New Orleans Saints cornerback Patrick Robinson suffered a broken ankle on Sunday and has been placed on the IR, according to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.

Robinson left Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons during a blocking attempt by offensive lineman Jake Matthews. The latter dove low on Robinson and rolled over his ankle. Robinson had to be taken out of the game, and the Saints barely escaped with a 43-37 overtime victory.

It's a bad loss for a Saints defense that has struggled mightily against the pass through the first three weeks. They've allowed the third-most passing yards per game (337, per ESPN.com), and last in scoring defense (34.3 per game). Without Robinson, the pressure falls on the likes of Marshon Lattimore and Marcus Williams to fix a leaky secondary.

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The 31-year-old Robinson was a key cog in the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl 52 championship team. Robinson signed a four-year, $20 million contract with the Saints in the offseason, returning to the team that drafted him 32nd overall in 2011. Robinson spent his first five NFL seasons with the Saints.

Robinson had garnered a 66.9 grade from Pro Football Focus in 2018, which places in their "above average" category. One of the top NFL defenses from 2017 now has to try and get by without one of its top veteran play-makers, and it's unknown when Robinson will return - if he even does in 2018.

The good news for the Saints is that they sit at 2-1 despite mediocre performances in each of the first three games. The defending NFC South champions are simply too good to keep playing this poorly, and improvement from the defense is inevitable.

It's possible that Saints GM Mickey Loomis makes a trade to upgrade the secondary without Robinson, but the talent is already there for a turnaround to take place. For now, hope is that Robinson can get healthy and return at some point this season.

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