Saints Gab

According to neworleanssaints.com, Coach Sean Payton has said that Jeremy Shockey will not be playing in Thursday’s game against the Tennessee Titans, but the rookie, Jimmy Graham will see some action instead.

Graham, who hasn’t played since injuring his right ankle against the Patriots on August 12th, just returned to practice this past Monday. Coach Payton said of his return to the practice field,

“His first day back was decent. He’s a little rusty and still we have to be careful to not take a setback, but it was good to have him on the field.”

The 6′6, 260-pound tight end turned a lot of heads in training camp, some even referring to him as an unpolished gem. The Saints believe that they have found a very special player in Graham. They’ve really got to appreciate his versatility amongst other things. And his ability to contribute on special teams makes him just that much more valuable.

As a brand new member of the Miami Hurricanes in 2009, he played in thirteen games, mostly as a reserve tight end. Although he finished with only seventeen receptions for 213 yards, he scored on five of those catches. He also played a stint on special teams where he recorded a solo tackle and returned three short kickoffs 30 yards. As a blocker, he was credited with 30 knockdowns.

WR Marques Colston receives a 15-yd unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in preseason against Chargers

In 2009, the Saints were one of the most penalized teams in the NFL, racking up 89 penalties for a total of 787 yards in the regular season and 18 for 151 yards in the playoffs. That’s compared to their opponents’ combined total of 86 for 717 yards in the regular season and 13 for 99 yards in the playoffs. Those are certainly stats that we would all love to forget.

But it’s kind of difficult to do that after having watched the first three preseason games. While they had only 4 penalties against New England for a mere 29 yards, that number has slowly, but surely, inched up over the course of the last two games. There were 9 for 97 yards against the Texans and 11 for 90 yards against the Chargers. This is certainly cause for concern, particularly when you look at the blemish all those penalties left on their otherwise glowing season in 2009. Coach Sean Payton has been very vocal in his displeasure about the problem, saying after the Chargers game on last Friday night,

“We had 11 penalties. A couple of those, things we can certainly clean up. But there’s a lot of hidden yardage there lost in the return game.”

Now granted it’s only preseason, so these stats won’t count for much more than as a measuring stick to determine where improvements are needed. However, because that is the one area that does not need to be repeated as the defending Superbowl Champs make a run at back-to-back titles, there has to be a conscious effort on the part of the coaches and players to cut down on the number of infractions at the risk of literally throwing games away. Whether they result from a lack of discipline, miscues, or being overly aggressive, penalties are ammunition for the other team.  It’s early yet, so there is still time for the team to work on developing and implementing policies to discourage players from getting penalties, especially senseless ones.  But with the start of the regular season just a couple of weeks away, they had better get it together fast or this is going to be a very long season for a lot of people.

In a surprise move, the New Orleans Saints have released LB Troy Evans and four others in an attempt to trim down their roster. Also released were: WRs Mark Bradley and Rod Harper, CB Danny Gorrer, and G Tim Duckworth.

I am very surprised at the release of Evans above all others because of what he has meant to the team over the past couple of years. Since joining the Saints in 2007, he has not only served as a heck of a backup at strong-side linebacker, but he was also voted special teams captain for the last two years. I can only trust that the decision makers have very good reasons for cutting such a hard worker who obviously had clout in the locker room and on the field. Saints General Manager, Mickey Loomis said of him,

“Decisions like these are never easy to make. Troy Evans was an instrumental part of the Saints Superbowl XLIV in 2009 and we are truly thankful for his hard work and dedication. We know that the fans of our team will be grateful for Troy’s contributions and the way he contributed to our success both on and off the football field.”

And Sean Payton said,

“It’s always difficult when you have to make decisions such as releasing players that have contributed as much to the Saints as Troy has. Troy was our special teams captain the past two years and provided us with tremendous depth at the outside linebacker position the last three years.”

With the pressing issues on special teams, I wonder if it’s a wise move at this point in time to let go a player with Evans’ experience, abilities and versatility. Those qualities don’t come standard these days. I guess all any of us can do is trust that there is some logic behind this decision that the rest of us have yet to see.

Matt Tennant may be a late round draft pick, but he’s probably a gleam in the eye of Sean Payton. The Center position is being held down by a grizzled veteran in Jonathan Goodwin. Leckey has had a shot at a starting job in two places (STL and ARI) and wasn’t able to hold on to it at either team. It’s likely that Leckey is gone, unless either Goodwin or Tennant have a really bad camp. Goodwin will start with Tenant backing him up unless Tenant blows the doors off and starts. Check mark for Tennant.

Sean Canfield is destined for either the practice squad or the streets. Sean Payton has shown little aptitude to put a rookie or inexperienced QB behind Drew Brees. He seems to like older veterans as the number 2 and usually does not carry a 3rd (Lance Moore is the emergency QB). The Saints currently do not have a veteran QB on the roster, but it’s widely expected that when the CBA rules expire in a few days that Patrick Ramsey will be signed to compete with Sean Canfield and Chase Daniel. This is not a good sign for Canfield. Daniel was on the roster to start the 2009 season, but that was only because the Saints had to sign him to the active roster to claim him on waivers from the Redskins. He ended up on the practice squad later in the season. Unless Canfield is spectacular, his best bet is the practice squad, and he’ll have to beat Daniel even for that. X mark for Canfield.

