As if they weren’t encouraged enough by watching the New Orleans Saints drop their second straight home game Sunday, the Ravens learned a day later they won’t have to deal with standout rookie wide receiver Brandin Cooks in Week 12.
Cooks suffered a broken thumb that’s expected to sideline him at least for a few weeks, meaning the Saints’ first-round pick and emerging wideout won’t be available when Baltimore travels to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome next Monday night. Of course, New Orleans has a wide array of other weapons in All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham and wide receivers Marques Colston and Kenny Stills, but the Saints are coming off their lowest scoring output at home since 2006 and Cooks was emerging as their second-best playmaker behind Graham in recent weeks.
He leads all NFL rookies with 53 receptions for 550 yards and three touchdown catches, ranking second on the team behind Graham in all three categories.
The Saints are also banged up in the secondary after losing safety Rafael Bush to a broken fibula in the fourth quarter of their 27-10 loss to Cincinnati. This comes after New Orleans already lost Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd for the season last month.
Though their Monday night trip won’t be easy with an inexperienced secondary, the Ravens should be feeling much better about their chances with quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints off to an underwhelming 4-6 start and even experiencing inconsistency on the offensive side of the ball at times this season.
Luke Jones
Luke Jones is the Ravens and Orioles beat reporter for WNST BaltimorePositive.com and is a PFWA member. His mind is consumed with useless sports knowledge, pro wrestling promos, and movie quotes, but he often forgets where he put his phone. Luke's favorite sports memories include being one of the thousands of kids who waited for Cal Ripken's autograph after Orioles games in the summer of 1995, attending the Super Bowl XXXV victory parade with his dad in the pouring rain, and watching the Terps advance to the Final Four at the Carrier Dome in 2002. Follow him on social media @BaltimoreLuke or email him at Luke@wnst.net.
8
Paid Advertisement
Podcast Audio Vault
88Paid Advertisement
Share the Post:
8Paid Advertisement
Right Now in Baltimore
Lining up to talk DVOA and an offensive O line with The Godfather of modern analytics
We all see the problems in the trenches for the Baltimore Ravens but how much impact has that had on the offense as a whole, which has been legendary in the football analytics space since Lamar Jackson arrived and revolutionized the position for the running game. The Godfather of DVOA and modern football analytics Aaron Schatz talks Ravens woes and NFL trends with Nestor.
The lost Super Bowl XXXV parade video from 2001 – the whole purple Festivus route to City Hall
Center Mike Flynn invited Nestor onto the Humvee to record this incredible "home movie" for a one-hour ride down Pratt Street onto the dais with the Lombardi Trophy to City Hall back on January 30, 2001. If you're a Baltimore Ravens fans, go find yourself in this beautiful mess...
Where is the Rubenstein and Arougheti commitment to winning for Orioles fans?
It's a murky picture throughout Major League Baseball as the Winter Meetings begin and Eric Fisher of Front Office Sports returns to discuss the state of the game, on and off the field. And the business and labor of MLB and a pending working stoppage might be affecting much more than just the payroll of the Baltimore Orioles heading into 2026.
888Paid Advertisement
