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Up until Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay, Stephone Anthony hadn't lined up at middle linebacker since the end of his rookie season.

An injury to Craig Robertson placed Anthony back in the role against the Buccaneers, and he lived up to the confidence Dennis Allen showed in him last week.

Anthony led the Saints with nine tackles-for-loss, added a tackle-for-loss on the goal line and although he had some early issues in coverage, the second-year player filled in admirably for Robertson, who leads the Saints with 99 tackles.

"There's a handful of looks we'll make corrections on in tape, but he gave us a definite winning performance," Payton said.

Anthony was initially set to be the Saints' starter at strong-side linebacker, but an inability to understand his role in the defense forced him into a special teams role this year after making 112 tackles in 16 starts as a rookie.

But Allen has seen some improvement in the classroom over the course of the season, and Anthony held up while playing every one of the Saints' 66 snaps on defense.

"He filled in nice, he got a lot of work," Payton said. "Overall, I think he did a lot of things positive."

Stephone Anthony turned in 'winning performance' in return to middle linebacker, Sean Payton says | Saints | theadvocate.com

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"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins