The Saints are about as banged up as any team in the league, yet on the surface it doesn’t seem to bother the players or their coach. Once again nineteen players were on the injury report Thursday. Again, twelve of those on the list were full participation in practice.

Safety Roman Harper and tight end Jeremy Shockey were limited in work. Defensive End Will Smith and running back Pierre Thomas did not practice. Smith is listed with a groin injury, and Thomas still hampered by a sore ankle. Harper missed last week, but the Saints didn’t sign a safety this week after working out a couple of guys. What does that tell you? It tells me Harper will likely play against Arizona Sunday.

Coach Sean Payton and the Saints are hopeful that defensive end Will Smith will also be available, “He was out there during the walk through. I think we’ll have a chance with him, but we didn’t practice him,” explained Coach Payton. If someone is participating in the walk through it’s usually a good sign that they will play.

With Tracy Porter out, cornerbacks Randall Gay and rookie Patrick Robinson will likely see more playing time…with Leigh Torrence in the mix. Gay is a veteran who is more than capable of holding down the fort for a couple of weeks. “This is our job; you have to always be prepared to play,” said Gay. Robinson saw 56 snaps on defense in the loss to Atlanta in week 3. This year’s first round draft pick is progressing well. “He’s making improvement. He keeps getting the reps. He’s improved not only defensively, but in the kicking game as well,” said Head Coach Sean Payton.

For the second straight week the Saints will face a rookie quarterback. Arizona will give Max Hall the very first start of his career. Coach Payton has said all along that you prepare for the offense, not necessarily a particular player.

The Saints don’t have a lot of film to go by in trying to pick apart deficiencies in Hall’s game, so they even went back to some of his old college film at BYU. Linebacker Scott Shanle told me, “It is difficult as a defense; it provides an extra challenge because it’s hard to understand what that player’s strengths are.”

Is the offensive line regressing? That’s a big question mark surrounding the 3 and 1 New Orleans Saints. The Saints haven’t had a lot of success in the running game this season. Drew Brees has been sacked seven times and hit more frequently. Last season the Saints offensive line surrendered just 20 sacks in the regular season. Right now they’re on pace to give up 28 sacks.

The O-line that features two Pro Bowlers and an up and coming Carl Nicks hasn’t been able to produce big running plays. Sure, they’re banged up at running back, but it’s nothing to this offense that ranked 6th in rushing yards last season. In 2010 they’re averaging 73 yards per game on the ground, good for 30th in the league in that department.   

Chris Ivory is the only running back who has 10 or more carries averaging more than four yards per carry at 4.2.   Like anything else, the offensive line hasn’t changed, but the league has had an entire offseason to find a weakness in that group.

Who Dat Nation - Sunday the Saints (3-1) head to Arizona to battle the Cardinals (2-2)! Our coverage starts at 11am–”First Take” with former Saints offensive lineman, Steve Korte & WWL’s Todd Menesses. At 1–it’s the “Bud Light Countdown to Kick-off” with Bobby Hebert & Deke Bellavia. 3 o’clock is GAME TIME with the best play-by-play team in football–Jim Henderson, Hokie Gajan & Kristian Garic. After the game, join Bobby & Deke for “The Point After” til 10pm…live from Deanie’s Seafood in the French Quarter, baby! That’s 10 hours of wall-to-wall Saints coverage on the flagship station of your New Orleans SAINTS– on WWL - AM 870 & FM 105.3!

You can almost hear the injury bug munching on the Saints.  Coach Payton listed 19 players on the first injury report of the week.  12 of the 19 players were listed as “full” participation, which means they took 100% of their normal reps in practice.  Payton revealed cornerback Tracy Porter had a scope on his “lateral meniscus…and will be out 3 to 4 weeks.” 

The Saints are banged up, but it’s like that on a number of NFL teams at this juncture, “I think if you went around the league, it would be similar to everyone else…I think it’s pretty typical of the other teams,” said Head Coach Sean Payton.  Defensive End Will Smith and tight end Jeremy Shockey were also on the injury report.  Smith did not practice and Shockey was limited.  Safety Roman Harper did participate on a limited basis.

