METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints are still hoping to get offensive stars Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas back in the lineup for Sunday's playoff opener against the Chicago Bears.
But they ruled out one of their top defensive playmakers, defensive end Trey Hendrickson, with a neck injury on Friday.
Hendrickson has been one of the NFL's bigger surprise breakouts this year with a team-high 13.5 sacks. He originally suffered the injury in Week 15 and did not play in Week 16. But he returned to play in Week 17 and practiced on a limited basis Wednesday before being sidelined on Thursday and Friday.