The New Orleans Saints may once again be without Alvin Kamara this weekend. Kamara did not play in last Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans, and if his practice status is any indication, things are not looking good for him to play against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Kamara missed practice on Thursday after he had previously gotten in a limited practice session on Wednesday. Generally, midweek status downgrades are considered a bad sign for a player’s potential availability in the next game.
If Kamara is unable to go, he will again be replaced by backup Mark Ingram. Against the Titans, Ingram played 85% of the team’s offensive snaps. He had played 29% and 34% of the snaps in his previous two games since returning to New Orleans, with Kamara playing the lead role in the backfield.
Both Ramczyk and Armstead have previously played games after missing practices earlier in the week, so their availability could presumably be less in question than that of the other players who sat out practice.
They didn’t have Jimmy Garoppolo on the field for their matchup vs. the Los Angeles Chargers, and they had plenty of pressure on their shoulders.
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Davante Adams had already called out the team for failing to establish a winning culture, sounding off the alarms about a potential trade.
Notably, it seems like the star wide receiver isn’t the only big name on the team who’s frustrated by the way they’re doing things, as RB Josh Jacobs stated his team played ‘undisciplined football:’
“It’s undisciplined football, and this league is too competitive,” Jacobs said, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com. “It’s too competitive and it’s too many guys that’s good out there to not do the little things right every play. Until we figure that out, this is going to be what it is. It’s frustrating, man. And I mean, I feel like every day I go in there and work my a** off. So, eventually something’s got to give.”
Josh Jacobs: It's frustrating, we're playing undisciplined football. https://t.co/Y9Sr6BikQ8
The Raiders also finished the game without Jerry Tillery, who was ejected for a late hit on Justin Herbert.
They turned the ball over twice and also had nine penalties.
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The Raiders trailed by 21 points before making it a seven-point game, even getting a chance to even things up or win the game with the clock running out.
Then, rookie QB Aidan O’Connell was picked off and put an end to their hopes.
The Raiders are now 1-3 after their shocking win in the season opener, and it doesn’t seem like the players are happy about the way things are being handled.
HC Josh McDaniels has drawn plenty of criticism since he took the reins of the team last season, and it’s his job to keep his players in line and prevent those avoidable penalties from happening.
Up next, they have a date with the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football, with both teams looking to bounce back from heartbreaking divisional losses.
President Masai Ujiri confirmed to reporters that the team has not engaged in contract talks with Siakam. The 29-year-old is in the final year of his deal and is set to be a free agent at the end of the season.
Ujiri said he remains confident in the team’s core and wants to see how they play in newly appointed head coach Darko Rajaković’s system before offering new deals.
“We do believe in Pascal. We do believe that a lot of our players didn’t play the right way last year, and we want to see them play the right way,” Ujiri explained. “I said that we were selfish. I’m not running away from that. We were selfish and we did not play the right way. So, let us see it when we play the right way.”
Siakam’s name was mentioned in trade rumours during the off-season, with reports suggesting multiple teams were expressing interest in the two-time All-NBA player.
