METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints defense suffered another big blow on Thursday when they learned veteran safety Kenny Vaccaro will be placed on injured reserve with his lingering groin injury.
This comes two days after Saints linebacker A.J. Klein was also placed on injured reserve with a groin injury of his own, leaving the Saints' revamped defense awfully thin heading into its final playoff push.
The good news is that New Orleans has decent depth at both positions. Safeties Vonn Bell, Rafael Bush and Chris Banjo could all take on bigger roles in Vaccaro's absence -- or the Saints could use more three-cornerback packages in their nickel defense. The Saints re-signed veteran cornerback Sterling Moore to replace Vaccaro on the roster.
Vaccaro, 26, was arguably off to the best start of his five-year career before he first suffered the groin injury during a Week 9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He'll now finish the year with a career-high three interceptions, plus 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown.
Vaccaro returned after missing Weeks 10 and 11 and played in Weeks 12-15. But he continued to consult with doctors, and it was ultimately determined that he needed surgery to repair the groin injury. A source also confirmed that Vaccaro has been dealing with a wrist injury all year, as the NFL Network first reported.
Vaccaro's future in New Orleans is now in doubt as well, since the first-round draft pick from 2013 is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Vaccaro has battled inconsistency during his career. But his past two seasons have been among his best. And his greatest strength has always been his versatility.
The 6-foot, 214-pounder is a hard hitter who thrives as both a strong safety close to the line of scrimmage and a nickel back in pass coverage against slot receivers.