blacksaint

By LES EAST

Special to The Advocate
Published: Aug 27, 2007

METAIRIE — Quarterback Jason Fife was among four players released by the New Orleans Saints, coach Sean Payton announced Sunday.

The others were wide receiver Aaron Hosack, linebacker Desmond Sims and cornerback Joe Porter.

The Saints have 78 players on their roster and must release three more by Tuesday to reach the NFL maximum.

Fife’s departure leaves three quarterback on the roster — Drew Brees, Jamie Martin and undrafted rookie Tyler Palko. Teams usually carry three quarterbacks, though the Saints had just two on their active roster for most of last season.

Fife split last season on the Saints active roster and the practice squad. He dressed as the third quarterback, but was inactive for games three through six. He joined New Orleans last summer after spending the spring of 2006 with Las Vegas of the Arena Football League.

“Fife was here last year so he had a great rapport with all the quarterbacks,” Brees said. “Any time (getting cut) happens, that’s tough.

“When it comes to some of the quarterbacks fighting for that No. 3 spot, it’s a matter of opportunity and you get very few opportunities to get out there and play in practice and especially in the preseason games.”

Fife started the second half of the Saints’ preseason opener against Pittsburgh and drove the team to a touchdown (a 1-yard pass to Kevin Dudley), but didn’t play in the last three preseason games.

He finished the preseason with five completions in eight attempts for 47 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.

An undrafted free agent from Oregon, Fife went to training camp with the Detroit Lions in 2004 and was allocated by the Minnesota Vikings to Rhein of NFL Europe in 2005.

Missing time
Four players — tight end Mark Campbell (back), defensive back Curry Burns (bruised knee) wide receiver Jamal Jones (knee), and Martin (back spasms) missed practice Sunday. Campbell and Burns are day-to-day, Martin is expected back today, and Jones continues to be sidelined by an injury that has plagued him throughout the preseason. Cornerback Jason David was limited because of a sore quad and hamstring, but Payton said, “he should be fine.”

Getting healthy
Several injured players are showing progress. Offensive tackle Jammal Brown, who has missed the last three preseason games because of a bone bruise in his knee, took all the reps with the offense and Payton said there’s “a good chance” he’ll play Thursday in the preseason finale against Miami in the Superdome. Payton said wide receivers Marques Colston (knee) and Devery
Henderson (hamstring), who missed the last two games, have a good chance of playing Thursday. Brian Young, who hasn’t practiced since undergoing offseason foot surgery, did some field work, though he technically didn’t practice. Defensive end Rob Ninkovich (knee) did some limited work also.

Looking ahead I
Payton, who will have to trim the roster to 53 after the game against the Dolphins, said he’s already thinking ahead. “You’re always working off a list, but there are still obviously some tough decisions to make,” he said.

“Really, beginning the last two-and-a-half weeks, you work off of a list and go through it in your mind how you see the roster shaping up.”

Looking ahead II
Payton said the Saints are beginning preparations for the season opener at the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 6.
“We’re trying to take a period or two during practice that emphasizes some things that we want to do against Indianapolis, but still go against each other some like we would in training camp,” he said. “So there’s a little bit of a mix, but we are taking a little bit of an emphasis in regard to some of the things we’ll see from Indianapolis and still preparing to play Thursday night against Miami.”

KC reflections
Payton said after looking at the film of the 30-7 victory Thursday at Kansas City, he was impressed by running back Pierre Thomas (11 rushes, 90 yards, two touchdowns), the team’s “good energy and effort”, “our effort to the ball on defense”, “a real good job in our kicking game” and “offensively, there was a real good rhythm, early on especially.”

Not satisfied
Brees didn’t sound overly impressed when asked about his 35-for-39 passing performance in the last three games. “I think it’s what you expect,” said Brees, who’s expected to see minimal action at most against Miami. “In the preseason, you want to look efficient and sharp. That’s obviously what I’ve tried to do. I can tell you about every one of those four incompletions that should be complete.”

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