Posted by The Times-Picayune December 17, 2008 11:32AM

Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune

Reggie Bush was placed in IR and his season is over.

The New Orleans Saints have placed Reggie Bush on the injured reserve list with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, ending his season with two games to play.

To fill the space on the roster, the Saints signed cornerback Michael Lehan, who had been with the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad. In five games this season, Lehan had 11 tackles and no interceptions.

Bush injured his left knee against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 19, and had arthroscopic surgery the next day to repair a torn meniscus. He missed four games for rehabilitation.

He returned to action against Tampa Bay on Nov. 30, but struggled and Coach Sean Payton reduced his playing time because of ineffectiveness.

Bush scored a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons on Dec. 7 and appeared to be back on track. But he suffered a setback against the Chicago Bears the next week and was benched in the second half, again because of ineffectiveness.

Renowed orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, who has operated on Bush’s knee twice in the past, evaluated the results of Bush’s MRI. Bush will travel to Birmingham, Ala., on Friday to visit with Dr. Andrews personally.

Pierre Thomas will handle the bulk of the rushing load for the remainder of the season. Deuce McAllister has been battling his own knee soreness, though he fully participated in Wednesday’s practice.

…

– Left tackle Jammal Brown also practiced fully on Wednesday after missing last week’s game with an ankle injury. The only player who did not participate was defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy, who suffered a hamstring injury at Chicago.

– Saints Coach Sean Payton confirmed that Brown and Bush (as a return specialist) were named first alternates to the Pro Bowl. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma was also selected as an alternate to the NFC squad, though he is further down on the list.

Brown will likely be invited to Hawaii since Seattle’s Walter Jones had season-ending knee surgery last week. That would be fitting, since Brown was unable to play when he was selected to the team in 2006 with his own knee injury.

– Payton said Miami (Ohio) University expressed interest in Saints assistant Aaron Kromer for its head coaching vacancy, but Kromer elected to stay in New Orleans. Kromer, who began the year as the Saints’ running backs coach, took over as the Saints’ interim offensive line coach last week when offensive coordinator/line coach Doug Marrone left to become the head coach at Syracuse.

Payton hasn’t announced his long-term plans with his offensive staff, but it’s safe to assume that Kromer will remain the line coach. Kromer was primarily a line coach with Tampa Bay and Oakland before he joined the Saints’ staff this past offseason.

Quarterbacks coach Pete Carmichael will likely take over as the offensive coordinator. Carmichael turned down two opportunities to become a coordinator with the Miami Dolphins under Cam Cameron and Tony Sparano the past two years, choosing to stay with the Saints.

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