SmashMouth

New Orleans Saints defensive tackle David Onyemata said he texted his teammate Sheldon Rankins after Sunday’s NFC Divisional playoff win against the Philadelphia Eagles to check on him and send him well wishes.

Rankins was carted off the field midway through the first quarter with an injury that was later confirmed to be a torn Achilles, and Onyemata said he felt for the Saints’ third-year tackle, who was in the midst of the best season of his career, posting eight sacks.


“Just watching the film and seeing how it happened, it’s pretty tough,” Onyemata said. “It wasn’t like anything out of the ordinary, and it just happened.”

Now Onyemata and the Saints will look to win an NFC Championship Game without Rankins in the lineup. While he doesn’t know what the coaching staff’s plans are to fill the void created with Rankins out, Onyemata plans to be ready for any possibility.

So this week he plans to get a little extra conditioning work in.

“If you go with a three-man rotation, you might have to do extra conditioning and just get your mind ready for more plays and expect more things,” he said.

Onyemata was called on to pick up the extra reps Sunday. He played the second-most snaps of any Saints defensive lineman in the 20-14 win, against Eagles and his teammates said he did a good job with the extra work.

“He had a great game yesterday,” Saints linebacker A.J. Klein said. “He played his tail off.”

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Cruize

The guy is on the verge of becoming special.

jeanpierre

I've actually been a bigger fan of Onyemata over Rankins; Onyemata has definitely had his share of growing pains, but...

While I'll be the first to say that PFF grading is no absolute - Onyemata has finished with a higher grade than Rankins if that lessens the sting for some...

NewfieSaint

Ok this is making me feel better...

keep going....

st thomas

He’s definitely in the backfield a lot he got bashed by roughing calls early in the season but they like this guy and I’m glad we got this cat

Thirty3

D line no concern. O line still the weak (injured) link.

Thirty3

Thanks Rankins for a great year! Godspeed your recovery.

nola_swammi

Bigger fan of Rankins but I believe in you Onyemata.

spkb25

I'm so interested to watch him next year...this kid is getting better and better.

ChrisXVI

Onyemata plays with way more of a mean streak than Rankins. That can be great but being a little undisciplined leads to penalties sometimes. Hopefully he reigns that in just enough to be an animal while still being composed.