Saints to face Raiders minus several key players

When it comes to the Saints, who the Raiders play on Sunday in New Orleans, who won’t be playing is as significant as who will.

In their last game, the Saints were without wide receivers Jarvis Landry and Michael Thomas, tight end Adam Trautman, quarterback Jameis Winston, guard Andrus Peat and cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Paulson Adebo.

All but Winston either missed some practice this week or worked out on a limited basis, putting in question their availability for Sunday’s game. Meanwhile, the 2-5 Saints have already decided to roll again with Andy Dalton rather than Winston at quarterback.

In addition, with cornerback Bradley Roby landing on the injured reserve list, the back end of the Saints’ defense is in dire straits. Even if Lattimore and Adebo can play against the Raiders, there is bound to be some rust. And if they can’t go, Derek Carr and the Raiders’ offense will be working against a decidedly depleted secondary.

On the other hand, veteran safety Tyrann Mathieu has been a leader on the back end and continues to play at a high level.

“He’s one of the best safeties in our game, and he can be in the box, up high, cover two, blitzing. He does everything,” Carr said of Mathieu. “He’s a competitor too.”

Carr has great respect for the entire Saints defense. “All of them are physical. They’re violent at the point of attack. They’re aggressive … none of us like each other this week, but I do have respect for those guys whenever we’re not playing them.”

Offensively, the Saints are sticking with Dalton in spite of Winston being healthy. Dalton has completed 83 of 101 passes for 946 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions. Including two that were taken back for touchdowns. The Saints are 1-3-1 with him behind center.

“I feel like he’s played well,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said. “Offensively, I feel like we’re in a little bit of a rhythm. We’ve been moving the ball effectively. We’ve scored points. And so we’re gonna continue down that road with Andy as the quarterback.”

It sounds like it’s going to be Dalton’s job until further notice. Or until he plays his way out of the job.

“Well, look, Jameis is back healthy right now,” Allen said. “We’re gonna go with Andy as we sit here right now. And if we continue to play well offensively and move the ball offensively, Andy will stay in there.”

One player who seems to have benefited from Dalton at quarterback is running back Alvin Kamara, who has played well the last three games. He’s rushed 351 yards on the season and has 24 receptions for 191 yards. In spite of the two pick-six touchdown interceptions Dalton was guilty of against the Cardinals in his last outing, Kamara is a believer in the veteran quarterback.

“I feel like he never panics when he’s going through his reads,” Kamara told ESPN. “It seems like he gets to the right place at the right time. Minus some of the things we were doing that were self-inflicted, he’s played well. I think it’s going to be good moving forward.

“Obviously I know he’s probably the hardest on himself about last week, those two interceptions. He’s fighting way harder than anybody — coaches and all of us — to get that corrected.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.