Alvin Kamara injury update provides both good and bad news for Saints

While Alvin Kamara avoided a serious injury, he's still going to miss significant time leading up to the season. 

Alvin Kamara will miss a month with an MCL strain 

The New Orleans Saints' star running back will miss at least a month with an MCL strain, as first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter on Wednesday morning. 

Kamara suffered the injury during a recent joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys. But what many thought to be something that could cost Kamara most, if not all, of 2026, it now appears he will avoid surgery and be able to play early in the season. 

Kamara has missed at least a few games in each of his most recent seasons 

But even though the MCL strain, as opposed to a tear offers a much quicker path forward, this will result in another season the Saints have to be without Kamara for a number of games. He was only able to play in 11 games last season, 14 in 2024 and 13 in 2023. 

However, the now 31-year-old has shown he can still be productive when healthy and on the field. He ran for 471 yards for an average of 3.6 yards per carry in 2025 and racked up 950 yards and six touchdowns off only 228 carries in 2024 for an average of 4.2 yards per touch, his highest in any of the past five seasons. 

2026 will mark Kamara's 10th NFL season 

A five-time Pro Bowler and two-time second-team All-Pro, Kamara has accumulated 7,250 rushing yards, a cumulative average of 4.3 yards per carry and recorded 61 touchdowns in 126 games across nine NFL seasons. He was also named the NFL's 2017 Offensive Rookie of the Year after being drafted in the third round following a college career that saw him go from Alabama, to junior college, to returning to the SEC to spend two years at Tennessee.