New Orleans Saints: Sheldon Rankins carted off in practice

It has not been a good morning at training camp for the New Orleans Saints, as first round pick Sheldon Rankins was carted off with an injury.

The New Orleans Saints appear to have suffered a huge blow on Monday morning at training camp. Rookie Sheldon Rankins had to be carted off the field during practice with an injury. While training camp is important for a player’s development, injuries during the summer are something that every player hopes to avoid.

According to Jeff Duncan, the injury occurred during goal-line drills on Monday morning. This is bad news for the rookie.

Rankins was the 12th overall pick by the Saints in the 2016 NFL Draft from Louisville. In college, Rankins was a great playmaker on defense for the Cardinals, as he totaled 14 sacks and 26.5 tackles for loss in his final two seasons.

The Saints defense has been awful for years now, and the hope was that Rankins would be one of the players that helped improve the unit in 2016. Rankins was projected as a starter as a rookie for the Saints, but now the focus will be on the severity of his injury.

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Hopefully, Rankins’ injury isn’t too serious, because this could be a big blow for the Saints defense. Missing time as a rookie is never a good thing for the development of a player — the first year in the NFL is one of the most important.

Stay tuned for more updates on Rankins’ injury.