Chris Olave Ruled Out for Saints' Last Game After Health Scare

The wide receiver will miss his first game of the season to end a career year.
Chris Olave has been a bright spot this season for the Saints.
Chris Olave has been a bright spot this season for the Saints. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Saints wide receiver Chris Olave has enjoyed a career year—but a health scare will reportedly keep him from putting a bow on it.

Olave will miss New Orleans's finale against the Falcons with a blood clot in his lung, according to a Thursday morning report from Nick Underhill.

"A blood clot was detected in his lung. Got caught early before anything bad could happen and will be fine. But not playing this week," Underhill wrote on social media.

The Saints, with Olave leading the way, have been one of football's hottest teams in December. They've won four straight games to vault from 2-10 to 6-10, and Olave has put up yardage totals of 85, 148 and 119.

The Ohio State product ranks sixth in the NFL in receptions with 100, seventh in receiving yards with 1,163, and seventh in receiving touchdowns with nine. This is his third 1,000-yard season; the San Ysidro, Calif., native ranks 38th all-time in yards per game.

Neither New Orleans nor Atlanta is still alive in the NFC South race, which will be decided Sunday—although a Falcons victory could trigger a three-way tie that would give the Panthers the division title over the Buccaneers.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .