Fleur-de-Links: May 16, 2011

TWEETS:

SAINTS:

New Orleans Saints adjust their routine as NFL lockout lingers into May | NOLA.com
A handful of assistant coaches on hand for the annual Saints Hall of Fame Celebrity Golf Classic on Monday admitted they're a little disappointed and disoriented by their unfamiliar circumstances. But General Manager Mickey Loomis, Coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams continued to stress that all they can do is be as prepared as possible whenever they're finally able to get back to work.

New Orleans Saints mailbag: Who's the odd man out in the crowded backfield | NOLA.com
Answering your Saints questions

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton tells the Molly Ringwalds the story of his son and the NFL draft | NOLA.com
Payton says his son wanted the team to take Mark Ingram

Video: GM Mickey Loomis at Saints Hall of Fame Golf Tournament
SportsNOLA.com IS New Orleans Sports and beyond. We cover the Saints, Hornets, LSU Tigers, Tulane Green Wave, High School Sports and everything in between.

New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams breaks down Saints' 2011 draft class | NOLA.com
Williams was as excited by the addition of tailback Mark Ingram as the five defensive rookies

Lance Moore on life in limbo: "This is a horrible situation" | ProFootballTalk
"I feel like the risk is too great," Moore told Alex Marvez and Jim Miller on Sirius XM NFL Radio. "If you get hurt down there, there’s no telling what’s going to happen."

Tampa Bay rookie comes with a grudge - NFC South Blog - ESPN
We’re not sure on this because Tampa Bay rookie linebacker Mason Foster didn’t name the team, but he could be coming into the league with a very big grudge toward the New Orleans Saints.

New Orleans Saints GM Mickey Loomis says they want Reggie Bush in the program | NOLA.com
'He's been important to us for the last five years, and we think he'll be important to us going forward'

AROUND THE LEAGUE:

Let's talk about it: NFL, players resume mediation | Saints | 2theadvocate.com — Baton Rouge, LA

Glen Coffee returns to football, sorta | ProFootballTalk
"A lot of people think that because I quit, I don’t like football or I have something against it," Coffee said. "It’s not like that. As a recreational sport, I still dig it. It’s just not what I wanted to do with my life."

Limbaugh rips "attacks on Donovan McNabb from black individuals" | ProFootballTalk
What would controversial comments about race and Donovan McNabb be without Rush Limbaugh weighing in? In 2003 Limbaugh resigned from ESPN after angering many viewers by saying McNabb was overrated because "the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well.

Carson Palmer sells his Cincinnati house | ProFootballTalk
If quarterback Carson Palmer plays for the Bengals in 2011, he'll need a new house.  Or to rent one.  Or to stay in a hotel. Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Palmer has found a buyer for his home, a five-bedroom, 5.5-bath bungalow with an asking price of $2.1 million.

Bucs turn down Hard Knocks | ProFootballTalk
"We have respectfully declined this year’s Hard Knocks invitation. Wonderful show, but the team wants to keep the focus on the field in 2011," the team said in a statement.

Jim Irsay has a solution for the lockout | ProFootballTalk
"Jeff Saturday and I could get this thing done, on cocktail napkins, over a long lunch at Rick’s Boatyard . . . it’s not that hard!" Colts owner Jim Irsay wrote on Twitter Monday.

VIDEO:

REGGIE BUSH TRANSCRIPT:

Reggie Bush Encourages You To "Think Before You Tweet" - Deadspin

On his draft-day tweets that insinuated he was leaving New Orleans:
"I think when you look at the situation you look at all the running backs that we have. All the running backs have been taken care of except me and there's a big question mark with me, so I wasn't exactly sure that I would be back with the team. I thought maybe it was a message the team was sending me... The next day, Coach just called me and said, ‘Hey, this doesn't affect you at all. We still want you here to be a part of the Saints.' First and foremost for me is to remain a New Orleans Saint. If I could, I'd play here my whole career."

Did he tweet out of frustration?:
"Not necessarily frustration. I'm not frustrated at all because I know the type of player I am and what I can bring to the team and what I can offer to a team. I just thought maybe the team was saying they were moving on without me, but clearly they're not."

Does he regret the tweets?:
"It goes along with, you should think before you tweet. Obviously it got taken the wrong way; it got taken out of context."

What about the Twitter war with Skip Bayless?:
"No, not at all, that was on purpose... Obviously fans are tied in on the emotional side. They don't necessarily understand the particulars of it. When we have the minicamps and the OTAs [Organized Team Activities] and you still put your body at the same risk, but you're not playing for anything and you have some guys who get injured out there and end the whole season... and when you aren't playing for anything, that's tough. That's tough to deal with. That's where we're trying to come to a medium with the owners and players... I was trying to make light of the situation."

Is he open to taking a paycut?:
"Yeah, I mean, obviously I know there's going to have to be some type of renegotiation. So that's where me, my agent and the New Orleans Saints are going to have to come to a happy medium."

Will he take Skip Bayless up on his challenge of an eight-mile run?:
"I expected him to respond like that. He basically made it seem like he could come do my sport. So I said, ‘OK, if you can do that, then come do it.' I never said I could go run eight miles and crush him at it. I put the offer on the table if he wants to come to training camp one day."