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8 Saints players to watch vs. Texans in preseason home opener

Drew Brees
This may be a bizarre way to open a column about “players to watch” for a couple of reasons.
For starters, no one will learn anything about Brees from a brief preseason appearance against the Houston Texans on Saturday night. We all know who he is.
The real reason for me to mention him in this category is simple. I want to watch Brees never leave the sideline once the game starts.
Don’t take a single snap against the Houston Texans. Don’t risk Brees taking a high snap from Josh LeRibeus. Don’t risk Brees taking a hit from J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney or any other Texans defender. Especially without Max Unger, Terron Armstead and possibly Ryan Ramczyk around to protect him.
Sit Brees.
Hell, tell him to head home after player introductions.

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Adrian Peterson
Sean Payton mentioned earlier this week how vets like Brees, Peterson, Mark Ingram and Cam Jordan would suit up and play against Houston.
I’m tempted to place the veteran Saints running back in the same category as Brees. After all, Peterson last received a preseason carry in 2011. He’s 32 and carries a ton of NFL mileage with him.
This offense is still new to Peterson, though. You could understand why Payton would be tempted to have Peterson take a couple of carries Saturday.
There’s no denying how well Peterson has played in practice during the last couple of weeks. He’s hit holes with force. He’s made defenders miss with nifty footwork. He even hauled in a 30-yard touchdown reception on a wheel route from Brees against Houston in Thursday’s practice.
We’ve already “seen it” from Peterson in practice. We don’t necessarily need to see anything from Peterson in a game setting until Week 1 at Minnesota.

Al-Quadin Muhammad
The Saints’ 2017 sixth-round pick ranks among the league leaders in preseason sacks with two. He’s taken down as may passers as more notable rookies like T.J. Watt and Jordan Willis.
I know, I know. It’s two preseason games.
But Muhammad should hang his hat on these statistics. He’s fighting for a roster spot, and Muhammad has showed signs of being an effective pass rusher in the Saints’ first two preseason games. He’s also flashed a few times during training camp practices during the past few weeks.
Maybe the Saints will give the 6-foot-4, 250-pounder some snaps earlier in the Texans game to gain a better evaluation of Muhammad.

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