Saints running back Alvin Kamara still isn’t practicing.
Kamara missed Wednesday’s session, his fourth consecutive missed practice since injuring a knee and an ankle against the Falcons in Week 12.
His prognosis was a week or two.
Devin Neal started for the Saints on Sunday and rushed for 47 yards on 14 carries and caught three passes for 22 yards. Audric Estime served as Neal’s backup.
In 11 games this season, Kamara has 164 touches for 657 yards and a touchdown.
He has not played a full season since his rookie season of 2017.
Safety Justin Reid (knee), wide receiver Chris Olave (back) and Taliese Fuaga (ankle) also did not practice.
Saints Clips
The Saints waived a pair of players on Tuesday and they filled those open spots on Wednesday.
They announced that they have signed wide receiver Dante Pettis and offensive lineman William Sherman to the 53-man roster from the practice squad. Wide receiver Kevin Austin and tackle Barry Wesley were let go on Tuesday.
Pettis used up his three elevations from the practice squad in the team’s last three games. He has seen most of his action as a returner in those appearances and has also caught one pass for 14 yards.
Sherman has appeared in two games this season. The 2021 Patriots sixth-round pick also played in one game during his rookie season.
The Saints parted ways with two players on Tuesday.
The team announced that they have waived wide receiver Kevin Austin and offensive tackle Barry Wesley.
Austin appeared in three games this season and did not have any catches, but he was targeted with one pass. He had 11 catches for 151 yards in eight games for the team in 2024.
Wesley spent most of this season on injured reserve before being activated last week. He was inactive against the Dolphins on Sunday and has never appeared in a regular season game.
The Saints also announced that they have signed defensive back Beanie Bishop to the practice squad and released running back Ian Wheeler from the same roster.
The Colts have brought in a new kicker.
Via Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, Indianapolis is signing former Saint Blake Grupe to its practice squad on Tuesday.
This comes after the Colts cut Michael Badgley, who had missed his third extra point in seven games with Indianapolis on Sunday.
Grupe, 27, was waived by New Orleans last month after hitting just 18-of-26 field goals in 11 games this season. He missed two from 30-39 yards, three from 40-49 yards, and three from at least 50 yards out this year.
Grupe made 81.1 percent of his field goals as a rookie in 2023 and 87.1 percent of his field goals last year for the Saints.
Now at 8-4, the Colts are currently tied for first place in the AFC South with the Jaguars. But Jacksonville is technically ahead of Indianapolis for now given the Jags’ better record against common opponents.
The NFL will head into the final five weeks of the regular season with the fewest number of teams still in playoff contention since at least the 2002 season.
The Giants, who fell to 2-11 on Monday night, became the first team eliminated from postseason consideration in Week 12 and four teams joined them in Week 13. The 1-11 Titans, 2-10 Raiders, 2-10 Saints, and 3-9 Cardinals are also set to start making their plans for the 2026 season.
Per NBC Sports research, that is the most teams out at this point in the season since the divisional realignment that took place ahead of the 2002 season.
While all of those teams are out of the running, no teams have clinched a playoff spot at this point.
A handful of other teams should be joining that quintet soon. The 3-9 Jets, 3-9 Browns, 3-9 Commanders, 4-8 Falcons, and 4-8 Vikings are going to a lot of things to break in their favor to keep the playoff fires burning much longer.
The Commanders and Vikings play this week and the loser will have no remaining path to the playoffs. The Commanders will also be out if they win and the Eagles win while the Jets, Browns and Falcons are all out with a loss this week.
The Dolphins’ biggest defensive play on Sunday came on a Saints two-point conversion attempt, when Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted a pass and took it all the way down the field to the opposite end zone for a defensive two-point conversion.
Those two points proved to be incredibly important: They gave the Dolphins a four-point lead, and Miami ended up winning 21-17 with New Orleans getting stopped on fourth down in field goal range. If not for those two points by the Dolphins’ defense, the Saints could have kicked a game-winning field goal at the end of the game.
So that makes the Dolphins particularly pleased with linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who called that play because the Dolphins’ communications system went out and Dodson couldn’t hear the coaches in the speakers in his helmet. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said after the game that he knew the defensive coaches were having trouble getting the plays in but didn’t know until after the fact that Dodson called that play himself.
“I was aware of the issue. I was not aware that T-Dod called his own defense, but realistically, like we’ve said from the beginning, it’s less about the play call, it’s more about the conviction of the entire group on how you’re playing it. That’s a mike linebacker that’s prepared and a defense that believes in him,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said that he almost called timeout before the two-point conversion to get the proper play in, but the defensive coaches told them Dodson had it under control.
“The interception, I was about to call a timeout, and then at the last second a couple coaches on the headset said no,” McDaniel said.
That proved to be a good call.
A mostly dull game had a fantastic finish in Miami today, as the Saints stormed back from a big deficit but came up just short.
The Dolphins jumped out to a 16-0 lead at halftime and appeared to be ready to coast to an easy win, but the Saints turned it on in the second half, and when a late touchdown pass from Tyler Shough to Devaughn Vele narrowed the score to 19-17, all the Saints needed was a two-point conversion to force overtime.
