Another Saints season, another player hernia surgery. That seems to be par for the course with the Saints, so all is right with the world. This time it’s Jabari Greer going under the knife after we were first misled to not worry due to the fact that he was “day to day” with a “minor groin injury”. From now on, anytime you hear “groin” and “Saints” together, assume hernia surgery is around the corner. This has happened entirely too many times for me to not have recognized it sooner this time around. You’ll remember in this Sean Payton era that Jeremy Shockey was the king of this “groin injury” followed by “hernia surgery”. Will Smith has often had the same problems, Jonathan Vilma, Chris Ivory and a slew of others I’m sure the Saints never bothered telling us about.
I theorized that missing Patrick Robinson and Jabari Greer for a small amount of time could be a blessing in disguise as the Saints sift through the unknown wasteland of no name young corners on their roster to figure out which ones can actually help this team as backups. Missing Greer…
for potentially the entirety of camp and preseason is a bigger problem, though, especially when he’s playing in a new defense and needs the reps to fully grasp the system. I am a concerned about depth at corner, so being without Greer for an extended period heightens not only the possibility that he’s not playing well week 1, it’s also heightens the chance Johnny Patrick would start in his stead if he’s not fully recovered, which would move Marquis Johnson and Corey White into significant playing time on passing downs. Not good. Those guys have had good camps, but I’m not sure I want them thrown into the fire week 1 against the Redskins when the real games start counting.
Another injury was camp body Chris Givens who by all accounts was having an oustanding camp. Too bad for him, his injury cost him his job and he was waived. The Saints did re-sign CB Cord Parks to fill in for the fact that they’ll be missing Greer for a while.
Let’s hope Jabari can make a speedy recovery and get back to the team soon. I have seen Shockey bounce back from this same surgery in 2 weeks to get back on the field, but his mobility was pretty limited, and Greer plays a position where he probably can’t get away with not running at full speed. My guess is 3-4 weeks at best. Hopefully it won’t be any longer than that provided he doesn’t have a setback.
I’m headed to Canton, OH tomorrow and will update you guys on the duration of my trip – so be sure to follow me on twitter for updates during my time there.
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