Running back Pierre Thomas missed last week’s win over Carolina with a sore ankle.  Thomas did not practice again, but Payton is hopeful he will return soon.

“The swelling’s gone down… we feel real good about his progress…he’s a lot further along today than he was a week ago today,” Payton explained. 

The Saints have been hit hard at running back from an injury stand point.  Reggie Bush fractured his fibula in week two and isn’t expected to be back in the line for another couple of weeks.  Lynell Hamilton suffered a season ending knee surgery in training camp.  P.J Hill also went down for the year in the pre-season.  The Saints offense is trying to establish a running game with one guy, who wasn’t even on their roster at the start of training camp (Ladell Betts), and another who had an outside shot of making the active roster–Chris Ivory. 

The Arizona Cardinals announced they’ll start rookie quarterback Max Hall against New Orleans Sunday.  This former BYU Cougar will make his first start of his career against the Saints. 

Payton had an interesting comparison for Hall, “There are probably some similarities to Chase (Daniel), when you look at a quick release.  He plays with a lot of poise; he’s accurate and you see some of those traits that you want in your quarterback position.” The Saints have always taken the approach that you prepare for the system when you’re dealing with a rookie quarterback, and Payton reiterated that stance in his press conference.  

New Orleans throttled the Arizona Cardinals last year in the divisional play-offs in the Superdome.  The Cards enter this week’s contest at 2 and 2.  When they’ve turned the ball over it’s been ugly for Arizona, losing both games 41 to 10.  Last year’s 45 to 14 win over Arizona in the play-offs means absolutely nothing according to Coach Payton, “these are two different teams;  it seems like three years ago we played in the play offs.”

I know it might be alarming to see this many injuries for the Saints, and albeit some of them are concerning…the players and the coaching staff have been through this before.  Last season the Saints had a stretch where they were playing with five “new starters” on defense, when cornerbacks Tracy Porter and Jabari Greer missed time.  Safety Darren Sharper also missed time last season.  The Saints have been down this road before…they’ll be fine.  This team won’t use injuries as an excuse.  It’s the NFL…injuries happen.

USC “returned to sender” their replica of Reggie Bush’s 2005 Heisman trophy. In an attempt to separate from the Bush scandal, USC shipped the hardware back to the Heisman trust.

Should Reggie out and out return his copy?

What if you were a part of the Heisman trust, would you ask Reggie return it?

Former New Orleans Saint and USC Trojan Billy Miller is not pleased about USC and the NCAA’s actions. “For USC to take the stance…we’re going to remove Reggie Bush from USC?   Half the kids that are there right now, are at USC because they watched Reggie play football,” exploded Miller. “You can’t pretend he (Bush) was never there!   He’s the reason we’ve won national championships, we’ve won Heisman’s, and Reggie’s the reason we have a winning tradition,”

Bush was ruled ineligible in the 2005 season for allegedly taking cash gifts, but hasn’t been asked to return his Heisman. Miller says Bush should keep the prestigious hardware, “I don’t like it, because if you’re looking at infractions that might or might not have happened off the field, Reggie Bush earned that Heisman trophy for what he did on the field by his play.” Miller continues to blast off about the NCAA and USC raising the question about whether student athletes should have their stipend increased. Right now depending on the cost of living, student athletes get a small sum of money to take care of rent and incidental charges while in school.

Miller brings up a good point, “How much money did USC make off Reggie on jersey sales?” I asked Billy if he thought it might be time to start paying student athletes. Miller stopped short, “When you are on scholarship at a school, a lot of kids don’t come from much. I didn’t have a pot to piss in when I was at USC…you come from nothing. So, when you get a scholarship to a university and they give you a stipend, after you pay rent you might have 100 dollars to your name. I know things need to be addressed more. They don’t need to get paid, but something to help them maintain a descent lifestyle.”

I hear where Billy’s coming from, but what about the students who are not athletes? Most of them don’t have much either. Sure, you have some whose parents have money and that’s great.

