With Reggie Bush out for the forseeable future, the New Orleans Saints are scrambling to adjust their situation at running back.
The team has signed veteranLadell Betts, who they cut in the preseason. Betts is coming off a serious knee injury, but he did show a little promise in his preseason appearances. The Saints also released running back DeShawn Wynn, but he could be brought to the practice squad. The team also has Chris Ivory, who has yet to play this season because of an injury.
With Reggie Bush out for weeks with a broken right fibula, free agent rookie Chris Ivory is more in the New Orleans Saints mix than ever. Or would be, in theory, if he wasn’t recovering from a knee injury he suffered against Tennessee in the team’s final preseason game.
Payton said Ivory was limited at practice Wednesday, but he hinted the back may not be on the inactive list, as he was for the team’s first two games, when the Falcons come to the Superdome this Sunday.
“He was limited and he has been limited; if we’re looking at his progress, so we’re expecting him based on the way he moved around today,” Payton said. “He looked pretty good.”
After practice Ivory said he is trying to prepare himself mentally, and make sure he has his assignments down pat. But he has not been given any indication as to his status for Sunday’s game, he said.
Metairie – The phrase ‘Who Dat’ is so common around New Orleans that the McDermott family thought they were on solid ground when they opened their Saints and LSU souvenir and gift shop three months ago on Severn Avenue in Metairie.
But Ashley McDermott soon found out that ‘Who Dat’ didn’t belong to everyone, especially if she was going to use it in her store name.
She says the Monistere family, who trademarked ‘Who Dat’ in the 1980’s, visited the store and said its name, Who Dat and Tiger Mania, would cost the store owners royalties and a licensing fee if they wanted to keep it.
“The official visit when he came by was like a bully,” Shaun McDermott said. “You get going, you get excited, and then you get somebody trying to muscle the small businessman.”
Although I personally think being without injured running back Reggie Bush for approximately six weeks is going to have a huge impact on the Saints, the numbers say otherwise. Let’s turn to ESPN Stats & Information for a little breakdown of the Saints without Bush.
Over the three previous seasons, the Saints have played 12 games without Bush. In those games, they went 8-4 and have averaged 33.4 points a game. Last season, they played two games without Bush. They won them both and averaged 38 points a game.
In 2008, Bush missed six games. The Saints went 4-2 and averaged 35.2 points per game. One other encouraging piece of information to look at here is that the Saints aren’t exactly facing a lineup of super teams the next six weeks.
They host Atlanta on Sunday and that figures to be a very difficult game. But after that, three of their next four opponents (Carolina, Arizona and Cleveland) are 0-2 right now. The other two teams the Saints face in that six-week stretch are Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh.
Two weeks into the season, the New Orleans Saints don’t appear to be the NFL’s most dominant team. But the Saints are one of eight that remain unbeaten.
And until a team finds a way to knock off the defending Super Bowl champions, something the San Francisco 49ers couldn’t do on Monday Night Football at Candlestick Park, the Saints likely will remain where they are today – atop the NFL Power Rankings by The Times-Picayune.
If there is a slipup by the Saints, though, the Green Bay Packers are playing well enough to supplant the Saints as the No.1 team. The Packers are at No. 2 for the second straight week, while the Houston Texans pulled off an improbable come back win over the Washington Redskins to catapult six spots to the No. 3 position.
Saints kicker Garrett Hartley, who struggled in the team’s season opener, redeemed himself in Monday night’s 25-22 win against the San Francisco 49ers.
Hartley made all three of his field-goal attempts — all of them in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning 37-yarder as time expired.
And for his efforts he will be named the NFC special team player of the week when the weekly awards are announced on Wednesday, a league source said.
It’s the first time Hartley, who converted on kicks of 46 and 19 yards, has received such an honor. It also marked the first time a Saints kicker has received NFC special team player of the week honors since John Carney did so in Week 1 of the 2005 season.
Posted in Saints News | Comments Off on New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley named NFC special team player of the week
The early reports are that New Orleans running back Reggie Bush has a fractured right fibula. Reports are he could be out for somewhere from around four to six weeks.
To get a better read of exactly what this means to the Saints, I turned to Scouts Inc. guru Matt Williamson.
The Saints don't really have a player who can make up for Reggie Bush's versatility on offense.
“This is not good news for a guy whose whole game is based on his speed and quickness,’’ Williamson said. “He’s had leg injuries before and he’s never been a quick healer. Even when he’s come back, it generally has been at least a couple of games before he really gets into a rhythm. It’s really too bad because, going back to last year’s playoffs, through the preseason and into the start of the regular season, he was looking healthier than he had in a long time and he was running very well. This is going to hurt the Saints in a lot of ways.’’
Williamson said there’s no one person who can step in and replace Bush, who is used as a running back, receiver and a return man.
Gore, the talented running back from San Fran was trying to console himself that his team played better then the Saints. This is the lamentations of losers. Who Dat Nation get used to hearing it all….
Jim Mora knew. It is nice to have roll reversal the past few years with the 49ers. They caused the Who Dat Nation a lot of heartache in the 1980s…..
Posted in Who Dat's | Comments Off on Flashback from the old days, when it was Saints making excuses.
It’s Saints game day and fans are proudly showing their allegiance. On Magazine St., a store owner hands out ribbons, which are more than just a plea for the Saints to beat the San Francisco 49ers. They are a statement against what many see as a shakedown.
On the FOX 8 Morning News, Fleurty Girl clothing shop owner Lauren Thom said that she and other shop owners, both in the New Orleans area, and in Baton Rouge, have been ordered by Steve Monistere, the man who claims to own ‘Who Dat,’ to pay a percentage of whatever ‘Who Dat’ merchandise they sell, beginning now.
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“Everybody owns it, so nobody owns it. It’s like suing God for gravity,” FOX 8 Legal Analyst Joe Raspanti said.
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