Saints Send Veteran Wide Receiver to Injured Reserve

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Tre'Quan Smith is headed to injured reserve, will miss first four weeks of the season.

After being sidelined for several weeks with a groin injury suffered Aug. 5, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Tre'Quan Smith is being placed on injured reserve. Smith will now miss at least the first four weeks of the season.

Jan 8, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Tre'Quan Smith (10) heads into the locker room against the Carolina Panthers during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

On Sept. 1 NOLA.com's Jeff Duncan reported that Smith had undergone surgery for his groin injury, which would lead to him missing at least the first week of the season. The veteran wideout was ruled out for the game against the Tennessee Titans per the team's final Week 1 injury report.

With Smith unavailable, the Saints now have two open roster spots that can be filled. The other spot was vacated by rookie quarterback Jake Haener who is suspended for the first six weeks of the season due to a violation of the league's Performance Enhancing Drug policy.

Who will fill those spots remains to be seen, but two popular names floating about are veteran linebacker Jaylon Smith and rookie receiver Shaq Davis. New Orleans may wait to make that decision until after their Week 1 game. Since the team would have to have 7 inactive players for the matchup, they may leave the two spots open for now.

Head coach Dennis Allen stated that the team would be looking at potential injured reserve moves following their 53-man roster cutdown. So far, Smith is the only player to be moved to the in-season list. Allen has also been vocal about the roster changing over the course of the first month of the season, this is just one example of how and why that will be.