The New Orleans Saints released their first injury report for Week 2 of the regular season, ahead of their Sept. 21 game on “Monday Night Football’ with the Las Vegas Raiders. While the Saints did welcome the return of a few key players to Thursday’s practice, they were also working without several big names.

Obviously, the most important absence to note was superstar wide receiver Michael Thomas, the best player on the team. Thomas exited Week 1’s victory with a high-ankle sprain after a falling teammate cut him down, and the Saints have been working with the expectation that he will miss several weeks of action while recovering. Even if Thomas feels he can push through the pain, the risk of worsening his injury may be too high.

That’s been the case for third-year pass rusher Marcus Davenport, who still has not returned to practice while managing an elbow issue. Saints coach Sean Payton preached patience with Davenport earlier this week, but it’s unclear what timetable he’s working with. If Davenport was expected to miss multiple games to start the season, the Saints could have designated him to the injured reserve list and reactivated him after just three weeks thanks to recent NFL rules changes. Maybe he’s close to returning.

And while an absence for wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders initially drove Saints fans on social media into a panic, he was listed Thursday with a non-injury designation, meaning he was likely given a day off on veteran’s rest. Sanders, 33, is expected to step up while Thomas is sidelined. And he’s used to beating up on the Raiders defense from his Denver Broncos days.

From the Saints

From the Raiders