Reinforcements might be on the way for the New Orleans Saints wide receiver corps. Second-year pro Keith Kirkwood practiced on Wednesday, hours after Saints coach Sean Payton commended his progress in recovering from an early-season hamstring injury. Kirkwood has been on the shelf since hurting himself in pregame warmups back in Week 2, but the Saints designated him to return from injured reserve on the official league transactions wire.
This starts the clock on a 21-day window for Kirkwood to practice and be promoted to the 53-man roster, or else revert to the injured reserve list. It’s unclear which game the Saints are targeting in-house for him to make his return, though the earliest he’d be eligible would be Week 13’s game with the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 28, per NFL rules.
If Kirkwood is able to suit up again this season, it’s easy to see how he could help the team. They have a wide-open void at the wide receiver position opposite Michael Thomas, who has caught 86 of the groups’ 116 receptions this year. The Saints weren’t able to find any last-minute upgrades at the NFL trade deadline, so Kirkwood might be their last remaining hope for to receiving corps to suddenly improve.
Teams are allowed to bring back two players from injured reserve each season, though it’s tough to say which Saints players may qualify. We can parse the list down a bit, however, because NFL rules stipulate only players who started the year on the 53-man roster may return from injured reserve later that season. That excludes most of the players on the list, which you can find below:
- C/G Cameron Tom (ineligible)
- LB Alex Anzalone
- LB Kaden Elliss
- LB Colton Jumper (ineligible)
- LB Josh Martin (ineligible)
- TE Garrett Griffin (ineligible)
- WR Keith Kirkwood (designated to return)
Payton said earlier this year that starting middle linebacker Alex Anzalone would miss the rest of the season after shoulder surgery, so he won’t be a candidate. That leaves rookie linebacker Kaden Elliss as the only option left, but he tore his ACL on Sept. 22. There’s no way he’ll be recovered from that in time to play later this season. So don’t expect anyone but Kirkwood to return from injured reserve in 2019.
