Don’t overreact to this. Sean Payton said earlier this week that the New Orleans Saints were holding rookie draft picks Payton Turner and Pete Werner out of practice due to minor injuries, and on Thursday he declined to rule them out of Saturday night’s preseason game with the Baltimore Ravens.
But when the Saints arrived in Baltimore, neither of their selections in the first and second round were with them. Further evaluations must have recommended Turner and Werner stay behind and rest up. Their injuries remain undisclosed, but Payton’s remarks suggest neither of them is expected to miss much more time. Risking their health in an exhibition game just isn’t smart.
Because the team isn’t required to publish a list of inactive players for preseason games, absences were gathered from members of the media observing pregame warmups. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill and SI.com’s John Hendrix identified these nine absentees, which was confirmed by the Times-Picayune | Advocate’s Luke Johnson. Here is the consensus list:
