Four players missed practice for the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday — linebacker Jonathan Vilma (knee), safety Malcolm Jenkins (neck), receiver Lance Moore (hamstring) and tight end John Gilmore (toe). Tailback Mark Ingram (toe) practiced on a limited basis for the first time in weeks.

It’s too early in the week to predict which players will be available for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers, especially since the Saints are on a short week following a Monday night game.

Posted: Wednesday, November 09, 2011, 9:18 AM

In this week’s episode of In Judy’s Kitchen, Times-Picayune Food editor Judy Walker shows how to make a delicious pulled pork roast using Coke as the main seasoning ingredient.

The New Orleans Saints shifted running back Chris Ivory from the reserve/physically unable to perform list to the active/PUP list on Wednesday, opening the door to his possible return to action Sunday in St. Louis.

Coach Sean Payton said no decision has been made on whether Ivory or rookie Mark Ingram, recovering from a deep heel bruise suffered late in New Orleans’ 62-7 win over Indianapolis, will play against the Rams. If Ingram can’t go, however, Payton said Ivory would almost certainly be in the lineup.

“Yes, I think so,” Payton said. “Just think about that, though: If Mark couldn’t go, we’d go into the game with just two halfbacks.”

Although the Saints have indicated for some time that Ivory is fully healthy, he and Payton hinted it was only recently that the possibility of him returning became reality.

“Three weeks ago I think we were discussing him, and I would say probably for the last two games he would have been healthy and ready to play and certainly is now,” Payton said, adding one week to the “certainty” schedule Ivory offered in the locker room. “The challenges beginning today are getting acclimated to the football specifics. Not only did he take snaps with our offense, but he took a lot of scout-team snaps. The key is just getting into that football shape where he’s used to contact and used to doing some of the things regardless of rehab and conditioning that you can’t simulate until you play football. That’s the big thing.”

The Saints still have options regarding Ivory, who emerged as the club’s leading rusher in a breakout rookie campaign last year but who has also battled a variety of ailments in his brief professional career. Most recently, Ivory was put on the PUP list as he rehabbed first a Lisfranc matter with his foot and then a sports hernia.

The club has 21 days, which began Wednesday, in which to activate him or keep him in a kind of extended PUP status. After that, the Saints could put him on their 53-man active roster; assign him to injured reserve, which would end his season; or put him on the practice squad, an unlikely maneuver as it would open Ivory up to other teams that might be interested in him.

Despite his assorted injuries, Ivory said he has no intention of changing the slashing style that made him both vulnerable and a fan favorite. He said he has spent his down time since last season culling teammates and others for information on how to handle the body and minimize injuries. Last year, Ivory said he had followed a similar course when he dealt with cramps, an issue that arose in part, he believed, because he had never been taught countermeasures in college at Washington State and then Tiffin.

“It’s always in your mind — no one wants to get hurt, but to me it’s just a part of the game — you’re going to get injuries, you’re going to get nicks and bruises — it’s just all about how you take care of your body and what you do to fix those things that bother you,” he said. “I think the time that I’ve had off on the PUP I’ve kind of learned a little more just asking guys what they do after the games to keep their body feeling good and everything, so I kind of took advantage of that and kind of asked around in the locker room and found out a couple of things that they do to keep their body feeling good. So lately been getting a lot of chiropractor work and getting massages, try to get twice a week.”

At this point, he sees no serious obstacles to his immediate return.

“No, nothing is holding me back right now, but I’m still going to do all the little things, maintenance and massages and anytime I feel a little something I’m going to get it taken care of, but as of right now, no, there’s nothing holding me back,” he said. “Yeah, most definitely I could play, but like I said this whole week is going to play a big deal in whether I get reps this Sunday. Until then, take it day by day and just install as much as I can and learn as much as I can before the game starts.”

It is also not clear that Ingram, the team’s leading rusher with 329 yards and three touchdowns, will be ruled out of the Rams game. Payton said after the Colts victory that X-rays on Ingram were negative, and he reiterated Wednesday the door has not been closed on a quick return for the Saints’ second first-round selection in April’s draft.

“I think with him it’s day to day because really we’re just dealing with soreness and a bruise,” Payton said. “We’re dealing with that issue of just the pain and the swelling and those types of things. It’s not an ankle sprain. It’s the bottom of his heel. I think it’s day to day. I think tomorrow morning we see how he’s feeling, and we just keep tracking his progress.”