My point is this, why should the student athlete be treated differently? They know the rules, and in this case Reggie allegedly broke the rules. I do think it’s laughable that USC would attempt to separate from Bush considering they haven’t done anything to former Coach Pete Carroll. Carroll had to know this whole thing was going down on his watch. I’m not for paying athletes, the education is enough.

The LSU Tigers pitching staff struggled throughout the 2011 season.   After losing staff ace Anthony Ranaudo to pro baseball, skipper Paul Mainieri learned they’ll be without two more of their top arms next season.

Juniors Joey Bourgeois (above) and Chris Matulus will go under the knife.

“Both of them need Tommy John surgery and will miss the season,” explained Tiger head coach Paul Mainieri. Tommy John surgery isn’t the “death sentence” that it used to be for a pitcher. Mainieri explains the wear and tear of pitching caught up with them, “Its years and years of pitching and the soft tissue in their elbow sometimes just can’t handle it.”   

The injuries to Matulus and Bourgeois will give the younger guys an opportunity to step up according the Coach Mainieri, “So what we’re going to have to do is re-group…you know…just find somebody else. We’re going to have a lot of new pitchers on our staff; we lost a lot guys from this last year’s team.”   Bourgeois and Matulus will miss the entire 2011 season as they rehab their injuries.

The World Champion New Orleans Saints have just over a month before they embark on their NFL championship title defense. Training camp opens July 29th for coach Sean Payton and company. Like every year, there are a handful of questions surrounding the team before the pads start popping in the suffocating August heat.

Have they been eating too much steak? Payton used that analogy at the team’s ring ceremony. Have the world champs fallen into the trap of reading their own press clippings? “Not with this coach; he’s quick to remind them that they are as good as their next game,” said Saints color analyst Hokie Gajan.

Who will be the back up to Drew Brees? Will the Saints go with young guns Chase Daniel and rookie Sean Canfield, or will Sean Payton and General Manager Mickey Loomis go after a veteran? “I would have to think they’ll get a veteran,” said the Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert. “You have a high performance vehicle with the Saints offense. You’re going to hand the keys to a Lamborghini to a teenager are you? I think they’ll have to sign a guy that has taken plenty of NFL snaps at quarterback.”

Will the Saints defense be better than it was in 2010? They were second in the league in turnovers, but near the bottom half in total defense last year. The second year in defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams’ system could be dynamic. “We are so much more comfortable this year; we’re more comfortable with the checks, and the non-verbal communications,” Saints linebacker Scott Shanle told me recently.

Will Sean Payton effectively challenge the team for an encore performance? In his book Home Team Coach Payton talked a lot about keeping the message fresh and the challenge new. The fifth year head coach knew exactly what button to push and when to push it during their Super Bowl season, but can he weather the storm when they get a 15 wave?

Will Reggie Bush be distracted by the recent sanctions leveled against his former college (USC)? After the sanctions, Reggie likened the penalty against the Trojans to “death without dying” for him. Reggie has had numerous distractions and hype since he entered the league in 2006, and has been dealing with this for about 5 years now. It’s hardly something new for him. “Reggie is one of those guys who seems to compartmentalize things and remain focused on the task at hand?he’s a great professional who won’t let this bother him,” predicted NFL analyst Mike Detillier.

We’ve heard all our experts and analysts claim this Saints team is more talented on paper than the team that beat the Colts in Super Bowl 44. As we all know, the game isn’t played on paper, and the Saints will get everyone’s best effort on and off the field this year. As much as we love a champion, others love to see a champion fall. Are they up to the task? On the surface the Saints appear to be, but we won’t start getting answers for a couple of months. In the meantime, we’re relegated to hyping and hoping, wondering and dreaming of a repeat?of a “Two Dat!” You’re on notice?Training Camp is right around the corner.

Former New York Yankee’s Catcher Yogi Berra coined the phrase “it’s deja vu all over again.” I’d like to borrow it, if I could. That’s how it feels in the early goings of the Saints 2010 off-season. Some of the faces are different in the locker room, but the message is clearly the same. “One game at time” ..”humble and hungry”..and “last year was last year, nobody cares what we did” are phrases I’ve heard uttered around Saints camp.

