With HC Sean Payton returning to the sideline for the New Orleans Saints a full two weeks earlier than was expected, the news soon followed the team’s victory in Atlanta over the Falcons, their biggest division rival, that LB Jonathan Vilma 51 recently had surgery to clean up his injured knee.

Apparently, after sitting out the Saints‘ second home game of the season against the Houston Texans in week two, last week at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then for this weekend’s game in Atlanta with an undisclosed injury to his left knee, and despite earlier team denials, as well as recent non-comment by Vilma himself and the organization, a league source confirmed this past Sunday that New Orleans Saints LB Jonathan Vilma has in fact had knee surgery.

The best case scenario for Vilma‘s return to the field of play, as reported by Head Coach Sean Payton, will be in time for the Saints‘ next opponent in the New York Giants on Monday, November 28 in the Superdome after the team’s bye week.