STRIEF RETURNS: The Saints also welcomed back to practice offensive tackle Zach Strief. Strief, a six-year veteran out of Northwestern, had won a starting job in training camp after the Saints released longtime tackle Jon Stinchcomb.

Then, almost as suddenly, Strief was stretched out on the Superdome floor in Week 3 against the Houston Texans, dealing with what appeared to be a potentially season-threatening knee injury.

Fortunately, it was only a ligament sprain. Strief’s participation was limited Wednesday, Payton said, but the tackle was clearly pleased to be back in the mix.

“It feels good to get out,” Strief said. “It was tough to kind of be in your own world and kind of lock yourself in a training room when everyone else is out practicing. It’s probably the best thing to do and the thing you should do to get back as soon as you can, but it’s not fun, and it’s not easy to do. Probably the most serious (injury) I’ve ever had. First time I’ve ever really done something substantial, and I was lucky it was as healable as it was. It didn’t feel good. … A lot of the time, there’s other stuff that goes, that gets involved. I think Coach Payton is a great example of that.”

Payton, who broke his knee and tore a ligament in a sideline collision at Tampa Bay two weeks ago, said he and Strief have spent considerable time together recently.

“I feel like he’s my neighbor since I see him every morning, afternoon and evening in the training room,” Payton joked.

It seems unlikely Strief will be activated for the Rams game Sunday, especially because backup Charles Brown has performed competently in Strief’s absence. That gives the Saints and Strief the luxury of not rushing his return.

“I think you’re always tempted, especially as a player, a competitor, you always want to go back,” he said. “But it’s a matter of being smart and doing the right thing.”

VILMA SITS OUT: While Strief and Ivory were welcomed back, linebacker Jonathan Vilma missed practice again Wednesday as he nurses his hurt right knee. Vilma has not missed any games, and his performances over the years prove he no longer needs to practice every day.

Still, Vilma said it rankles.

“God, the only thing worse than practice is watching practice,” he joked.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams also joked with his defensive captain. Early in practice, as Vilma sat on a bench with his leg elevated while the Saints went through their paces outdoors, Williams chided Vilma, asking him whether he needed any more shade, any more ice, if there was anything else the club could provide. Vilma replied with a crisp epithet.

“I don’t like to be bothered too much when I’m out there practicing, so I try to give them the same respect,” Vilma said later, when asked how he handles his captain’s duties with younger players such as Jonathan Casillas or Jo-Lonn Dunbar. “When I see them on the sideline, I might tell them one or two things they need to do, the main things, but outside of that I try to let them practice and play the game the way they would because that’s the way I want to be.”

One thing Vilma was pleased about, however, was the three turnovers the Saints managed to get Sunday against the Colts.

“I think it’s about getting around the ball, getting more hats to the ball,” Vilma said. “We’ve been leaving guys, really, selfish play honestly, defensively leaving guys one on one to make the tackle instead of having two or three guys to make the tackle. And I think we did a better job of that.”

INJURY REPORT: In addition to Vilma, Strief and Ingram, the following players were on Payton’s injury report:

Defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis (ankle) and Casillas (knee) did not practice.

Limited were tight ends John Gilmore (neck), David Thomas (concussion) and Jimmy Graham (ankle) and linebacker Will Herring (hamstring).

Defensive end Turk McBride (shoulder) was listed as a full participant.

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James Varney can be reached at jvarney@timespicayune.com or 504.717.1156.

Posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 5:05 PM

Chris Ivory was allowed to practice on Wednesday, being upgraded to the active/PUP list. He talked afterwards about getting back out there.

The New Orleans Saints soldiered on Wednesday, saying with one voice that although their general may be down, neither he nor the team are out.

Coach Sean Payton remained hospitalized through Wednesday afternoon as he recovered from Monday surgery to repair his shattered left kneecap and a torn ligament he suffered on the sideline in the team’s 26-20 loss to Tampa Bay last Sunday. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt, taking up the reins in Payton’s absence, said Payton was expected back at the team’s facility Wednesday evening.

Nevertheless, even with his body confined to an Ochsner hospital bed, Payton delivered an unequivocal message to Vitt and the Saints: Hold the line and don’t even whisper an excuse.

