With the game on the line late in Sunday’s win against the Cleveland Browns, the New Orleans Saints had to play without one of their most important offensive players.

Center Erik McCoy injured his biceps and was not on the field for either the Saints’ go-ahead touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, or the eventual winning touchdown drive in overtime. He was officially listed as questionable to return, but coach Kellen Moore wasn’t able to share any details about the severity of the injury after the game.

“We’ll gather some more information, and they’ll do all the testing tomorrow,” Moore said. “We’ll see what it is.”

That it was a biceps at all adds to the concern for McCoy, who missed the final 10 games of the 2025 season with a torn left biceps. He said this past summer that the injury that ended his 2025 season was a freak occurrence on a play he’d done hundreds of times.

Injuries have been an unfortunate part of McCoy’s story the last few years, as he’s played just seven games in each of the last two seasons. Sunday’s game against Cleveland was McCoy’s eighth of the 2026 season.

William Sherman replaced McCoy in the starting lineup at center after playing several snaps earlier in the game as a sixth offensive lineman. Quarterback Tyler Shough said the transition was seamless between McCoy and Sherman when it came to the quarterback-center exchange.

“It was clean, man,” Shough said. “We practiced that a lot, being able to get snaps with him throughout the week. It just shows his preparation, shows who he is. He was unfazed and came in right away. … I was really proud of him and the entire O-line.”