Reporters have tried to trip up players and coaches, looking for that one sound bite that leads to speculation that the Saints haven’t put last season to bed, but we’ve failed. Perhaps it’s because the season was so long, or perhaps it’s because the NFL off-season seems to get shorter and shorter each year, nonetheless, it seems like the Saints are in a “deja vu all over again” kind of spell. You see the same focus you saw last year. The same leaders have re-emerged to make sure complacency hasn’t set in. Above everything else, everyone in the organization has the same message, “we want to repeat.”

You can even see it in the guys who cool the Gatorade before practice. This franchise got their first taste of the best bowl of your mama’s gumbo and it wants to gorge itself like a fat cop in a doughnut shop. “It’s interesting, it looks like they just pressed resume from last year and not in a bad way,” said Saints color analyst Hokie Gajan. “They’ve put last year behind them. If you didn’t know any better you would think they are still looking for their first ever Super Bowl championship,” concluded Hokie.

Last year was my first season covering the Saints on a full time basis, so maybe I’m drunk on the juice, or maybe the Saints are good actors. “We have Sean Payton, and Gregg Williams that remind us every day that we haven’t done anything,” defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis told me. What made this team so special last season were the camaraderie, and the titanic-sized chip on their shoulder. “We have to do everything we did last year, but we have to do it…BETTER…and we have a chance to repeat,” continued Ellis. They’re on the right track to doing things even better; the defense should be improved from last season.

“I don’t think they’ll be a little better on defense, I think you’re going see a tremendously better defense this season,” declared WWL’s Bobby Hebert. Why? “It’s the second year in the scheme under Gregg Williams. The two corners Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter are up and coming stars in this league. And, I think they’ve upgraded at defensive end with Alex Brown, and Jimmy Wilkerson,” continued Hebert.

Can they get much better on offense? Drew Brees along with their mad scientist play caller and head coach Sean Payton guided the Saints offense to another number one ranking in total offense last season. They even finished sixth in the league in rushing yards per game, but that’s not good enough explains offensive lineman Jahari Evans. “We have to be more consistent the entire year. We started out running the ball really well in the beginning, but tailed off towards the end, and that’s something that didn’t sit well with us,” proclaimed Evans.

Can they repeat? Only time will tell, but the off-season mindset, focus and drive seems to be a repeat of last year at Saints camp. I could be totally wrong, and we’re a couple of months away from the start of the season, but this is the one time I don’t mind being stuck in what seems like a re-run. Newcomer fullback Jason McKie said it best at the team’s recent Mini Camp, “These guys are so hungry. You would think that maybe they would be happy with what they did last season, but they all push each other for more, and I love it because I wasn’t here last season, and I would like to make that run for the first time.” You might just get your chance, Jason. Who says sequels aren’t as good as the original? This one could be even better.

 think the quote of Mini Camp came from the “Who Dat Nation.”  In Saturday morning’s practice that was open to the public, a fan shouted to defensive end Will Smith, “Will… you gonna get some good hits on old man Favre in primetime and finally send him home for good?”  Smith gave the fan a thumbs-up, as he continued to stretch.  

Cornerback Jabari Greer looks like he’s primed to pick up where he left off last season.  Before Jabari was injured in the middle of the season, he was among league leaders in passes defended and attempts thrown his way.  Jabari had an impressive camp.  Paired with Tracy Porter, who’s developing by leaps and bounds, the Saints have one of the top cornerback duo’s in the league. “I would agree with that,” said NFL analyst Mike Detillier.  “You could put together a heck of a 100 meter relay team with the speed they have at cornerback.”
 
Running back Lynell Hamilton looks like he’ll ease the loss of Mike Bell.  Hamilton is trim and light on his feet, and received a lot of reps with the absence of Pierre Thomas.  Detillier thinks Hamilton is more than capable of handling the running back position.  “He’s excellent between the tackles runner,” observed Detillier.  “He’s a really good receiver out of the backfield.  He needs a little work at pass protection, but he’ll do fine.”  

