By Jimmy Smith, The Times-Picayune

Already adhering to a regular-season policy of limiting information about injuries, New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton on Tuesday declined to expound upon place kicker Garrett Hartley’s apparent hip injury while announcing the team had signed a veteran replacement — and long-time New Orleans nemesis — John Kasay.

Kasay, who spent the bulk of his two-decade career with the Carolina Panthers and on several occasions broke the Saints’ hearts with winning kicks as time expired, was cut at July’s end by the Panthers, and replaced by former Saints kicker Olindo Mare.

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By Rick Reilly

Screw the holidays. The most wonderful time of the year is now.

No more pretending you love scrapbooking. Football is here. Pro, college, lingerie. Doesn’t matter. Let the torrid affair between you and your remote begin.

And I’ll bet you a diamond to a doughnut that …

The New Orleans Saints will win it all. You haven’t noticed? They won the offseason. QB Drew Brees‘ practice sessions were more organized than the Raiders’ ever are. Plus, they added Heisman Trophy winner and soon-to-be NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year Mark Ingram. Telling you, this kid is going to go through defenses like they are piles of Gillette Foamy. Plus, they’ve rid themselves of the What Stupid Trick Play Can We Come Up With to Get Reggie Bush Some Yardage? migraine. Hey Drew, get your son’s headphones ready.

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Stay up to date on the latest football news with the Bless You Boys app, featuring daily training camp updates, thoughts from Jim Henderson, video and more.

The app is free and easy to use. Just search “Bless You Boys” in the app store of your phone. It is compatible with the iOS, Android and Blackberry systems. Or you can click the links below:

Click here to find out more about this great app.

By Jerry McLeod, The Times-Picayune

Apparently New Orleans Saints fans have comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres to thank for the team’s 40-20 walloping of the Oakland Raiders Sunday night.

“The (Saints) won! I’m taking full credit,” the Metairie-born DeGeneres boasted via Twitter after the preseason match-up.

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By Pat Yasinskas
The New Orleans Saints are already in midseason form. They put up 512 yards of total offense in a 40-20 preseason victory over the Oakland Raiders.

After up-and-down performances in their first two preseason games, the Saints played a complete game against the Raiders.

“I was pleased with the effort and I was pleased with our energy,’’ New Orleans coach Sean Payton said. “That is something that was a goal of ours in this game; just playing hard and spending more time about each play then the final score or the score at any point.’’

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By James Varney, The Times-Picayune

Today marks the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the most profound disaster to hit New Orleans and much of the Gulf South since the Civil War. It also marks the event that helped quarterback Drew Brees think perhaps there was a larger meaning to him becoming the Saints signal caller.

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By Kevin Spain, The Times-Picayune

Oakland, Calif. — They would never admit it, but the New Orleans Saints needed a better performance against Oakland than they had gotten in the previous week against Houston.

By beating the Raiders 40-20, they got it.

The offense looked sharp in the early going with quarterback Drew Brees and the first team carving up the Raiders defense. Brees was 15-of-23 for 189 yards. He led them to within scoring position three times and three times they scored.

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Are you ready for some football? I think we all know it’s pre-season but it seems like the thought of not having football this year makes ever game a little more special.

What do you do for the game?

Head out to a bar to watch the game with friends?

Stay home alone, just you and your tv?

Record the game and watch it later.

Well whatever you do it does not matter because it’s still football! Well off to get some stuff ready to BBQ for tonight…

Who Dat making all that noise… it’s the Who Dat Nation dat’s who!

See more of the starters:

The starters are expected to play through halftime, possible a series or two into the third quarter.   Look for a sharp Saints team against Oakland, they’ve had a really good week of practice in Oxnard.

Dat’s a wrap:

Before today’s game, the Saints held five days of practice in Oxnard California.  The team looked different.  I don’t know, it’s hard to put my finger on it, but they just looked rejuvenated.  The decision to move training camp to Oxnard for a week might not have been all that popular, but you can see what it did for the team.  The practice sessions were intense.  The entire offense and defense is pretty much installed.  Because players weren’t battling extreme heat, the Saints weren’t in survival mode during practice.  The team practice every day for two and a half hours.  Water breaks were at a minimum, and the heat didn’t zap their energy.  They’ve looked as crisp in these five days as I’ve seen over the last three years.

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