“You set your jaw, and you keep your eye on the target, and you move on,” Vitt said Wednesday. “So, hey, this is very, very unfortunate what’s happened to Sean. And I know there’s a lot of people in the league saying, ‘Boy, the poor Saints and yeah, yeah, yeah.’ No. There are 31 other teams out there that are glad that he got hurt, and he was in the hospital, missing practice, because they don’t want us to be successful. That’s just the truth. So, we need to move on and keep our eye on the target and keep our preparation meticulous and win a football game.”

Although a new layer of communications has been added with Payton outside the building, Vitt insisted there would be no loss of clarity.

“We reminded our whole football team — and Sean made sure I reminded our whole football team — that his absence early in the part of this week and really not knowing how much he’s going to partake in the latter part of this week is not an excuse to lose, is not an excuse not to prepare, because the excuses are out there if you want them to be,” Vitt said. “Our core players understand that. We just try to make sure with the newer players on this team it’s fully ingrained that it’s not OK to not give your best effort. It’s not OK to come close but lose a game because the head coach has a broken leg. There’s a personal accountability that comes with every coach and player, and we’re here to win.”

Payton had a computer in his recovery room, and he was in constant contact with members of his staff, in particular Vitt and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. Payton reviewed game film from his hospital headquarters, then sent Carmichael text messages with thoughts on first and second downs likely to be effective against Indianapolis, according to Vitt. The team will now move to third down in its preparations.

Those preparations include an attitude the Saints (4-2) are about to play a Colts team much closer to the one they faced in Super Bowl XLIV than the one currently languishing in last place in the AFC South with a winless record after six games. That, too, echoes the company line Payton would insist the team put out if he was moving from office to meeting room to practice field.

“I think the coaching staff is stepping up and doing a real good job,” said wide receiver Devery Henderson, one of only eight players to be with the Saints throughout the Payton era. “We’ll have a good enough team to adjust to those type of things. We know what he expects of us, and it’ll carry on to the field.”

Henderson said it didn’t feel that strange Wednesday.

“Actually, it really didn’t,” he said. “We went out there and got great work in. We kept our tempo up in practice, guys stepped up and took it upon ourselves to go out there and get everything done and pay attention to the little detail things. The guys are stepping up and doing a real good job in his place.”

From an offensive standpoint, the transition from preparation with Payton present to with Payton absent was more seamless than many might imagine, according to quarterback Drew Brees. That’s because he generally confers with Carmichael already on the sideline during games and because Carmichael already handles the offense during practice when Payton finds himself drawn to another aspect of the team.

“There are plenty of times in practice when he’ll say, ‘Hey, Pete, you’ve got it,’ and Pete will be calling it off the script or making adjustments,” Brees said. “The fact that Pete was the one giving me the play today wasn’t all that unusual, because we’ve done that many times before.”

In that respect, the Wednesday practice was sort of a blend between a recreation of what happened in Tampa and a dress rehearsal for Sunday night.

“This will be an adjustment, but then again when I do come to the sideline my communication is usually with Pete,” Brees said. “We’re looking over at pass pictures together. I’ll get up and talk with Sean a little bit, but a lot of the communication happens in the headset between Pete and Sean and then back to me. I think we have a good flow as far as how we communicate on game day, anyway, and a lot of it comes through Pete. I think the fact that it’s going to be Pete’s voice now and he’ll actually be relaying the plays to me, that won’t be all that unusual for me.”

On the other hand, Brees acknowledged it will be strange to go into the Indianapolis game with Payton high above the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in a coaching booth rather than on the sideline. Payton has “a presence on the sideline that we all feel,” Brees said, and that ghost will have to be shaken loose.

Unless, and Brees smilingly declined to rule it out, Payton finds a “contraption” that would allow him and his repaired but still fragile left leg to be on the Superdome floor.

“There’s no question,” Brees said, laughing, when asked about Payton’s immediate return. “I’m envisioning some kind of hovercraft on the sidline, some kind of ‘Back to the Future’ hovercraft that he figures out a way back on the sideline.

“This is a process, and we’re all working our way through it,” Brees continued in a more serious vein. “His mentality is that he’s going to do whatever it takes to do all the things and be head coach.”

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James Varney can be reached at jvarney@timespicayune.com or 504.717.1156.