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Kamara Full at Practice, but Will He Play versus Baltimore?

Shorter injury list at practice on Wednesday.
Aug 02, 2026; Metairie, LA, USA;  New Orleans Saints quarterback Zach Wilson (4) hands off to running back Alvin Kamara (41) during training camp at Ochsner Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
Aug 02, 2026; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Zach Wilson (4) hands off to running back Alvin Kamara (41) during training camp at Ochsner Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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The Saints practice sessions continued their shift toward this Sunday's opponent, Baltimore, and the injury list continued to shorten. The good news: running back Alvin Kamara is back to being a full participant. We'll have a complete run down and analysis on the injury report in a separate story here at Saints On SI.

"He's a difference maker at every position, to be honest," quarterback Tyler Shough told us when we asked about the good possibility of having Kamara back in the lineup this Sunday. "His physicality, his speed, his one-cut ability, his presence in the huddle. He's got the experience. And then they (the defense) has to respect all that stuff. So having him...there's a lot of weapons. It'll be good to have him back potentially."

"I feel good about Alvin," head coach Kellen Moore told the media this afternoon. "I feel like he's done an awesome job. I think he's right where he needs to be. He practiced last week. I think it was just a matter of time on task, getting a full week's work. I thought he did an amazing job of putting himself in position last week to practice really well, and he's in a great place (this week)."

From Gibbs to Henry

Last week, the Saints faced one of the premier young backs in the league, Jahmyr Gibbs. Now, the wily veteran Derrick Henry is who Moore's team has to face.

"They both have a really good ability to find the one cut in the zone game, and if you miss an opportunity and they have a crease, they can get there quickly. They have different styles once they get to that crease." Gibbs is a sly runner who can make people miss, much like the Saints' own Kamara, while Henry is will run over you as quickly as he'll run around you.

"He's (Henry) outside the norm of what a running back traditionally looks like," Moore continued. "I think the most amazing thing is how long he's done this. This has been going on for years, and it doesn't feel like it's tailing off at all."

And for Moore, to get Henry down takes a village.

"It's group tackling in some cases," Moore admitted. "You need the whole group to pursue and finish, and that's what it's going to take"

Then, from Henry to Jackson

Which complicates things when the Ravens have such an athlete at quarterback in Lamar Jackson.

"If you can run the football the way they can," Moore speculated, "and then create the keepers off of that with Lamar out in space, that's a conflict that a defense is going to have a hard time with."

Saints Running Game Must Get Better

The Saints did not have as effective a run game last week against Detroit as Moore would have liked. He credits the Lions play for that.

"I'd just say Detroit did a really good pressure plan," More explained. "The did a really good job there. We weren't able to get to the second level and create space. It's going to take all 11."

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Doug Joubert
DOUG JOUBERT

Doug has been around Saints football since its inception. He was in Tulane Stadium when John Gilliam ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown in 1967. Though he was in attendance for the Tom Dempsey field goal in 1970, he left early, something he regrets to this day. He covered the Saints at their training camp in Ruston, Louisiana in 1985 while he was working in Monroe, Louisiana as an award-winning radio sportscaster. He was the host of the New Orleans Saints Pre-Game and Post-Game show on Sports 1280, WQUE in the early 1990s. Doug is also the publisher of the Tulane site for On SI.