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Maybe Sully will really get motivated now:

Former LSU DT Green wins Saints starting job

By LES EAST
Special to The Advocate

METAIRIE -- Former free agent Howard Green of LSU has held off former No. 1 draft choice Johnathan Sullivan to start at defensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints, coach Jim Haslett announced Monday.
Green will start alongside Brian Young, and Sullivan, who Haslett said has reached his prescribed playing weight of 315 after reporting to camp 15 pounds overweight, will back up Young. Fifth-round draft choice Rodney Leisle will back up Green.

Also on the defensive line, starting end Darren Howard is questionable for the season opener against Seattle on Sunday in the Superdome because of a bulging disc in his neck. If Howard can't play, he will be replaced by No. 1 draft choice Will Smith.

"It's nothing career-threatening or season-ending, but it's something that might take a little while," Haslett said of Howard's injury. "But he looked a lot better today and he thinks he's going to play this week, so we'll take it day-to-day with him."

The other players who are questionable for Sunday are reserve cornerback Jason Craft (high ankle sprain) and reserve safety Deveron Harper (hamstring).

Meanwhile, quarterback Aaron Brooks, who missed most of the preseason because of a strained right quad, shouldn't be limited against the Seahawks, Haslett said.

Both backups, Todd Bouman and J.T. O'Sullivan, were unimpressive in their preseason battle to be No. 2. Bouman will be No. 2, primarily because he's the holder, but Haslett said if Brooks were to miss a game, both Bouman and O'Sullivan would be candidates to start.

Former LSU wide receiver Devery Henderson will be inactive at least at the start of the season. Joe Horn, DontÃƒÂƒÃ‚Â© Stallworth and Jerome Pathon remain the top three receivers. Kick returner Michael Lewis is No. 4 and when a fifth receiver is active, it will be Talman Gardner.

"Devery is obviously not ready yet," Haslett said. "I think holding out (in training camp) really put him behind. He's still learning the formations and the shifts, but I think he'll be a heck of a player once he gets a grasp of the offense."

Haslett said two of his most difficult cuts were two of the team's elder statesmen -- center Jerry Fontenot and linebacker Darrin Smith.

Fontenot's fate was sealed when the coaches decided to keep six wide receivers instead of a ninth offensive lineman.

Smith's was sealed when they decided to go with just six linebackers until Sedrick Hodge returns after serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy.

Haslett called this the best of his five training camps as head coach, singling out safeties Tebucky Jones and Jay Bellamy as having shown dramatic improvement. He said the preseason negatives were Brooks' injury and linebacker Cie Grant's knee injury, which will keep him out for the season.

Haslett said offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy will call plays from the press box this season after doing so from the sideline his first four seasons.

The team experimented with McCarthy in the box for each of the preseason games.

The Saints signed six players they had released Sunday to be part of their practice squad -- former LSU cornerback Fred Booker, former East Ascension High School and Northwestern State wide receiver Nathan Black, fullback Nate Schurman, offensive linemen Ben Archibald and Chad Setterstrom, and linebacker Billy Strother.

Haslett said the practice squad will also include two players released by other teams. He said the Saints had agreed to terms with them, but he wouldn't release their names until they signed contracts. He said he didn't anticipate signing anyone to the 53-man roster.

The New York Giants signed former LSU defensive lineman Kenderick Allen, who was released by the Saints on Sunday.