Unfortunately for New Orleans, Shough’s two-point conversion attempt was intercepted and returned for a defensive two-point conversion, giving the Dolphins a 21-17 lead.
The Saints then onside kicked, recovered, and got close enough that a pass from Shough to Chris Olave could have been caught in the end zone for a game-winning touchdown. But Olave couldn’t reel it in, and when the Saints tried to quarterback sneak on a fourth-and-1 to extend their late drive, Shough was stuffed at the line of scrimmage.
Dolphins running back De’Von Achane had a big game, with 22 carries for 134 yards and a touchdown, but the Dolphins otherwise looked like they were sleepwalking through much of the game, and they nearly blew it.
Still, Miami managed to hold on, and after a 2-7 start to this season, the Dolphins are on a three-game winning streak and have a respectable 5-7 record. The Saints fall to 2-10.
The Jaguars will be missing a key piece on their defensive line in Tennessee on Sunday.
Defensive tackle Arik Armstead will not play against the Titans. Armstead was listed as questionable because of a hand injury. Armstead has 23 tackles, 5.5 sacks and a forced fumble this season.
The Jaguars are 7-4 heading into Sunday’s game. A win and a Colts loss would draw them even in the AFC South ahead of a Week 14 matchup between the teams.
Jaguars at Titans
Jaguars: DT Arik Armstead, WR Dyami Brown, DE Travon Walker, G Patrick Mekari, OL Chuma Edoga, RB Cody Schrader, TE Hunter Long, LB Yasir Abdullah
Titans: WR Mason Kinsey, CB Jalyn Armour-Davis, S Jerrick Reed, S Kendell Brooks, G Drew Moss, C Lloyd Cushenberry, DT Shy Tuttle
49ers at Browns
49ers: RB Jordan James, WR Jordan Watkins, OL Connor Colby, DE Sam Okuayinonu, DL Kevin Givens, LB Tatum Bethune, K Eddy Pineiro
Browns: G Zak Zinter, OT Cornelius Lucas, WR Jamari Thrash, TE Brenden Bates, DE Alex Wright, DT Adin Huntington
Texans at Colts
Texans: WR Braxton Berrios, QB Graham Mertz, LB Jamal Hill, OT Jarrett Kingston, G Laken Tomlinson
Colts: CB Jonathan Edwards, TE Tyler Mallory, RB DJ Giddens, DT Eric Johnson, S Reuben Lowery, OT Luke Tenuta
Saints at Dolphins
Saints: RB Alvin Kamara, OT Barry Wesley, TE Zaire Mitchell-Paden, DT John Ridgeway, DT Khristian Boyd, S Ugo Amadi, CB Rejzohn Wright
Dolphins: QB Quinn Ewers, CB AJ Green, LB Andre Carter, WR Tahj Washington, DT Matthew Butler
Falcons at Jets
Falcons: WR KhaDarel Hodge, WR Drake London, LB Josh Woods, OL Michael Jerrell, WR Casey Washington, DL Elijah Garcia.
Jets: CB Jarvis Brownlee, RB Khalil Herbert, EDGE Braiden McGregor, DL Mazi Smith, WR Arian Smith, TE Jalani Woods, DL Tyler Baron
Rams at Panthers
Rams: QB Stetson Bennett, RB Jarquez Hunter, CB Derion Kendrick, OL Beaux Limmer, DE Desjuan Johnson
Panthers: CB Jaycee Horn, WR Hunter Renfrow, LB Claudin Cherelus, LB Christian Rozeboom, C Cade Mays, DT Jared Harrison-Hunte, DT Cam Jackson
Cardinals at Buccaneers
Cardinals: OL Hayden Conner, RB Emari Demercado, CB Elijah Jones, CB Max Melton, DL Walter Nolen, S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson
Buccaneers: QB Connor Bazelak, CB Benjamin Morrison, S Kaevon Merriweather, G Luke Haggard, G Elijah Klein, DL Elijah Simmons
The Dolphins will get a pair of players back from injured reserve for Sunday’s game against the Saints.
They announced that tight end Darren Waller and tackle Austin Jackson have both returned to the 53-man roster. Tight end Hayden Rucci and offensive lineman Kion Smith were waived in corresponding moves.
Waller came out of retirement to join the Dolphins this year and had four touchdowns in his first three games for the team. He injured his pectoral the next week, however, and has missed the last four games.
Jackson started the season opener, but injured his toe and has missed the last 10 games.
The Saints signed Cade York to their practice squad this week, but the veteran will not be handling their kicking duties against the Dolphins on Sunday.
The team announced that they have elevated Charlie Smyth from the practice squad to take on that role. Blake Grupe was released after missing a pair of kicks in last weekend’s loss to the Falcons.
Smyth will be making his regular season debut against Miami. The Northern Ireland native was a Gaelic football player before signing with the Saints in 2024 as part of the international player pathway program.
The Saints also elevated wide receiver Dante Pettis. Pettis has one catch in two games this season and he’s also seen time as a returner for New Orleans.
