Marques Colston Injury: Updates on Saints WR's Chest and Return

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marques Colston is dealing with a chest injury, and it will prevent him from returning this season.

Continue for updates.

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Colston Out vs. Falcons

Sunday, Jan. 3

The Saints announced Colston is among the team's inactives for their Week 17 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.

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Latest on Colston's Practice Status

Friday, Jan. 1

The Saints announced Colston did not take part in Friday's session.

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Colston Has Been Reliable During NFL Career

Colston was dealing with a slight shoulder separation prior to Week 6's game against the Atlanta Falcons but has otherwise been quite durable in his time with the Saints. The 10th-year veteran has appeared in at least 14 games in every season except 2008, when he played in 11 contests.

Colston has been a key fixture in head coach Sean Payton's offense, which has made New Orleans a perennial contender for the better part of the past decade that culminated with a Super Bowl win in 2009. 

But his high price tag coupled with a decline in production could prompt the cap-heavy Saints to move on from their franchise-leading receiver at season's end, per Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune:

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Young receivers Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead have replaced Colston as [quarterback Drew] Brees' go-to receiver. [Colston] has started only five games this season and his declining production—45 receptions for 520 yards and four touchdowns—will make it difficult for the Saints to justify his $5.9 million salary cap charge next season. The Saints would realize $3.2 million in cap relief if he retires or is released.

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Brees is among the elite at his position and can elevate the play of those around him—Colston being the epitome as a seventh-round pick in 2006 who went on to become Brees' top target en route to a slew of passing milestones.

Cooks, who was last year's first-round pick, Snead and Brandon Coleman will be counted on to carry the load in the Saints' receiving corps.