Coach Dennis Allen believes that Saints DE Payton Turner “probably” needs foot surgery.
(AP) METAIRIE, LA Coach Dennis Allen stated on Monday that defensive end Payton Turner of the New Orleans Saints, who exited Sunday’s season-opening victory over Tennessee due to a foot injury, “probably” needs surgery, which may keep him out of action for a long time.
Turner, a Houston native and first-round pick in the 2021 draft, had trouble with injuries in his first two seasons, playing in just 13 games overall.
He showed promise in the eight games he played last year, including two sacks, five tackles for loss, a potential game-winning field goal blocked, and two tackles for a loss.
“It’s unfortunate for Payton because I thought he was doing some good things early on in the game and he had a nice training camp,” Allen said, noting that the turf toe-type injury happened on what looked like an innocuous play on video.
“The interesting thing, when you watch the play, there wasn’t anything significant where you say, ‘I see where that occurred,” Allen went on to add.
Allen likened Turner’s injury to one suffered by Trevor Penning in a preseason game last year. Penning was sidelined for over three months.
Turner did not play in the first game, although he was a key reserve behind ends Cameron Jordan and Carl Granderson. In the game, he helped on one tackle.
Saints rookie defensive end Isaiah Foskey, a second-round draft pick out of Notre Dame, was inactive for the season opener but could now be thrust into a more regular role if he responds well to a chance to play more, according to Allen.
“I definitely think an opportunity’s opened up for him,” Allen said. “We’ll see what we feel like is the best move for our team.
“He’s still a guy that needs some development and yet I saw a lot of improvement from early in training camp all the way through the last preseason game,” Allen added. “It probably just accelerated the curve a little bit.”
