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New Orleans Saints news and notes for Sept. 25
By Brian Allee-Walsh, The Times-Picayune
September 25, 2009, 8:40PM
New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton ended days of speculation Friday by declaring running back Mike Bell, wide receiver Lance Moore and defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy out of Sunday's game at the Buffalo Bills because of injuries.
Chuck Cook/The Times-Picayune
New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove returns to face Buffalo for the first time since leaving the team almost two years ago.
Clancy (knee) will miss his second consecutive game and likely will be replaced by Remi Ayodele.
Bell (knee) and Moore (hamstring) will be sidelined after being injured against the Philadelphia Eagles. Running back Lynell Hamilton is expected to be active and share the workload with Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas.
Asked if Hamilton would assume Bell's role against the Bills, Payton replied: "I don't think that's accurate."
Moore's absence likely means wide receivers Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem will move up the depth chart behind Marques Colston, who leads the team with 11 catches for 128 yards and three touchdowns. However, Payton declined to tip his hand when asked if reserve wide receiver Rod Harper would be active and take Moore's role as a backup punt returner.
"Potentially, " Payton said.
With an open date looming Oct. 11, Bell, Moore and Clancy all could be held out of the New York Jets game on Oct. 4 at the Superdome.
League rules require NFL coaches to designate an injured player's status the Friday before each game -- probable (a 75-25 chance he'll play), questionable (50-50), doubtful (25-75) or out.
Payton said linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar (hamstring) is questionable.
Quarterback Drew Brees (left shoulder) practiced all week and is listed as probable. Other players listed as probable are strong safety Roman Harper (hamstring), defensive end Bobby McCray (back), defensive end Charles Grant (hamstring), left tackle Jermon Bushrod (knee), tight end Jeremy Shockey (ankle) and Thomas (knee).
Thomas is expected to wear a less bulky brace on his right knee. He played on a limited basis against the Eagles after being sidelined the previous five weeks with a sprained right knee.
"Yes, he's getting closer to (being) 100 percent, " Payton said of Thomas.
CAT-AND-MOUSE GAME: The Saints' defense will face a no-huddle offense run by the Bills' Alex Van Pelt, who played quarterback for Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams when he was Buffalo's head coach from 2001-03.
"Basically they haven't huddled this whole year, " Williams said. "They try to keep the same package on the field. Occasionally they'll adjust a person. For instance, if they keep the same package on the field or (replace) someone on a deep route or something like that, then we have the response time to get somebody into the game, too, if we want.
"But if they keep the same 11 on the field, we have to keep the same 11 on the field."
WORTH REPEATING: Saints defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove will play against Buffalo for the first time since leaving the Bills under extenuating circumstances 21 months ago.
In January 2008 he was suspended by the NFL for the '08 season for multiple violations of the league's substance policy. He was reinstated this past February and signed a one-year contract with the Saints in May.
Hargrove played 22 games in two abbreviated seasons with the Bills.
"It's just another game to me, " Hargrove said Friday. "All that other stuff is behind me now. This is just another opportunity for me to go out there Sunday and show that I belong here."
Hargrove said he remains friends with a number of Bills.
"I haven't talked to anybody this week, but I'm sure we'll talk when I get up there, " Hargrove said.
QUICK HITS: For the second consecutive week, Brees was selected the FedEx Air Player of the Week, this time for his performance against the Eagles. FedEx will donate $1,000 in Brees' name to the Safe Kids Coalition of New Orleans. . . . Tight ends have caught four touchdown passes and averaged 99 receiving yards against the Bills in two games, suggesting Jeremy Shockey and David Thomas might figure more prominently in the Saints' plans this week.

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