 85.4 yards from scrimmage per game.
Even though Kamara decided to battle through the injuries, it was evident that he wasn't one-hundred percent. Still, Kamara at 75 percent is probably better than more than half of the running backs in the NFL.
Heading into the 2019 season, Kamara was coming off of two spectacular years with the Saints. As a rookie in 2017, the former second-round pick would contribute 1,554 scrimmage yards and 13 touchdowns on just 201 touches.
Then, as an encore in 2018, Kamara proceeded to account for 1,592 yards from scrimmage and 18 touchdowns. Above all, he was able to get a career-high 275 touches in 2018, solidifying his status as the featured back in New Orleans.
Despite all of the injuries that Kamara dealt with last season, he only failed to play in two games. That allowed Latavius Murray to get more reps with the offense. Seeing that Kamara is healthy again though, the Saints dual-threat running back is poised for a massive season in 2020.
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