NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints now have 15 players on the NFL's reserve/COVID-19 list after placing tackle Ryan Ramczyk, linebacker Demario Davis, running back Dwayne Washington, and safety JT Gray on the list Friday.
Trevor Siemian, Taysom Hill, Malcolm Jenkins, Jordan Mills, Christian Ringo, Jalyn Holmes, Jeff Heath, Kaden Elliss, and James Carpenter were officially placed on the Saints' reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday.
The Saints also added assistant defensive backs coach Cory Robinson, assistant offensive line coach Zach Strief, and coaching intern Sterling Moore to the COVID list on Friday.
With both quarterbacks out rookie Ian Book will make his first start on Monday night against the Miami Dolphins.
Sean Payton said about Book, "he’s going to do fine. He’s excited about the opportunity. Obviously, there will be some plays where we want to get on to the next play, but you know, he is kind of going to class with the gameplan. He’s done a good job of handling that. It’s up to us as coaches to get him the right things relative to the game and where we’re at offensively.”
Payton confirmed that the team signed veteran quarterback Blake Bortles. Bortles was picked third by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2014 NFL draft. He last appeared in a regular-season game in 2019 for the Los Angeles Rams.
“Well, we're familiar with the player (Bortles), he was up this year for Green Bay when they had an injury to Aaron (Rodgers), last year with the Rams in the same way. So he's had experience in different offenses. He was out here practicing today. We'll get him up to speed and figure out the things that he's most comfortable with in the event he has to play,” Payton said.
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