Week 5 return unlikely for Tyson (hammy), but TBD

Tyson has been dealing with hamstring issues since his senior season at Arizona State. The issue flared up during training camp and he is now expected to be sidelined for roughly two months, as of two weeks ago. With an international game in Week 7 and a bye the following week, a Week 9 return looks like the most likely outcome for the rookie. He could still put up strong fantasy numbers in the second half of the season, but it’s hard to justify holding him in leagues with shallow benches.

Lance could have the inside track for the Saints’ short-term No. 3 wide receiver job with WR Jordyn Tyson (hamstring) sidelined, though WR Barion Brown will almost assuredly make the roster as a receiver and returner. Lance nearly added a decent, leaping downfield gain to his box score, but QB Spencer Rattler’s pass grazed off his fingertips along the sideline. Brown was not involved as a receiver today, but rushed twice for 19 yards and one touchdown, including an eight-yard jet sweep that got him into the end zone. He also returned one punt for four yards.

Triplett was apparently surprised to see reporters wondering whether the Saints should bring a veteran receiver aboard. According to him, the Saints had nine legitimate wide receiver candidates to make the final roster, with rookie WRs Bryce Lance and Barion Brown leading the charge. Per Triplett, Lance “is coming on faster than anyone else,” though Brown notably surged early in camp. Lance does not play on special teams, which could make him an ideal No. 3 wide receiver. Triplett also believes the Saints should design a package of plays for the speedy Brown, who WR Chris Olave said is “basically the same player” as former Saints WR Rashid Shaheed. For deep league fantasy managers, Lance could be worth a late-round dart throw. Both players should be rostered in dynasty.

Tyson left practice last Thursday with a hamstring injury and sought opinions from multiple doctors over the weekend. Now he’s slated to miss roughly two months, according to Rapoport. It’s a tough blow for the 22-year-old receiver who also battled hamstring injuries during his college career. The Saints also drafted receivers Bryce Lance and Barion Brown, though Devaughn Vele could be first in line for additional targets while Tyson is out.

This comes a day after we learned that Tyson is seeking multiple opinions on the hamstring injury he suffered on Thursday. At some point, the Saints will have collected enough information to feel comfortable telling us about Tyson’s injury, but for now, we will continue to wait. The longer this goes on, the worse the news will feel. Hopefully this is something that will only sideline Tyson for a few weeks, but given his history of hamstring injuries, which slowed him during the pre-draft process, it wouldn’t be surprising if his absence extended into the regular season. Hopefully we’ll have a clear answer on his status soon.

Garafolo captioned a report from ESPN’s Katherine Terrell regarding Tyson’s new injury, adding that Tyson’s “timeline to return is TBD but doesn’t seem it’ll be anytime soon.” Here’s what we know: Tyson injured his right hamstring yesterday. Multiple right hamstring injuries derailed his 2025 college season and kept him from participating in the pre-draft process. Saints coach Kellen Moore initially said the new injury is unrelated to Tyson’s prior injuries, but New Orleans Football’s Mike Triplett noted today that Moore “changed his wording to say it wasn’t ‘necessarily’ related.” Moore also said that Tyson’s Week 1 availability may be impacted. Here’s hoping that Tyson’s decision to seek multiple opinions yields multiple positive reports. Stay tuned.

According to Moore, this is not related to the previous hamstring injuries Tyson has dealt with, and the team is gathering more information before determining a recovery timeline. Moore also said the possibility of Tyson missing Week 1 can’t be ruled out. It’s not exactly encouraging news, but we’re holding out hope that, at worst, this is a short-term absence for Tyson, whose pre-draft process was hampered by hamstring injuries. Tyson profiles as a decent WR3 play in fantasy if/when he is on the field this season.

Nick Underhill later added that the injury “isn’t super serious.” The bigger issue is that the hamstring injury simply won’t go away. Tyson was unable to participate in the NFL Combine over five months ago because of a hamstring injury. He was then limited during the offseason program before returning to practice at the start of training camp. Now the injury is back and there’s no telling how long it will keep the rookie off the field. Tyson had a sky-high ceiling coming out of Arizona State, but the disjointed offseason will likely prevent him from making much of an impact in fantasy lineups early in the season.

A “significant” hamstring injury prevented Tyson from participating in the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine. He then remained limited throughout spring practices after the Saints drafted him in April. Earlier this week, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis revealed that Tyson had suffered “a small recurrence during the pre-draft process,” which explains his springtime limitations. The injury is now behind Tyson, and he has been practicing with the first-team offense since the Saints took the practice field on Wednesday. His new personal chef, a hyperbaric chamber and a recovery room are all part of his plan to maintain good health moving forward. Saints QB Tyler Shough notably complimented Tyson’s preparation and desire to improve. Tyson is slated to operate as the Saints’ WR2 while returning WR3 value or better in fantasy this season.

Underhill compared Tyson’s best routes with Shough’s highest-targeted areas of the field and declared, “it’s the same diagram.” Coincidentally, Tyson’s route tree closely overlaps with that of No. 1 WR Chris Olave. Underhill believes that this dynamic will allow coach Kellen Moore to use Tyson and Olave interchangeably. They will both line up in the perimeter and in the slot. Underhill believes Olave will remain the team’s top pass catcher “for the near future,” but eventually both he and Tyson will work as two “top receivers.” Tyson missed most of spring practices with a hamstring injury, but Underhill said he will not worry about the issue unless Tyson misses training camp. Underhill closed the segment by saying a 55/700/5 receiving line on 90 targets is a “safe projection” for Tyson’s rookie season, though he believes Tyson is capable of doing more. The “safe” stat line equates to 155.0 PPR points and would have made him the WR40 last season.