SmashMouth

Saints rookie defensive end Carl Granderson is back with the team after receiving a two-week roster exemption.

Granderson's journey to the NFL hit a well-documented road block over the summer when a judge in Wyoming rejected a plea agreement in a sexual battery case and sentenced him July 11 to serve a six-month jail sentence.

After he spent 43 days in jail, though, another judge freed Granderson and sentenced him to supervised probation, which opened the door for his return.

“I’m thankful for my opportunity,” said Granderson, who made his first public comments Monday since rejoining the Saints over the weekend. “I’m just thankful for a second chance to get back out there and work as hard as I can to be on the team.”



Granderson said his biggest takeaway from his ordeal was learning lessons, but he also emphasized he has no desire to dwell on the past.

Instead, the rookie wants to move forward and focus on his career.

“At this point, I’m just focused on football,” Granderson said. “It’s just a lesson learned. I’m thankful for the opportunity I can have now to be back on the team, be back around my teammates and just move forward.”

The Saints have a two-week window to make a decision on Granderson.

Coach Sean Payton said during a Monday morning teleconference that Granderson is allowed to attend meetings and participate in practice during that span.

With the legal issues taken care of, the biggest concern now for the team now is getting Granderson back in football shape.

“We felt in the spring, we saw a young player that certainly we were excited to work with,” Payton said. “Obviously, these other challenges for him personally have taken precedent, as they should.

“In the meantime, those two weeks he will be allowed to train. He’s been away from football for a while, so a lot of that will be kind of getting back into football shape, getting his weight where he wants to be and then understanding what we’re trying to do.”

more on NOLA

Attached Thumbnails