NEW ORLEANS — The Saints are a slight favorite in Nashville on Sunday, and the injury report that came out for Thursday had a couple of names to watch.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson returned to practice in a limited role. This is good news because he's going through the concussion protocol right now.
If you remember Monday night game in the second half, he suffered that concussion when P.J. Williams' knee hit C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the head. He went out in the game and missed the rest of the contest, but he returned to practice today which is a good sign.
As long as he keeps continues progressing through tomorrow and Saturday — if he's cleared, he should be able to play in that safety role for the Saints on Sunday against the Titans.
Vonn Bell missed last week's game with the knee. He has not returned to practices all this week. He's missed practice the last two days, and it doesn't look like he's going to be starting. C.J. Gardner-Johnson starting in that safety role is going to be very big.
On the offensive line — I know everybody's wanting to know the health of the Saints offensive line.
Andrus Peat practiced again in a limited fashion for the second day in a row. That's encouraging news. He returned to practice this week after having forearm surgery last month, so getting him back at left guard is going to be key.
Meanwhile, on right guard, Larry Warford missed practice again for a second straight game, and his prognosis for Sunday doesn't look good because of that knee injury. Expect to see Nick Easton or Will Clapp playing at the right guard position. If Warford is not able to go.
Big injury news on the other side for Tennessee, Derrick Henry the running back missed practice on Thursday. He was held out because of a hamstring issue, but I don't believe this is going to be something that's going to hurt the Titans.
I do believe Derrick Henry is going to play on Sunday because he didn't practice all last week with the same injury, and he still played racked up 80 yards had over 10 plus carries. He can still go.
What does concern me about the backfield for the Titans is that Dion Lewis ended up on the injury report. He was limited with an ankle injury today, so that's something to watch as we wait for Friday's final injury report.
Some injuries to see on both sides. We're in week 16, in the last two games of the season. Both teams are banged up. This is naturally going to happen in a 16 game season in the NFL, but the Saints are trying to get healthy at the right time.
I know they have a couple of key injuries, but it does look promising for Sunday's game.
It is a noon kickoff between the Saints and Titans. The Saints need the win to keep pace for that number one seed the NFC. The Titans have a lot on the line. They have to win in order to keep their chances of winning the AFC South alive, so it should be a very big game on Sunday for both sides.
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