METAIRIE -- There’s been some hand-wringing over New Orleans Saints rookie defensive end Marcus Davenport missing time with a pulled muscle, but the bigger story to me the past week was tight end Benjamin Watson spending a week away from the team with his own injury. The Saints went through a similar soft tissue-injury process with Marshon Lattimore’s gimpy hamstring to start the 2017 season, and that worked out just fine. But back to Watson.
Those concerns were lessened quite a bit when Watson returned to practice Monday, August 6. He was last seen the previous Monday (July 30) leaving the practice field alongside a trainer before vanishing for a week, not even appearing in Sunday’s night practice at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium.
It’s tough to speculate on what drew Watson away – we don’t even know how he was hurt in the first place – but my gut suggests he left town to visit a specialist, was given good news, and safely returned to join his teammates in training camp. Similar situations have happened before with a much worse result, like running back C.J. Spiller’s career-sinking 2014 knee scope in the middle of camp.
For now, let’s count our blessings and hope Watson is ready to resume the starting gig at tight end. The Saints need a clear leading man at the position as Josh Hill, Michael Hoomanawanui, Deon Yelder, and supposed camp beast Dan Arnold compete for two or three roster spots.