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Though there was more playing time available because teammates at his position dealt with injuries, rookie New Orleans Saints linebacker Rufus Johnson turned in nondescript outings in his first two preseason games.

He didn’t post any of the sacks the Saints recorded in wins against Kansas City and Oakland, and he didn’t make a tackle.

Johnson’s lack of statistics doesn’t mean he’s doing a poor job for the Saints, for whom he is suiting up at linebacker after playing defensive end in college. But he hopes to strengthen his odds of landing on the team’s active roster by making some plays around the ball the rest of this preseason, and Sunday’s showdown with the Houston Texans represents his next chance to begin doing that.

“I’ve been a little quiet so far,” Johnson said Tuesday. “This game is going to be a huge opportunity. I’m ready to come out explosive and play hard.”

Johnson, 23, was an all-district player at Spruce High in Dallas and attracted recruiting attention from universities such as Mississippi State and Baylor.

But he was a nonqualifier and enrolled at Kilgore Junior College in Texas.

He later transferred to Tarleton State, where he had 15.5 sacks on 96 combined tackles in two seasons as a defensive end. He won second-team Division II All-America honors, was his conference’s defensive lineman of the year, and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.69 seconds before being drafted, prompting the Saints to believe he could mature into a productive pass rusher at outside linebacker.

Johnson headed into the summer under Victor Butler, Will Smith, Junior Galette and Martez Wilson on the depth chart at outside linebacker.

Then Butler tore an anterior cruciate ligament during organized team activities in June, and both Wilson and Galette have missed practices and the two preseason games with injuries they suffered in training camp.

Those injuries haven’t resulted in increased work for Johnson, however.

After Butler, Galette and Wilson were hurt, Johnson saw fewer preseason game snaps than did teammates Jay Richardson and Baraka Atkins, who have been rotating between linebacker and defensive end depending on whether the Saints are using a three-man or four-man front.

Read more: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it

I'm thinking practice squad if he clears waivers... and hopefully he does.

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Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

All little common sense goes a long way.