Saints place WR Rashid Shaheed on season-ending IR after knee injury

The New Orleans Saints announced on Thursday that they’ve placed wide receiver/returner Rashid Shaheed on injured reserve due to a knee injury that he suffered in the team’s Week 6 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After examining the injury, team doctors repaired Shaheed’s meniscus, ending his season and requiring a four-to-six-month recovery, ESPN reported.

Wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown was elevated from the practice squad, among other moves.

Shaheed was on pace to set career highs in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, as he totaled 20 receptions for a team-high 349 yards and three touchdowns in six games. Last season, he posted a career-high 719 receiving yards.

Shaheed has returned kicks and punts for New Orleans across his three-year NFL career. This season, he was averaging a league-high 15.9 yards per punt return, and he returned a punt for a touchdown in each of the past two seasons. He was a Pro Bowler in 2023.

The Saints are already without veteran quarterback and four-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr, who suffered an oblique injury in Week 5 and is expected to miss at least two more weeks. Rookie Spencer Rattler has started at quarterback in Carr’s absence.

The Saints have dropped four consecutive games since starting 2-0. They host the Denver Broncos (3-3) on Thursday night in what’s head coach Sean Payton’s return to New Orleans; Payton was the Saints’ head coach from 2006-21, highlighted by winning Super Bowl XLIV. New Orleans will also be without wide receiver Chris Olave due to a concussion.

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