The New Orleans Saints are dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak, and will be down their top two quarterbacks when they face off against the Miami Dolphins on “Monday Night Football.” Rookie Ian Book is expected to start with Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian out, and his backup will reportedly be Blake Bortles.
On Friday, Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com reported that the Saints are expected to sign Bortles today. He will practice with the team and serve as Book’s backup. The former No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of UCF has already worn this COVID-19 replacement hat before, as the Green Bay Packers signed him last month when Aaron Rodgers tested positive for the coronavirus. Bortles was released less than two weeks later.
Bortles spent five seasons as a starter with the Jacksonville Jaguars, then shifted to a backup role with the Los Angeles Rams in 2019. He hasn’t seen much action since then. In 78 career games, Bortles has thrown 103 touchdowns compared to 75 interceptions, and has a 24-49 record as a starter.
Duncan reports that Saints head coach Sean Payton is back in the fold after COVID-19 forced him to miss last week, but positive tests are still coming in. Special teams Pro Bowler J.T. Gray was added to the reserve/COVID-19 list on Friday, per Duncan, and he said he’s hearing the Saints could be down a few assistant coaches this week as well.
