Some Saints-related notes
- Nothing injurious here (save for those to my writing sensibilities), but the Times Picayune's Jimmy Smith dips into the ol' sportswriter bag o' cliches for the first "Tour de [insert home of training camp here]" reference of the summer, part of a story punningly (cunningly) titled A Vicious Cycle of Injuries. This may be a bit of an overstatement; after all, with three-plus weeks left in the preseason, the Saints have been wholly lucky, though not totally healthy (knockonwood). The important thing to remember here is that at this point, all of the Saints' first-stringers are pencilled in for Indy.
- Was anybody making a big deal of Scott Fujita's injury? Fujita turned to mouthpiece Peter King for his defense, his explanation of Heelgate. It sounds like a pretty entertaining game they were playing, but given the fact that one of his players got hurt doing it, Sean Payton's probably going to turn to more conventional forms of team-building. You know, like cake.
- From the Times Picayune: Devery Henderson will miss about 2 weeks with a strained hamstring. This should provide Robert Meachem with an opportunity to make an impression on his coaches. If he plans on starting this season, he would do well to have a big next couple of weeks. Especially considering the fact that the Bengals secondary is pretty weak.
- This is a half-formed thought, but consider the fact that the Saints have a Will Smith, that Jamie Martin (who will be seeing plenty of snaps this weekend) is the spitting image of Vincent D'Onofrio and that they already dress in black. The parallels with Men in Black boggle the mind.
- From the Department of Unsubstantiated Speculation: could Hollis Thomas be on the way out? Since Kendrick Clancy has supplanted him as the starter, and since he can't get his weight to acceptable levels, could he be a late-camp casualty? With the team's lack of depth on the defensive line, they would be ill-advised to drop Thomas, but Sean Payton must also factor in the dangerous precedent of keeping a player who isn't dedicated enough to make weight. There are plenty of coaches who would cut Thomas. Speaking of Dedication (DANGER: Loud Rap Music) .....