There’s bad news for Deonte Harty. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill first reported that Harty was diagnosed with a turf toe injury after exiting Sunday’s win against the Seattle Seahawks, and it might end his season. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport adds that Harty will receive a second opinion on the injury, but it’s believed he’ll be facing a months-long recovery.
If that’s the case, it sounds like a similar injury to what rookie left tackle Trevor Penning suffered in the preseason, which has sidelined him until at least November. It’s a really tough break for Harty in a contract year. He hasn’t found much success on special teams (returning 3 punts for 8 yards, and 6 kicks for 137 yards, an average of 22.8 yards per kick return) or offense (catching 2 receptions for 13 yards), but it’s not for lack of trying — if anything, he’s been trying too hard to make something out of nothing. Hopefully his injury isn’t as severe as feared and he’s able to return to good health soon.
So how do the Saints adjust without him? It probably isn’t sustainable to keep asking Taysom Hill to return kicks, entertaining as that has been; Jarvis Landry and Marquez Callaway have helped field punts, but neither has been particularly effective in the role. The only other Saints player to return kicks in the preseason was wide receiver Kirk Merritt and running back Tony Jones Jr., who was waived Saturday and could re-sign with the practice squad.
But the smart pick may be Rashid Shaheed. The undrafted rookie out of Weber State was unavailable for most of the season while recovering from an ACL injury but he brings an impressive college resume with a school record in kickoff return yards per try (29.1) and the all-time FCS record for kickoff return touchdowns (7). He’s the only player in school history to earn All-American recognition four times, largely for his efforts in the return game. If he’s healthy, he should get called up from the practice squad to try his hand on special teams.