Tanner and Billings are in a tough spot to make the 2010 Saints (as well as second year man Matt Simon). The Saints have so many wide receivers that other teams would die for; it’s going to be really hard for either to make the team. Colston is the #1, Meachem, Moore and Henderson are expected to fight it out for the #2 spot, with the losing pair being the slot and 4th WR. Behind them are some fan favorites in Courtney Roby, Rod Harper and Adrian Arrington.

Roby secured a roster spot through his kick return ability and is likely to try to do that again this year. The problem for Roby is that no one seems to see him as anything other than a KR specialist. That takes away a roster spot that a more versatile player could fill. If any of the other WRs (or any other positions) shows great flashes at KR, Roby may lose his spot. If Arrington can stay healthy for a full training camp (and season), he has shown some talent at WR. Harper showed some promise in the2009 preseason, but was inactive for the first 4 games and ended his season with a stress fracture in October. If Harper stays healthy and continues to progress, he is likely to make the team again.
So, if you count Colston, Meachem, Moore, and Henderson, that leaves Harper as a favorite for the 5th spot and probably a 6th spot up for grabs between KR specialist Roby, Arrington, Billings, Tanner and Simon. Good luck rookies, you better be spectacular (X for both).

Brandon Carter has a lot of work to do, but making this team is not impossible for him. The Saints are set at starter at Guard. Nicks and Evans are pro-bowl caliber guards and are considered one of the best tandems in the NFL. However, behind them are a lot of question marks. The only experienced guy is Terrance Metcalf and he comes to the Saints after a lackluster career with the Chicago Bears. Because of the experience, he may make the team, but there is going to be an open competition for the two backup guard spots. If we assume Metcalf takes one, Tim Duckworth is the only player that has any experience and that has all been as a practice squad journeyman. Na’Shan Goddard is also a journeyman that is on his 4th team. That leaves Brandon Carter with a golden opportunity to secure a spot with the NFL champions and play some snaps if a starter needs to come out of the game. More than likely he will end up on the practice squad, but he has a shot. Question mark for Carter.

NewOrleansProFootball.com confirms that the Saints will be at the White House to celebrate winning last years Super Bowl on August 9th.

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton confirmed on the NFL Network that the Super Bowl XLIV Champions will visit the White House on August 9. The visit will occur the Monday before their preseason opener against the New England Patriots. Rumor erupted in June when the Saints still had yet to plan a visit to the White House but they dismissed rumors of political reasons. President Obama admitted that though the Colts were favored to win in February, he was partial to underdogs and had “a soft spot in my heart for New Orleans.”

The Saints return to practice Wednesday morning in preparation for Sunday’s NFC Championship game. Coach Sean Payton decided to give his players extra time to rest and recover from Saturday’s game, hoping the team will return fresher and energized going into Sunday’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.

Afterwards, catch the post practice press conference live on NFL Network as part of five hours of continuous coverage of Conference Championship Week. The Saints segment will start around 1:45 PM Central Time from the Saints’ practice facility in Metairie. Coach Payton, Drew Brees, Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith will be available to the media for interviews.

(For anyone interested, the Colts press conference starts at 11 AM CT, followed by the Vikings at 11:45 AM, then the Saints and finally the Jets at 2:45 PM)

There’s lots of talk about the Saints backup QB spot, and Pro Football Weekly reports that it looks as if Mark Brunell is going to end up ahead of Joey Harrington when the battle will finally play out:

Saints head coach Sean Payton recently made a few ears perk up when he said Joey Harrington is pushing Mark Brunell to become Drew Brees’ primary backup, but sources in New Orleans say Brunell is expected to retain his spot at No. 2 on the depth chart.

For the limited amount of time that OTAs and minicamp were open to the media, observers said Harrington was holding on to the ball too long, a problem that has followed him throughout his career, and some say he appeared to be regressing. Brunell, who will turn 39 in September, is an elder statesman but still would be the likely starter if Brees had to miss a game or two.

From: New Orleans Times-Picayune

Reggie Bush’s knee surgery was more serious than the Saints initially indicated last month, but General Manager Mickey Loomis said the team still expects the running back to be ready for minicamp in early June. Loomis said Bush had a microfracture procedure performed on his left knee after he was placed on injured reserve in mid-December.

Bush’s injury initially was reported as a sprained medial collateral ligament, which doesn’t usually require surgery, but Coach Sean Payton indicated last week that Bush had an arthroscopic procedure performed by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. Loomis did not give details about the surgery, but he said it was not a “major” procedure. “I wouldn’t want to call it minor, because he’s got a pretty significant period of rehab time, ” Loomis said. “But at the end of it, he shouldn’t have any issues.”

The season is over for Saints running back Reggie Bush, as today the team put him on injured reserve, meaning he’ll miss the final two games of the Saints’ season.

Bush sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during the Saints’ loss at Chicago last Thursday night. The knee was examined over the weekend and coach Sean Payton said at practice on Wednesday that the team decided to put Bush on injured reserve.

Payton said the Saints, who were eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend, would not have placed Bush on injured reserve if they were still fighting to reach the postseason. He said Bush’s injury does not require surgery, just rest and rehabilitation.

Bush rushed for 404 yards and two touchdowns, caught 52 passes for 440 yards and four TDs, and scored three touchdowns on punt runbacks this season.

From: Pro Football Weekly

All isn’t well between Saints head coach Sean Payton and RB Reggie Bush, we hear. Bush, who said he sprained his knee on a second-quarter run in Week 15, didn’t seem pleased with being held out for the remainder of the game, except for one carry for no gain in the second half of New Orleans’ loss to Chicago. Bush even took a shot at Payton’s play calls after the game.