Saints Benefit With Bye Week

Courtesy---Mike Triplett/Times-Picayune

The bye week is coming at a good time for the New Orleans Saints, who suffered a handful of new injuries Sunday at Carolina to go with the lingering ones that already existed.

Tight end Jeremy Shockey (bruised rib), safety Malcolm Jenkins (stinger), safety Darren Sharper (hamstring) and tailback Chris Ivory (shoulder) all left Sunday's game with injuries that will leave their status in doubt heading into the Saints' Week 11 game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Shockey's injury appears to be the most significant of the new ailments. Coach Sean Payton said there are no broken or cracked ribs, though he said the ribs were "bruised pretty significantly."

"In Jeremy's case, he's got a lot of soreness right down in the lower portion of his rib cage. That second rib from the bottom is bruised," Payton said of Shockey, who went to the hospital in Charlotte for testing to make sure there were no internal injuries. "So resting that is gonna be important, padding it, avoiding contact to that area."

Ivory said Sunday that his shoulder came out of place and separated from the bone a little bit, but he still said he probably could have gone back into the game if needed. Payton said he expects Ivory to "fare pretty well coming off this bye week."

Payton said Jenkins will "have to get a lot of treatment with the stinger he had" but remains optimistic he can return next week. And Payton said Sharper had "a slight hamstring injury that should be fine."

Payton said he almost certainly expects Bush to return from the broken fibula he suffered in Week 2 at San Francisco. Bush returned to practice last week on a limited basis and worked out before the game at Carolina.

Payton said he's also optimistic that Thomas might be back on the practice field with the ankle injury that has lingered since Week 3. But that's no guarantee. Last week, Thomas said he didn't expect to remove the walking boot from his ankle until the end of this week.

"Pierre's making the progress, just trying to get over the hump," Payton said. "I was encouraged today with how he was feeling, but we'll still see and make sure he's ready before he goes out."