Rosters as of Aug. 17 (PDF): Alphabetical - Numerical - By Position
After opening the 2011 preseason with a 24-3 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Friday in the Superdome, the New Orleans Saints travel to face the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m. on Saturday. The contest will be broadcast regionally on CST and can also be viewed on WVUE FOX 8.
The Saints and the Texans will be facing off for the fourth consecutive year in the preseason. The preseason series is split at 2-2, following a 38-20 New Orleans win in the Superdome on August 21, 2010.
The two clubs will also meet in the regular season on September 25 in the Superdome.
The Saints are coming off an impressive start to their preseason slate against the 49ers on Friday. Highlights on offense, defense and special teams all contributed to the victory. The Saints gained 138 yards on the ground.
Rookie RB Mark Ingram in his NFL debut, carried six times for 23 yards with a 14-yard scoring burst. While QB Drew Brees departed near the end of the first quarter, his backup Chase Daniel completed 13-of-21 passes for 129 yards, engineering a pair of touchdown drives, while also keeping a scoring drive alive with a 19-yard scramble.
The Saints defense showed promise from the starting lineup through the backups as they recorded six sacks, two interceptions and allowed the 49ers to convert only 3-of-16 (19%) third down attempts. LB Jonathan Casillas led the Saints with seven tackles and added one quarterback takedown.
The New Orleans special teams units also made a significant impact. Rookie WR Joseph Morgan sparked the club's return game and gave the Saints a second quarter 10-0 lead with a spectacular 78-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Gameday at a Glance:
DATE: Saturday, Aug. 20
TIME: 7:00 p.m. (CT)
SITE: Reliant Stadium
WORTH NOTING:
*Saturday's game will be the fifth preseason meeting between the Saints and the Texans.
*The two clubs have met every year in the preseason since 2008 and held joint practices prior to the games for the past three campaigns.
*New Orleans and Houston will also meet in the regular season in the Louisiana Superdome on September 25.
*Following the game, the team will immediately fly to Oxnard, Calif., where they will hold their final week of training camp.
*Saturday's contest will be regionally televised on CST (also available on WVUE/FOX 8 in the New Orleans market) with Tim Brando handling play-by-play, Solomon Wilcots serving as color analyst and Mike Nabors covering the action on the Saints sidelines.
*The game can be heard throughout the Gulf Coast on the New Orleans Saints Radio Network (870 AM or 105.3 FM serve as the flagship stations locally in the New Orleans area) with Jim Henderson handling play-byplay duties, former Saints fullback Hokie Gajan serving as color analyst and Kristian Garic reporting from the Saints sidelines.
*A Spanish broadcast is available on WFNO 830 AM with Victor Quinones handling play-by-play and Marco Garcia serving as color analyst
