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New Orleans Saints official injury report

By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune

November 20, 2009, 1:34PM

Saints tailback Reggie Bush did not practice again on Friday, but Coach Sean Payton hasn't ruled him out of Sunday's game at Tampa Bay yet, officially listing him as questionable.


Receiver Lance Moore (ankle) and cornerbacks Jabari Greer (groin) and Tracy Porter (knee) have officially been ruled out. Defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis (knee) is listed as questionable after practicing on a limited basis Friday. Safety Darren Sharper (knee) is listed as probable after practicing fully on Friday. And center Jonathan Goodwin (ankle) is listed as probable despite missing Friday's practice to rest his injury.


Payton said Bush knows the offense well enough that he could step in without the practice reps. But at the same time, he doesn't want to risk a setback with Bush, whose injury has been labeled a knee bruise.
Although it's the same left knee that Bush had surgically-repaired this offseason, Payton said he's not concerned about this latest injury developing into a long-term problem. Bush declined to speak to reporters Friday.


Whether or not Bush is active Sunday, Payton indicated that Bush might not be available to return punts, which leaves the Saints awfully thin in that department. Their backup punt returners are Moore and Porter, who won't play Sunday.


Payton said receiver Devery Henderson, tailback Pierre Thomas and safety Darren Sharper could all step in as punt returners. Henderson and Thomas have never returned a punt in an NFL game, and Sharper hasn't returned one since 2004.


Sharper said he's been fielding punts in practices this week, though, and he said it's not much different than returning an interception -- something he's obviously quite good at.


Sharper said he'll test his knee before Sunday's game to make sure it's ready to go, but he said he feels better this week than he did last week, when he was held out of the game at St. Louis.

Rugby Saint II

Payton said Reggie knows the system well enough that he doesn't have to practice and that to me is a big part of his problem. He doesn't seem to have gotten up to pace yet, and has hard a hard time getting into a good rhythm. Maybe he should play through the pain and just deal with it. He needs to play again like he did last week.

FireVenturi

Anyone have an update on Ellis and Bush?