Things are really looking up on the injury front for the Saints. After holding guys out against Seattle and Dallas, both games the Saints managed to win, they could get a number of them back. It looks like keeping them out was a good decision based on the fact that playing them in the two previous games wasn’t a necessity. Sean Payton has come out and said that he expects both Darren Sharper and Jeremy Shockey (pictured) to play this weekend in Cincinnati. By the way, there’s supposed to be a major blizzard/snow storm, which means the Saints could run the ball more than ever.
There was also good news on the Pierre Thomas front, as Payton said he “turned a corner” and “could play” this weekend. My guess is they won’t risk it if the weather is brutally cold, but he is a game time decision and could play. Drew Brees also commented “he looks pretty good to me”, so we know he’s real close to a return. Reggie Bush obviously also made his return from injury last week, too, so the Saints are rounding into form. In fact, the only player who fully missed practice at all was Ladell Betts. I think we can all agree he is far from indispensable, especially if Bush is back and Thomas is on the mend.
Perfect timing on the healing news if you ask me. It remains to be seen how the running back picture will shake out once they have Julius Jones, Chris Ivory, Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush all healthy. Someone will suffer from significantly less reps at some point, and my money is on Jones provided PT proves he’s 100%. My guess is that Betts will fall off the gameplan completely, and may even be replaced by another position player, by the time he gets healthy.
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