When the New Orleans Saints held Marshon Lattimore out of last weekend’s game with a hamstring injury, coach Dennis Allen said the cornerback was “a little pissed” at him. Lattimore pushed to play, but Allen said the Saints wanted to give it another week so the 28-year-old wouldn’t risk hurting it worse.
Standing at his locker days later, Lattimore said Allen made the right decision.
“I was ready, but I wasn’t ready,” Lattimore said. “If that makes sense.”
Lattimore said he could have taken steps to play through pain, but acknowledged he “probably would have hurt it even more.” The four-time Pro Bowler suffered the injury in New Orleans’s season opening win over the Carolina Panthers.
The time off helped. Lattimore indicated to reporters that he was going to play in Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, and indeed, he wasn't listed with an injury designation when the Saints put out their injury report Friday.
“I’m good,” Lattimore said. “I feel good. I’ve been out there running around, and I feel good. You know, we’re going to see; the game is obviously a different than practice and anything I’ve been doing, so we’re going to see when I get out there Sunday how I feel.”
In the matchup, Lattimore will avoid having to take on one of the best players in the league. The Eagles listed All-Pro wide receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury.
But Lattimore will still face a formidable receiver in DeVonta Smith, who is coming off back-to-back seasons of registering at least 1,000 yards.
“He’s just another player on the other side,” Lattimore said. “That’s how I look at everybody. I don’t really rank receivers and all that type of stuff. ... Right now, it’s just another person on the other side that I’ve got to win against. He fast, quick. He got everything a receiver, a No. 1 receiver supposed to have. But I don’t really get into all of that.”