Buy Saints TicketsSaints QB Jameis Winston will be active and in uniform as the team’s emergency quarterback, per source. Plan is still for him for get healthy and not play but this prevents the team from having to release a current player had they brought up a QB from the practice squad.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) October 16, 2022
Jameis Winston will be in uniform for Sunday’s game between the New Orleans Saints and Cincinnati Bengals, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, but he isn’t expected to hit the field. Fowler reports that Winston will be the team’s emergency quarterback with Andy Dalton expected to start and Taysom Hill continuing to do his thing at tight end, halfback, and six or seven other positions.
Winston was inactive the last two weeks while resting up a couple of different injuries. Four vertebrae were fractured in his lower back during the Saints’ season-opening win over the Atlanta Falcons, and he later aggravated the sprained ankle that limited him during training camp. He’s also told reporters he’s receiving treatment on a hip flexor issue, but that hasn’t been added to the injury report. Either way, his body must be recovering well, though he still isn’t ready to lead the offense again.
That could change in just a few days. The Saints will travel to face the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night, so they may be preparing to start Winston for that Week 7 game while letting Dalton hold onto the reins for Week 6’s kickoff on Sunday. Asking Winston to play two games within 103 hours of each other would be daunting given all of his injury issues, so this is a way the team can ease him back in, if they choose.
It’s also possible they just want him active on game days while he continues to heal up, preparing the team’s regular configuration with Dalton and Winston dressing out (that’s likely why they waived backup quarterback Jake Luton, to open up another roster spot; one thing Fowler’s report gets wrong is that the Saints do not have another quarterback to call up from the practice squad). And, hey: unlikely as it is, Dalton could play well enough to keep Winston sidelined. That’s going to be difficult without his top three receivers, but stranger things have happened. Stay tuned.
