New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave will not play Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals because of concussion symptoms.
Olave, who had been listed as questionable, was hurt after appearing to be briefly knocked unconscious when his head was slammed into the turf during a touchdown catch in the third quarter of New Orleans’ 39-32 win over the Seattle Seahawks last weekend. He was initially taken to the sideline medical tent for a concussion evaluation before going to the locker room and did not return.
The absence further depletes an already thin corps of receivers, as New Orleans is also playing Sunday without wide receivers Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry and Deonte Harty, who all had been ruled out with injury.
In addition, Harty was placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury Saturday.
The Saints acted quickly to bolster their injury-riddled receiver corps, signing fourth-year wideout Keith Kirkwood and rookie Rashid Shaheed to the active roster from the practice squad and filling another spot by elevating veteran Kevin White as a standard promotion.
Andy Dalton, meanwhile, will start at quarterback for the Saints, as Jameis Winston was deemed not ready to play after his returning to practice following a two-week absence caused by a back injury.
Winston is active Sunday, with a source telling ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that he will serve as the emergency quarterback. That kept New Orleans from needing to release a player to bring in another quarterback. The Saints waived Jake Luton on Saturday, while Taysom Hill has taken snaps with the quarterbacks in practice.