Saints Top Weapon OUT vs. Falcons

The New Orleans Saints will be without star receiver Chris Olave in Sunday's home game against the Atlanta Falcons.

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave will be inactive for Sunday's game vs. the Atlanta Falcons due to a concussion. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Saints will be without a crucial piece to their offensive attack in Sunday's game vs. the Atlanta Falcons.

Saints receiver Chris Olave, who leads the team with 400 receiving yards on 32 receptions, will not play Sunday due to a concussion sustained in last week's 23-22 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

In five career games against the Falcons, Olave has caught 24 passes for 351 yards and a touchdown. He recorded eight catches for 87 yards in the Falcons' 26-24 victory over the Saints on Sept. 29.

Atlanta has been aware of Olave's potential absence throughout the week, but assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray said Thursday the Falcons' process -- led by a mindset of doing their best regardless of who they're playing -- remains the same.

"To me, it's the NFL. If you're in the NFL, you may not have your top guys, but you've got 1A, 1B, 1C," Gray said. "Those guys better be ready to go. Anybody can make a name on you if you go out there and you don't play your game. We're going to play the New Orleans Saints. They're going to show up on Sunday.

"The biggest thing we've got to do is make sure the Atlanta Falcons show up on Sunday."

After a 2-0 start, the Saints have lost seven consecutive games. They fired head coach Dennis Allen on Monday, turning to special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi.

New Orleans (2-7) will look to get back on track against Atlanta (6-3) at 1 p.m. Sunday inside Caesars Superdome -- a challenge made tougher without Olave on the field.