Every day of camp it was apparent just what a “freak” Marques Coltson is.  I use the word “freak” as a compliment.  Every day at practice he makes catches that just make you shake your head in awe.  Former Saints QB Bobby Hebert concurs, “Only a few guys in the league can make catches like that…and he’s on our team.”  During one-on-one drills Saturday morning Colston got the better of Jabari Greer, only because he was taller.  Greer had great position over Colston, but because of his long arms and great leaping ability he was able to outmuscle Greer for the ball.  “He catches the ball so strong, it’s tough to handle him,” Greer told me after practice.  

My final observation…Drew Brees is GOOD…no check that, he’s amazing.  I got a kick out of hearing some of the corner backs’ frustration trying to defend his passes.  He’s so precise in his ability to accurately throw the ball in tight spots and drop it in the bucket.  I often overheard Saints defensive backs say “Man, he’s not supposed to be able to do that.”  Or, “it’s just not fair that he can do that.”  Drew is Drew.  If he’s not the best, show me who is.  I’m not taking anything away from Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, but I wouldn’t trade him for either of the two.  “He’s a once in a lifetime quarterback,” concluded Saints color analyst Hokie Gajan.  That he is.  Our lifetime.

The World Champion New Orleans Saints are rolling right along in their Organized Team Activity sessions otherwise known as practice. They’ve just about put their Super Bowl accomplishment behind them and are ready to move on.

The team has been conditioning for about five weeks and are now cracking the playbook and putting their skills to the test on the practice field. Linebacker Scott Shanle thinks the Super Bowl team’s defense could be even better this season with a full year under defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams’ attacking schemes.

“Everyone’s a lot more comfortable having been through it for a year. Now we’re gonna be a lot better on defense this year,” Shanle said. He cautioned, though, that they can’t rest on their championship laurels. “This year it’s gonna take more. Last year we kind of flew under the radar early on in the season. This year you’re gonna have the bull’s-eye on your back every week; you’re the defending world champions. Everybody considers it a notch on their belt to beat you every week, so it’s going to be a lot tougher.”          

The team goal for Shanle and the Saints clearly is to “repeat dat,” but personally the eight-year veteran backer wants to make more big plays in the quest for another title. “I want to make impact plays every week I’m out there. Obviously a big goal is to stay healthy–you have to in order to make plays week in and week out,” Shanle said.

The Black & Gold have enjoyed their accomplishments, and now have it in the rear view mirror. But, Shanle says it’s okay to reflect back on your accomplishments as a reminder of what it takes to get to the ultimate prize.

“There is a lot of maturity on this team. I think it’s a season that you don’t want to let go of completely,” continued Shanle. Every week the Saints will get their opponents’ best effort. Every team in the league has studied the Saints during the offseason in hopes of replicating their success, and doing a little advanced scouting on the world champs. “We’re going to have to work even harder this year than we did last year, and prepare harder,” emphasized the Saints linebacker.

During the Saints super season in 2009 they were able to manage adversity, expectations, and hype. That experience bodes well for Shanle and the champs, but they’ll have to be extremely detailed, if they want to repeat. “It’s gonna be all the little things, that we did last. We’re going to have to do them this year, but we’re gonna have to do them better,” said Shanle.   

If you’re concerned about whether the Saints have things in perspective, maybe linebacker Scott Shanle eased your mind a bit. It’s really hard to repeat as Super Bowl Champs, but if the Saints don’t, it won’t be because they’re fat, dumb and happy as last year’s champs.

Let’s hope the Saints don’t have the dry heaves at the end of the 2010 season. The defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints have a title to defend, and will face question after question about a supposed “Super Bowl hangover.”

If the Saints drop two games in a row…that will be the question. The hangover will be the accusation…the charge…the indictment used by fans and the media. Five of the last nine Super Bowl winners made the play offs the following season.  Six Super Bowl champions had a winning record in their title defense, the year after hoisting the Lombardi trophy.  And, only one of the last nine Super Bowl winners posted a losing record on the heels of a championship.

