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New Orleans Saints elevate former starters from practice squad

20200517_134556by:Justin Rudolph•09/25/21
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at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on December 21, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The New Orleans Saints are elevating wide receiver Kenny Stills and center Austin Reiter, from their practice squad ahead of Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots. Both were signed by the Saints on Sept. 15, following their week 1 win against the Green Bay Packers.

Stills back in New Orleans

This will be Stills’s second stint with the Saints. He was originally their fifth-round pick taken back in the 2013 NFL Draft.  Stills played two seasons in New Orleans and played in 31 games over that time. He left New Orleans as a part of a trade with the Miami Dolphins in 2015. During his brief time with the Saints, Stills had 95 receptions for 1,572 yards and eight touchdown grabs. With the Dolphins, Stills played in 63 games starting 55 over a four-year span. He caught 164 passes for 2,566 yards and 24 touchdown catches. In 2019, he would sign with the Houston Texans and saw his productivity decline. With the Texans, he started in just five of the 23 games that he played in and only had 705 yards receiving in the two years he was there.

O-line help

As for Austin Reiter, he was most recently with the Kansas City Chiefs and was a part of both their Super Bowl runs as their starting center. The Chiefs released him this offseason. For the Saints, they have found playoff and Super Bowl experience to help their offensive line stay afloat while starting center Erik McCoy is on the mend. However, it’s not likely for him to take over for Cesar Ruiz at center right now. Ruiz is the Swiss army knife of New Orleans offensive line and has been filling in at center for the Saints whenever needed.

The Saints could use the offensive help as they struggled on that side of the ball against the Carolina Panthers. But that loss does not rest solely on the shoulders of the Saints personnel. For last week’s game, they were missing a total of eight coaches from the sideline. This week, they will get back offensive assistant Declan Doyle, offensive analyst Jim Chaney, running backs coach Joel Thomas, senior offensive assistant/wide receivers Curtis Johnson, and assistant special teams coach Phil Galiano. Assistant head coach/ defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen, run game coordinator/ tight end coach Dan Roushar and pass-rush specialist Brian Young are still out for Sunday’s game.

This week the Saints look to bounce back from their week 2 loss as they take on the Patriots. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. EST at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.