Saints Return To Practice To Prepare For Chargers

With a mandatory roster cutdown to 75 players looming on August 31, the New Orleans Saints (1-1) will host the San Diego Chargers (1-1) in the Louisiana Superdome on Friday evening in a contest nationally televised by CBS.

It will be one more opportunity for the 80 players on the team to make a positive impression, whether they are preparing for the season opener, competing for a position in the starting lineup or seeking to crack the 53-man roster.

The Saints will look to build on the momentum of a 38-20 win over the Houston Texans on Saturday evening. The Chargers dropped a 16-14 decision to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday.
Friday night’s game will mark the first time that the Chargers will play a preseason game in the Superdome and it will be their first visit to New Orleans since 1997.

The two teams have squared off only four times in the preseason with the most recent meeting, taking place in San Diego on August 30, 1985, a 21-20 Chargers win.
San Diego and New Orleans have met only ten times in the regular season, with the Saints trailing 7-3. The most recent contest between the two clubs was a 37-32 win by the Saints on October 26, 2008 in a contest played at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The Saints evened their preseason record at 1-1 Saturday as their 38-point output was the most ever in a preseason game in the Superdome and the second-most in a home preseason game in franchise history.

Overall the Saints rolled up 409 yards in the win. QB Drew Brees led the Saints to touchdowns on two of the three drives that he led in the first quarter, one ending with a nine-yard TD run by RB Reggie Bush and later when the signal caller scored by getting a push from his offensive line into the end zone. Bush finished with seven carries for 49 yards in less than a half of work.WR Marques Colston led the Saints with four receptions for 49 yards.

After Brees left the game following a quarter of work, QB Chase Daniel maintained the tempo for the New Orleans offense as he played the final three periods and completed 15-of-21 passes for 182 yards with three TD passes, one interception and a 117.5 passer rating. WR Adrian Arrington continued an impressive preseason with three catches for a team-leading 71 yards and one TD, including a 48-yard grab from Daniel. Once the first unit of running backs of Bush and Pierre Thomas, who took a screen 31 yards for a TD, left for the night, Chris Ivory and P.J. Hill combined for 98 yards on the ground.

Defensively New Orleans, surrendered only 291 yards and 20 points to Houston, including only 48 yards on the ground. DT Sedrick Ellis recorded a sack and also recovered a fumble forced by DE Will Smith. LB Troy Evans also had a quarterback takedown. LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar led the Saints with six tackles. On special teams, S Pierson Prioleau recovered a fumble and led the team with three stops.

San Diego dropped the decision to the Cowboys with a late fourth quarter safety. Following the 2008 meeting in London, this will be the second time that Brees faces the team that originally drafted him in 2001 and where he served as their starting signal caller from 2002-05.