Less than halfway through the New Orleans Saints' first game with the regular starting five along the offensive line all in the game, right guard Cesar Ruiz was forced to exit after quarterback Spencer Rattler rolled into the back of his legs on a scramble.
"We finally have that (offensive line) group up in Buffalo and it's like, 'Alright, let's roll!' Then something happens, and it's challenging," said coach Kellen Moore. "You've got to deal with the unknown."
It was a high-ankle sprain for Ruiz — normally an injury that would keep a player out multiple weeks. But Ruiz missed only the Week 5 game against the Giants and was back in the lineup for Week 6.
"Body felt good — fresh legs you could say," Ruiz said. "... By the grace of God I was able to get back out there on that field and be out there with my brothers again."
Moore was impressed with how his right guard performed in the Patriots game — especially considering the injury he was coming off of.
"I thought it was an awesome performance by him, I thought he did a lot of good stuff," Moore said. "It was a really good rebound game coming off an injury where you don't know how that timeline is going to take its course. He responded really well, he worked really hard to get back."