The Saints have played their past two games without Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore. They will play at least their next four without veteran starter Bradley Roby.
New Orleans placed Roby on IR on Tuesday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Roby suffered a foot injury in last week’s Saints-Cardinals game and needed to be carted off the field. Roby has been a Saints regular for the past two seasons, since New Orleans acquired him from Houston, and has started six games this year. The Saints re-signed wide receiver Keith Kirkwood to take Roby’s roster spot.
Roby, 30, re-signed with the Texans in 2020 but ended up being dealt to the Saints a year later. After playing 42% of New Orleans’ defensive snaps in 2021, he has be on the field for 78% of the team’s 2022 defensive plays. This will be a blow to a Saints team already dealing with trouble at corner.
An abdominal injury has sidelined Lattimore for the past two games; he remains on New Orleans’ active roster. The team has also played without rookie Alontae Taylor for much of this season and was without Paulson Adebo against Arizona. This left a skeleton crew, one including ex-Roby Broncos teammate Chris Harris, in the team’s Week 7 loss to the Cardinals. Roby’s injury obviously makes Lattimore and Adebo’s availability critical going forward, with the Cards’ win having dropped the Saints to 2-5 — their worst mark through seven games since 2005.
After making a name alongside Harris and Aqib Talib on Denver’s Super Bowl-winning defense, Roby has started 56 career games but has been a regular in all 120 he has played as a pro. The former first-round pick has allowed a 50% completion rate and limited quarterbacks to an 83.3 passer rating as the closest defender. Pro Football Focus, however, has the veteran boundary corner rated just inside the top 100 at the position this season.
Roby is a clutcher and a grabber, thus opposing teams always seek him out when they need a penalty to extend a drive.