Taliese Fuaga wanted to give it one more series.
Just before halftime of Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the pain in the New Orleans Saints tackle’s knee had become “really sharp.” But rather than sit, the 23-year-old reiterated to team officials that he planned to at least test it out after the break. And then they’d decide from there.
Fuaga played another 18 snaps — the entire third quarter — before the pain became unbearable.
“I had to pull it,” Fuaga said. “For sure. I got to be out there, but man, it’s a long season ahead.”
Fuaga watched the rest of the game from the end of the bench. Days later, he’s still managing the knee injury that also caused him to miss Wednesday’s practice.
In a conversation with the Times-Picayune, Fuaga said he’s dealing with an inflamed patellar tendon — the same issue that caused him to miss a few days of practice near the end of August. He aggravated the injury further, he said, when he fell on the ground some time in the second quarter against the Cardinals.
Despite the injury, Fuaga said he’s optimistic he’ll play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. He said he expects to practice Thursday.
“I’m going to be good this week,” Fuaga said. “Just making sure I’m good, making sure … nothing’s inflamed or anything. Just making sure it’s calmed down.”
Before exiting, Sunday’s performance hardly was Fuaga’s finest. After playing left tackle as a rookie, the Saints this offseason moved Fuaga back to right tackle — his natural position. But the 23-year-old struggled. According to Pro Football Focus, the lineman allowed four pressures, one of which resulted in a sack on quarterback Spencer Rattler.
Fuaga admitted he was “in my own head.” Fuaga said at first, he didn’t notice he had aggravated his knee because of the adrenaline pumping during live action. But once Fuaga got back to the sideline after a drive, the pain started to kick in.
That not only affected Fuaga physically but also mentally.
“I got to play way better,” Fuaga said. “I know I can play way better.”
The Saints need it. Beyond investing a first-round pick on him last year, New Orleans already was shorthanded on the offensive line with left guard Trevor Penning having been sidelined over the last month with turf toe. Penning, too, missed Wednesday’s practice. The Saints saw last year how devastating several injuries upfront can be, and they obviously want to avoid a repeat scenario.
But Fuaga said he’s committed to addressing the issue. He said he has to figure out a “new routine” for managing the injury, similar to how he spent most of his rookie season rehabbing a back injury that occurred in training camp.
“This year, (I’ve) just got to have a routine for my knees,” Fuaga said. “Obviously, a routine I’m probably going to keep for the rest of my career, just to make sure I never have these problems again.
“We have to kick, we have to run, all based off the knee for (the) O-line. O-line(men) always have knee injuries, so I’ve got to stay on top of it.”
As a franchise, the Saints know that reality better than most. Just last week, former left tackle Terron Armstead said he needs a knee replacement at age 34. Armstead revealed he was told that news in Week 1 of last season, but he still managed to play 15 games for the Miami Dolphins.
Armstead, who retired this offseason, dealt with knee problems for the majority of his 12-year career, including his nine with the Saints.
Longtime Saints right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who missed the entire 2024 season, also retired in the offseason because of a chronic knee injury.
“Those guys, they’re ballers,” Fuaga said. “But I know they had knee problems also. I don’t want to be kind of that guy to go through that kind of stuff.”