Tre’Quan Smith is projected to start at wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints when their regular season kicks off in a few weeks, so it’s good to see him back in practice on Aug. 17. Smith exited the team’s Aug. 3 session with what was reported to be a leg injury; he then wasn’t spotted for the next two weeks while receiving treatment. Now he’s back.
So too are defensive backs Marcus Williams and P.J. Williams, who missed a couple of practice sessions last week with undisclosed injuries. The former is expected to play 900-plus snaps this season as the starting free safety (doing so in a contract year on the expensive franchise tag), while the latter has been a decent dime back filling in at multiple positions when needed.
But P.J. Williams can’t afford to get complacent — there are a number of hungry rookies competing for snaps, and the team could very well move on from him if someone like Bryce Thompson or Eric Burrell makes a strong enough audition.
At any rate: getting these reinforcements back now is welcome news. Here’s hoping they avoid further injury issues in the weeks ahead.