What about a repeat or a “two dat?”  The odds aren’t in the Saints favor.  But, this team has made a living beating the odds under Coach Sean Payton.  The New England Patriots are the only franchise this decade to win back to back Super Bowls.
So what we’ve learned is history favors the Saints having another solid season next year, but don’t book your flights to Dallas just yet. Is there such thing as a “Super Bowl hangover?”

WWL’s Saints color analyst Hokie Gajan disputes the notion, “I don’t know if I totally buy by that.  I mean the bulls eye on your back gets bigger;  But, I think you either have it or you don’t.  These guys are professionals.  They all know that in this league it’s all about the next game.”  

If you look at this Saints today, they’re virtually the same team that walked off Sun Life Stadium as Super Bowl Champs in Miami this past February. The losses were minimal–only two starters on defense, and one (defensive end Charles Grant) didn’t play a down in the post-season, because of injury.

“You don’t want to stay the same.  You have to add new pieces to the team, but one of the big factors in trying to repeat is retaining the nucleus of your team.  I think the Saints have done a good job of that,” continued Hokie. 

The World Champs lived it up for weeks after winning SB 44, to the dismay of some of their critics. Is that what they’re talking about when they say “Super Bowl hangover?”

WWL’s Bobby Hebert said anybody who criticizes a team for celebrating their first Super Bowl in franchise history is just foolish.  And, any team who uses a “Super Bowl hangover” as an excuse for not making it to postseason and beyond is equally foolish. 

“Once the season is over, if a team hasn’t made the play offs, you might hear them use the “hangover” as the reason they didn’t have a good year,” said the Cannon.  “But, that’s all it is…a team feeling sorry for itself.”

The fan base and the media had a feeling last year around this time, maybe this was finally the year of the Saints. What’s the feeling now?  Can they do it again? Will the Saints be distracted by what they accomplished last season? We’ll find out.  In the meantime, enough already with the “Super Bowl hangover.” 

If the Saints go 8 and 8 next season, it’s because they’re an average team, that didn’t make the necessary moves during the off-season to improve, not because “they’re hung over.”  

The Saints are not in need of a franchise quarterback anytime soon, after all, they have one of the best in the business, Drew Brees. That, however, won’t stop Coach Sean Payton from looking for the next one.

“It’s a tough position to evaluate, because so much responsibility falls on that position,” says WWL’s Bobby Hebert. The Saints grabbed a young quarterback in the 7th round of last month’s NFL Draft…Oregon State’s Sean Canfield. The Southpaw knows the odds are stacked against him to make the final roster, but he isn’t going to shy away from competition. “I’ve dealt with competition before in college. You learn a lot through competition. I’m excited to get here for OTA’s and training camp and find my niche on this team and make it better,” Canfield told me.

Given the Saints success in unearthing talent in the 7th round, Canfield has a better than average shot with the World Champs. Every 7th round pick the Saints have pulled the trigger on under Coach Payton and General Manager Mickey Loomis has made the team. “If you look at Marques Colston, Zack Streif, Marvin Mitchell and Adrian Arrington, you like your chances if you’re Canfield,” explained WWL’s Cajun Cannon. “The organization has a tremendous ability to find those guys that can play…in the 7th round. It’s really almost unheard of to have that much success in the last round,” continued Hebert. “Typically 7th round picks have about a 50/50 shot, but not under the Saints. They’re batting a thousand.”

Sean Canfield is blessed with the opportunity to study under Quarterback Drew Brees and offensive mastermind Sean Payton. Canfield had a short conversation with the unquestioned leader and Super Bowl MVP in the team’s weight room recently.

What did Drew tell the young rookie?

“Just go out and sling it. Good luck. And, have fun doing it,” Canfield said with a boyish smile on his face. After taking in his first practice as a pro last weekend at Rookie Minicamp, Canfield noticed right away the speed is the most noticeable difference from college.