Saints' Dalton to start vs. Bengals; Thomas, Lattimore ruled out

New Orleans Saints quarterback Andy Dalton will start Sunday's game against his former team, the Cincinnati Bengals, head coach Dennis Allen announced Friday.

But the Saints won't have wide receiver Michael Thomas and cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who've been ruled out for Week 6 due to a foot ailment and an abdomen injury, respectively.

Meanwhile, rookie wide receiver Chris Olave, who leads New Orleans with 42 targets this season, is listed as questionable after suffering a concussion in Week 5.

Dalton started the last two weeks for New Orleans in place of the injured Jameis Winston, who's dealing with back and ankle injuries. The 34-year-old went 1-1 in those games, passing for 423 yards and two touchdowns against one interception.

The 2-3 Saints are coming off a 39-32 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in which veteran Taysom Hill accounted for four touchdowns, including three scores on the ground.

Dalton played in Cincy from 2011-19 and is the Bengals' all-time leader with 204 touchdown passes. The former second-round pick, who posted a 70-61-2 record with Cincinnati, also ranks second in franchise history with 31,594 passing yards.

The Saints are Dalton's third different team since Cincinnati released him after selecting Joe Burrow with the first overall pick in the 2020 draft. He also played for the Dallas Cowboys (2020) and Chicago Bears (2021).

Dalton is 2-0 versus the Bengals in his career, though he wasn't able to finish Chicago's win over Cincy last year due to injury.

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