Saints News: One Star Player Downgraded and One Practice Squad Elevation Announced

Saints announce one practice squad elevation for Sunday's matchup against Philadelphia but will also likely be without one of it's star players.

New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen call in a play against the Carolina Panthers / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Saints made two personnel announcements in preparation for their game against the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday. One was a practice squad elevation, while the other is a significant injury development involving a star player.

Linebacker Isaiah Stalbird has been elevated from the practice squad to the active roster for Sunday's game against the Eagles. This is a weekly standard elevation. He is the only elevation from the practice squad that the Saints elected to use this week.

Stalbird is an undrafted rookie out of South Dakota State. He was also elevated for the Week 2 win against the Dallas Cowboys. Stalbird played 14 snaps in last week's win, all on special teams.

The bigger news on Saturday involved the status of versatile offensive threat Taysom Hill. After leaving last week's game with a chest injury, Hill was unable to practice for the first few days of the week. He returned to practice in a limited capacity on Friday and was listed as Questionable on the team's final injury report of the week.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Taysom Hill (7) calls the play on a kickoff against the Carolina Panthers / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

On Saturday, New Orleans downgraded Hill to Doubtful for Sunday's game. With him now unlikely to play, we could see more snaps for second-year running back Jordan Mims. There could also be several other subtle adjustments from the New Orleans offensive attack.

Hill had also been seeing snaps at fullback. Now that he's likely sidelined, Adam Prentice may see more reps in the more traditional fullback role. Alvin Kamara may see even more snaps as a single back, with Foster Moreau and Juwan Johnson both being used in two tight end sets on early downs.

New Orleans comes into this game with a 2-0 record. Philadelphia counters with a 1-1 mark. The game will be played in the Superdome with a kickoff scheduled at noon Central time on Sunday.

Stay tuned to the Saints News Network for the inactive list and other pre-game news in advance of Sunday's game.