Paulson Adebo injury update: Saints CB breaks hamstring during Thursday Night Football game

New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo had to be carted off the field early in the second quarter during the Saints’ Thursday Night Football matchup with the Denver Broncos.

Adebo collided with Broncos running back Javonte Williams as he attempted to make a tackle. After the play, the fourth-grader immediately grabbed his right leg. New Orleans’ medical staff conducted an aerial assault on the field before taking Adebo back to the locker room on a cart.

There was a minute-long delay as medical staff attended to Adebo’s injury. Later in the game, Amazon Prime Video’s Kaylee Hartung reported that the cornerback was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

Update on Paulson Adebo’s injury

After the game, Saints head coach Dennis Allen told reporters that Adebo had broken his femur, the femur bone that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) calls the “longest, heaviest and strongest human bone.”

Allen said he expects Adebo to undergo surgery later Thursday night to treat the injury.

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, it can take four to six months for a broken femur to fully heal. Patients may “be able to resume many activities before that point,” but Adebo’s season is over.

A 2015 study published in the Journal of Athletic Training concluded that “[r]“A return to previous performance level is possible” after an athlete suffered a broken femur. It took an average of nine and a half months for the athletes in the study to return to play after the injury.

Who is Paulson Adebo’s backup on the Saints’ depth chart?

The Saints lost both starting cornerbacks to injuries in Week 7 on “Thursday Night Football.” After Adebo suffered a leg injury early in the second quarter, Marshon Lattimore also left the game. Lattimore injured his hamstring late in the third quarter and New Orleans quickly ruled him out of the game as well.

Rookie cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry is listed on the Saints’ depth chart as Lattimore’s primary backup, and third-year cornerback Alontae Taylor is listed as Adebo’s backup.

Undrafted free agent rookie Rico Payton is the only other healthy cornerback on the Saints roster. Payton had 10 defensive snaps and 86 special teams snaps before New Orleans’ Week 7 clash with the Broncos. He had a tackle on Thursday night.

Paulson Adebo stats

Adebo had a total of six tackles (three solo) against the Broncos on Thursday night before his injury.

This season, the fourth-year cornerback had three interceptions, 46 total tackles and led the league with 10 passes defensed in six games.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paulson Adebo injury update: Saints CB transported after breaking hamstring