Payton: Rankins' injury 'clearly' not season-ending

While there's no exact timetable for his return, the New Orleans Saints expect to have rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins back at some point this season.

The Saints' 2016 first-round pick suffered a broken fibula Monday in practice. He'll need an estimated six-to-eight weeks to recover, but that span hasn't been confirmed by team or player.

Head coach Sean Payton said Wednesday the injury "clearly is not gonna be season-ending at all," according to ESPN's Mike Triplett, and indicated he'll wait longer to decide whether Rankins will be placed on short-term injured reserve to start the season.

"It would all be based on the time frame of when we think he'll be ready," Payton said about placing Rankins on IR. "And that would be a little early to predict right now."

If Rankins was placed on the short-term reserve, he wouldn't be eligible to return to game action until Week 9 of the regular season.

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