The New Orleans Saints have struggled defensively through the first weeks of the season, as there are plenty of questions on that side of the ball. This issue was compounded with a significant blow to their secondary on Tuesday afternoon, as cornerback Patrick Robinson was placed on the injured reserve with a broken ankle.
From the New Orleans Advocate's Nick Underhill:
The team is placing cornerback Patrick Robinson on injured reserve, according to a source.
The cornerback suffered a broken ankle during Sunday's win over the Atlanta Falcons. The injury was initially believed to be a high ankle sprain, but further testing revealed a more significant injury.
Robinson inked a deal to join the Saints this past offseason, stepping into a critical role in their secondary as one of the primary backups at his position. His loss for potentially the rest of the season tests the depth of that unit. New Orleans has struggled against the pass this season, ranking 31st overall while giving up a league-worst 11.2 yards per attempt, 10 touchdown passes allowed (tied for last), and an NFL-worst 141.7 passer rating allowed to opposing quarterbacks.
This is a complete turnaround from last year when the Saints boasted one of the better defenses in the league, led by their secondary. New Orleans has assembled a young, promising group with Marshon Lattimore, Ken Crawley, Vonn Bell, and Marcus Williams. It had seemed that their major defensive issues were behind them after their promising showing last year that helped make the Saints a potential Super Bowl contender. Instead, things have pushed south against the pass this year.
New Orleans may have to look at outside help to alleviate their issues in the secondary, as opposing offenses are able to move the ball with ease against them. The loss of Robinson pushes more attention to this situation, as he has established himself as one of the more stable cornerbacks in the league through his first eight-plus years in the NFL.
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