Who Dat Nation just lost their best player at the start of the second half of the season. Dual-threat running back Alvin Kamara is nursing a knee injury and won’t suit up for the New Orleans Saints when they head to Tennessee to play the Titans on Sunday.
A couple of weeks ago, we’d tell you to keep an eye on the Saints/Titans game because it would feature the best two running backs in the NFL with Derrick Henry and Kamara. Neither will be playing this week. Henry fractured his foot and he’s out for the season, while the Saints hope Kamara will be back next week against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“A knee injury that he’s rehabbing to return as quickly as he can get back,” said New Orleans head coach Sean Payton. “There was a play or two that you could see that you could tell.”
The Titans (7-2) opened as -2.5 favorites against the Saints (5-3). The line moved just a half-point once the Saints announced that Kamara will miss this Sunday’s game.
Kamara rushed for over 100 yards just once this season, with 120 yards against the NY Giants in Week 4, but he combined for 100+ yards from scrimmage five times this season. Kamara posted his best game of the season against the Seahawks in Week 7 with 176 combined yards, including 10 catches for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Last week against Atlanta, a dinged-up Kamara rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown, and added 54 receiving yards.
Kamara scored more receiving touchdowns (4) than rushing touchdowns (3) in the first half of the season.
Backup Mark Ingram will handle the workload against the Titans while Kamara is out. Ingram rushed nine times for 43 yards last week against the Falcons. He also added five receptions for 25 yards.