New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - NOLA.com Saints Expect to be Healthy for Play-Offs

The New Orleans Saints' secondary will have to survive for at least three more weeks without top cornerback Jabari Greer, who underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia Tuesday.

The team expects him to be fully recovered in time for the playoffs, possibly getting him back for the regular-season finale at Carolina on Jan. 3.
But the Saints have to make due with their makeshift secondary for most of the regular-season games, which is a hurdle in their run toward a perfect record.

"The feeling was after four weeks, it wasn't getting any better. So we went that route," said Coach Sean Payton, who revealed the news of Greer's surgery Thursday. Although Greer had appeared to be coming close to returning from a lingering groin injury last week, Payton said the cornerback had "hit a plateau" in his recovery.

So they sent him to Dr. William Meyers, a Philadelphia-based surgeon who specializes in sports hernia repairs and who has performed similar procedures on tight end Jeremy Shockey, linebacker Jonathan Vilma, defensive end Will Smith and offensive tackle Jammal Brown over the past 15 months.

"The procedure went well Tuesday. Meyers was optimistic," said Payton, who said he consulted with Greer and the team medical staff about whether he should try to play through the injury or have surgery. "All parties felt like, 'Let's go ahead and do this now and start the rehab."

The news is certainly deflating for an injury-plagued Saints secondary. Fellow starter Tracy Porter is also expected to miss at least two or three more weeks with his sprained knee. And veteran cornerback Randall Gay is questionable for Sunday's game at Atlanta with a hamstring injury.

Although the Saints played great with all three of them out of the lineup two weeks ago against New England, the pass defense probably had its worst performance of the season last week at Washington, allowing 371 yards and three touchdowns. The Saints' replacement cornerbacks, rookie Malcolm Jenkins and recently-signed veterans Mike McKenzie and Chris McAlister all were picked on during the game.

Although Jenkins and McKenzie appeared to be the most frequent victims, McAlister was released Tuesday and replaced by third-year pro Marcus McCauley. "Nobody was satisfied with the way we played last week," said Jenkins, who promised an improved performance against the Falcons. "The same secondary that played last week was the same secondary that played the week before against New England. .¤.¤. We won't perform like that again."

"Naturally, the game this past week wasn't as clean as we would have liked," said McKenzie, who listed a number of reasons for his struggles -- the short week of practice, the different atmosphere on the road, his lack of experience in the system. "I could really go on and on, but I think the key thing for me personally, not having many snaps in this defense, is I am very critical of myself and I do continue to meet with the coaches and continue to meet with my counterparts in the secondary to make sure I am picking up all the nuances of the defense.

"I'm really just making sure I'm not the weak link out there. I'm making sure I continue to hold up my end of the bargain. "The Saints gave up several deep passing plays to the Redskins -- 44, 40, 38 and 29-yard receptions and a 32-yard pass interference penalty against Jenkins.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said there were a number of reasons for the breakdowns, including coaching miscues. But that didn't save the players from getting chewed out afterward. "I've been pretty hard on them this week," Williams said. "They've not been wanting to take me out to dinner much this week. Some of it was communication. Some of it was fatigue. Some of it was just poor plays. And coaching, too. I've got to try to help them with an easier plan in some situations, also.

"We had to improvise through several things. We saw some things that guys like Mike and Chris hadn't been through, yet. As a coach, you try to be as thorough as you can with your teaching, but sometimes it doesn't come up. And we had to come up with some stuff on the sideline.

"And one of those deep passes wasn't one of those new guys. It happened to be one of those old guys that I had to chit-chat with on the sideline."
Williams didn't name any names, but he was probably referring to the 44-yard throw from Washington quarterback Jason Campbell to receiver Antwaan Randle El on third-and-11 late in the third quarter. Jenkins was trailing on the play, but it appeared as though he didn't get the needed safety help from Roman Harper or Darren Sharper.

The Saints' secondary will be tested again Sunday against the Falcons. Although quarterback Matt Ryan remains questionable with a toe injury, Atlanta features two dangerous playmakers in the passing game -- receiver Roddy White and tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Last week in a loss to Philadelphia, backup quarterback Chris Redman targeted White 20 times, completing nine passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. And he targeted Gonzalez 13 times, completing eight passes for 72 yards. Against the Saints on Nov. 2, White and Gonzalez were targeted a combined 22 times, catching a combined 10 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown.

White broke free for a 68-yard touchdown pass against Greer in that game, although there was some questionable contact by the receiver on that play. Clearly, the Saints will have their hands full trying to keep White, 6 feet, 212 pounds, out of the end zone this week.

"He's an explosive receiver," said Sharper, who likely will be assigned to shadow White like he's done against top receiving threats such as Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson this season. "He can get down the football field. And he's a big guy who can make plays when the ball is in the air. He also does a great job of running after the catch. We know they like to get the ball to him, so we need to be aware of him."