Crucial Availability Update: Saints' Starters Stagnant Ahead of Week 7

The Saints will likely be without key starters when they take on the Broncos Thursday night, but that's really nothing new for New Orleans.

Oct 13, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (18) celebrates a touchdown by New Orleans Saints wide receiver Bub Means (16) with New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (22) during the second quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

The final Saints practice of the week didn't give us much movement or optimism going into Thursday night's matchup against the Broncos. During the open portion of practice made available to the media on Wednesday, we didn't spot 7 players for New Orleans. That included Derek Carr, Taysom Hill, Chris Olave, Pete Werner, Rashid Shaheed, Khalen Saunders and Cesar Ruiz.

Saunders is a new absence, while Hill has been listed as limited during for past two practices. We wouldn't expect to see Shaheed in this one, as his knee injury could force him to miss some time. As for Olave, him not being out there isn't exactly encouraging for where he's at in the concussion protocol, but we'll have to see where he's at when the final injury report drops.

New Orleans had 17 total players on their injury report this week, with some injuries not being as severe as others. However, they're really banged up and can hopefully get through Week 7 without incurring any other significant injuries as they will look to rest up and recover during the mini-bye.