This is a scary situation for the New Orleans Saints and for Chris Olave, and it comes at a crucial time in their season.

The Saints head into their Week 18 showdown with the Atlanta Falcons knowing the game could have real playoff implications. A New Orleans win would be helpful to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while a loss could be huge for the Carolina Panthers’ hopes.

But the Saints will have to play this one shorthanded.

According to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football, wide receiver Chris Olave will not suit up in Week 18. The reason is serious: Underhill reports that doctors found a blood clot in Olave’s lung. Thankfully, it was caught early, and the expectation is that he will be fine, but it still ends his regular season.

“Chris Olave will be out this week, per source,” Underhill reported. “A blood clot was detected in his lung. Got caught early before anything bad could happen and will be fine. But not playing this week.”

Underhill later added some much-needed good news: Olave is being discharged from the hospital and is doing well. Given how frightening a diagnosis like this can be, hearing that he’s already leaving the hospital is encouraging. It points to this being more of a short‑term health setback than a long‑term concern, even though it officially closes the book on his 2025 season.

The timing is tough for Olave on several levels. Beyond the obvious health scare, he’s also heading into a key point in his career, as he looks for a new contract extension and tries to build on what has been a true breakout year.

He’s already been gutting it out through a back injury in recent weeks and hasn’t allowed it to slow him down. Even while dealing with that issue late in the season, he put up big numbers, including games with 148 and 119 receiving yards.

Now that his 2025 campaign is over, his final stat line is locked in: 100 catches for 1,163 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Those numbers mark career‑highs across the board, a clean sweep that underscores just how big a step forward he took this season.

A huge part of that success has been his growing chemistry with rookie quarterback Tyler Shough. The connection between Olave and Shough has looked promising, and if both are healthy to start the 2026 season, there’s every reason to believe they can take another leap together in their second year as a duo.

In the short term, though, the Saints have to figure out how to replace Olave’s production in a must‑win game against Atlanta.

So who’s left at wide receiver for this Week 18 matchup? Expect Mason Tipton, Kevin Austin Jr., and Dante Pettis to be in the mix, likely joined by a couple of practice squad elevations. Ronnie Bell was activated last week, and either Samori Toure or Elijah Cooks could join him on the game‑day roster.

If Shough can still find a way to beat the Falcons, the “dirty birds”, with such a depleted receiving group, it would only boost his case for Offensive Rookie of the Year and further solidify his status as the Saints’ quarterback of the future.