NEW ORLEANS — The Saints are looking to move to 5-1 on the year against the 2-3 Jaguars on the road and once again, Teddy Bridgewater will be the key to their success.
Teddy had his best performance in Black and Gold last week throwing for four touchdowns against the Buccaneers. The Jacksonville defense has given up more than 25 points-per-game, good news for Bridgewater and the Saints offense.
Good news for Jacksonville though, CB Jalen Ramsey returned to practice this week. He missed the last two games with a back injury and was limited in practice. There have been rumors about Ramsey wanting out of Jacksonville and demanding a trade, but the Jags didn’t move him. While those rumors swirled, he missed time for an illness and for the birth of his second child, so we’ll see if the back injury is something that would hold him back or part of the alleged hold out. If he returns though, he’s one of the best CBs in the league and will be a big boost for the Jacksonville D.
On the other side, the Saints defense has been playing very well. Sunday, they’ll need to stop two former LSU Tigers in Leonard Fournet and DJ Chark. Fournet has been in a groove lately, going for back-to-back 100 yard games (108 against the panthers and 225 against the Broncos). He’s a big physical back and the Saints know it’s going to be tough to bring him down.
DJ Chark and Gardner Minshew have established a strong raport. He’s become the main weapon for the rookie QB who’s drawing attention from around the league. Minshew had an unusual path to the NFL. He played for four different colleges, JuCo and D1 level, he came into the NFL undrafted and got the start after QB Nick Foles injured his shoulder. He’s now 2-2 as a starter and has had nine touchdowns to just one interceptions so far this season. He’s also sixth in QB rating in the NFL this year, but he’s prone to turning the ball over. Even though he doesn’t throw the ball to the other team, he had three fumbles against the Panthers last week. He still had the team in a position to win though, but couldn’t pull it off.
We’ll see which backup QB can win the game Sunday afternoon on Channel 4.