Saints Get Roster Exemptions

From Teddy Kider of The Times-Picayune:

Saints running back Deuce McAllister and defensive end Will Smith were back with their team Saturday for scheduled activities, after their four-game suspensions were blocked Friday by a federal court judge.

Rob Ninkovich and Tearrius George, both defensive ends that the Saints brought in this week, were given roster exemptions to stay with the team through Monday. But they are not considered part of the active roster and will not be eligible to play against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

That means that Smith will most likely have a large role at defensive end Sunday, despite missing an entire week of practice.

Whether McAllister will play Sunday as the third running back behind Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas is unknown, but Saints Coach Sean Payton said Thursday about McAllister and Smith that "certainly they understand and know the offense and defense. So logistically a lot of it is timing."

Saints defensive end Charles Grant, whose suspension was also blocked, had already been placed on the season-ending injured reserve list.

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