The Saints will reportedly be starting the regular season without one of their starting cornerbacks.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Keenan Lewis had hip surgery on Tuesday. Lewis is expected to miss 4-6 weeks as a result of the operation, which would put his return sometime in October. The Saints face the Cardinals, Buccaneers, Panthers and Cowboys in the first four weeks of the season.
Lewis’s injury continues a run of medical issues in the secondary for New Orleans. Cornerback Brandon Browner missed time with a leg injury while safety Jarius Byrd has been on the PUP list with a knee issue that may leave him out of action for much of the time that Lewis is set to miss. The team also has played without safety Kenny Vaccaro in the last two preseason games and they placed cornerback P.J. Williams on injured reserve this week.
Browner and Vaccaro are expected to be in the lineup for Week One and Delvin Breaux will likely replace Lewis in the starting lineup. The Saints are trying to turn around a defense that flopped in 2014, but the injuries will make that task more difficult early in the season.