New Orleans Saints left tackle Trevor Penning out indefinitely
The first round draft pick will need to have surgery on his foot to repair a torn ligament, leaving the New Orleans front line without a blind side anchor
This is not the kind of news you need at this point in the pre-season. Trevor Penning, the 6′7″ left tackle out of Northern Iowa is out indefinitely. Suffering a torn ligament in his foot during the game against the Chargers, sources indicate that it is a really bad case of turf toe, Penning will need to undergo surgery and will be out for a minimum of six weeks.
The young lineman was selected as the understudy to replace Terron Armstead on the blind side, and while his inexperience was plain to see in pass protection throughout the pre-season, there is no doubting his contribution to the run game.
Since arriving in New Orleans, the first-round draft pick has made headlines by getting kicked out of practice after starting fights with his team mates for three days in a row. His reputation for a reckless playing style in college seems to be bearing itself out in the pros and while a nasty streak in an offensive lineman is not necessarily a bad thing, it can only be tolerated if it brings results on Sunday.
Heavily used this summer by the Saints, Penning was not expected to be a starter, and while he battled for the job with James Hurst, he is now off the table until the early October at the earliest. Hurst has suffered foot problems of his own and Ryan Ramczyk on the other side of that O-line may find that he gets called on for extra duty, particularly on pocket protection.
Having only gotten Jameis Winston back under center after a torn ACL last season and a foot sprain of his own, the Saints should be nervous about that blind side protection. Terron Armstead left an enormous pair of shoes to fill when he departed in free agency, and New Orleans has had an eye on home-growing his replacement rather than buying in help.
With all of the grinding attrition that the Saints have had to deal with in their offensive line, they need to make some big decisions in the coming weeks. With a less-than-100-percent James Hurst as the only viable left tackle in the lineup leaves them prone to disaster should he go out at any point. They could grab a right tackle backup and train him to look at the blind side, but with Winston’s injury issues they may look to trade for someone. Whatever they do, they need to do it quickly.