The New Orleans Saints placed offensive tackle Charles Brown on injured reserve Wednesday, ending his season with a hip flexor that he suffered in last Sunday’s 31-21 loss at St. Louis. Fortunately for the Saints, veteran Zach Strief is back from s knee injury and will return to his starting job at right tackle against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Brown had been filling in for Strief the past five weeks after Strief sprained his medial collateral ligament.
“I know exactly how he feels,” said Strief, who became a starter this summer when New Orleans released veteran Jon Stinchcomb. “I told him it’s a tough thing to deal with. It’s a part of the job sometimes, and it’s tough. I know it doesn’t make it easier, telling him, ‘Hey I feel ya.’ It doesn’t help him much, the same way it didn’t help me much.
“Fortunately, the timing in terms of me coming back (worked out) OK, so that we’ve at least got someone to come back in and fill in. But we’ll miss him.”
Strief, a sixth-year pro with 10 career starts, said he is 100 percent healthy. He returned to practice last week on a limited basis but didn’t play against the Rams. Perhaps the Saints could have used his help. They allowed six sacks against St. Louis, including two against Brown and one against replacement right tackle Pat McQuistan.
Brown, 24, had been showing promise until that Rams game. Although the job likely would have gone back to Strief, Brown appeared to be growing with each passing week on the job.
“I think Charlie Brown came in and did a great job. Not a good job, a great job,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. “It’s tough to lose him now, but I’m excited about Zach coming back and having this opportunity. I know he’s chomping at the bit to get back. … I know he has worked so hard to earn that spot.”
New Orleans Coach Sean Payton said Brown will need surgery, and that he isn’t expected to recover until after the season.
The Saints are high on Brown after drafting him in the second round out of Southern California last year. He’s athletic for his size, listed at 6 feet 5 inches, 297 pounds, but he has been hampered by injuries early in his career. He had back surgery this offseason, then missed time in training camp with a hamstring injury.
To replace Brown, the Saints signed veteran offensive tackle Ray Willis on Wednesday. Willis, 29, spent six years with the Seattle Seahawks, starting 26 games at right tackle and guard. He missed the entire 2010 season with a knee injury, then he signed with the Miami Dolphins this summer before being cut after the preseason.
INGRAM, VILMA DON’T PRACTICE: Saints tailback Mark Ingram remained sidelined with the bruised heel he suffered in Week 7.
Linebacker Jonathan Vilma also was held out of the team portion of Wednesday’s practice, which has been typical for him the past several weeks as he continues to rest a lingering knee injury. Everyone else fully participated Wednesday, including Strief and tight end David Thomas.
PAYTON AHEAD OF SCHEDULE: Payton is hoping to return to the sideline after the Saints’ Week 11 bye.
He expected to be stuck upstairs in the coaching booth until December but said his latest medical checkup was encouraging.
“After today’s visit, I think a couple more weeks,” Payton said. “We’ve got two more games and then a bye. I think for the last six weeks of the season I’ll have a chance to get down.”
Payton broke his leg and injured his knee during the Saints’ Week 6 loss at Tampa Bay. He said it was particularly frustrating for him to be removed from the sideline for this past Sunday’s lackluster loss at St. Louis, when he was unable to “get the attention of a player or stress the emphasis of a situation or where you’re at in the game.”
‘HELD’ BACK: Holding is usually the work of offensive linemen, but the Rams’ defensive linemen turned the tables on their Saints counterparts Sunday, Carl Nicks and Jahri Evans said.
The Saints’ Pro Bowl guards said they were held repeatedly by St. Louis defensive linemen throughout the game. It should be noted, Nicks and Evans were only responding to questions about the tactic, and neither brought the subject up on their own — and both stressed it wasn’t an excuse for their performance.
Still, Nicks and Evans acknowledged the tactic kept them from executing their blocks on linebackers on several plays.
“I’ve never seen that before,” Nicks said. “I asked their defensive line, ‘What did you all work on all week, holding?’ It’s smart, but it should be a flag.”
Nicks and Evans said they alerted referee Walt Anderson of the illegal tactics but were rebuffed.
“I specifically went to the official and said, ‘He’s holding me, and I can’t get out (to block),’ and he said he saw it but it wasn’t enough to call a penalty,” Evans said. “It’s not right. It definitely limited us on our screens and a couple of our run plays.”
Evans and Nicks didn’t name names, but defensive tackles Gary Gibson and Justin Bannan appeared to use the tactic on the TV broadcast. On one first-quarter screen pass, Gibson held Evans so blatantly Evans could be seen clubbing Gibson repeatedly on the left arm in an effort to shake free from his grasp.
“I was trying to break his arm,” Evans said, only half-jokingly.
It didn’t work. Evans’ man, linebacker Chris Chamberlain, had a free path to the receiver, Pierre Thomas, and tackled him for a 4-yard loss.
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