In their first matchup against the Buccaneers on Halloween, Saints’ offensive tackle Terron Armstead suffered a knee injury. While the knee has bothered him and caused him to miss some time this season, a tweet from Saints’ reporter Nick Underhill unveils the bigger story on the injury.
Underhill reports that Armstead’s knee injury will require surgery to repair. Armstead is able to play through the injury and has chosen to do so, but the surgery is going to be necessary for him to get back to 100%.
The implication here is that the surgery was serious enough to have prevented him from playing for the rest of the year. Armstead made the choice to put the surgery off until the offseason with the hopes of helping his team push towards the postseason.
Armstead provides an example of a player putting the success of his team over his own goals. This is accentuated by the fact that this is a contract-year for Armstead. In a time where Armstead could be looking out for himself and getting healthy to prepare for an offseason of free agency, Armstead has chosen to play through his injury for as long as he can continue to contribute.
The Saints currently sit at (7-8), good for 10th in the NFC, but have not yet been eliminated from playoff contention. They sit one game back of the current 6th and 7th seeds of the NFC, the 49ers (8-7) and the Eagles (8-7), with two weeks left in the season. New Orleans finishes the season against the Panthers at home and the Falcons on the road as they attempt to keep themselves alive for some football past January 9th.