Brees Short Two Receivers In New Orleans' Wendesday Practice

NFL News - January 21st, 2010 - Written by John

The New Orleans Saints have rocketed to the top of the NFC with the conference's best passing attack and highest-scoring offense, but Drew Brees was forced to practice without two of his best weapons on Wednesday.

Receiver Robert Meachem was held out due to ankle soreness, and Jeremy Shockey sat out with a lingering knee injury he's battled all year.

Shockey's ailment is not all that surprising and it was something he played with last Saturday with the Saints beat up on Arizona. In that game, the tight end caught three passes for 36 yards and a touchdown, but was limited late because of stiffness.

But Meachem's aching ankle is somewhat new, and could force Brees to force the ball into Marques Colston and Devery Henderson more often.

His importance to the offense may have been a little bit understated after Brees made a living spreading the ball around to seven or eight receivers at a regular pace. But he was tied for the team lead in touchdown receptions (nine), and was first with an average of 16 yards per catch.

Both are expected to play, and it is likely that the offense will continue to thrive with as many options as any team in football, so the pressure falls on the shoulders of the defense, which had struggled before last week's domination of the Cardinals.

In that game, safety Darren Sharper had one interception, and had another one negated via penalty, despite being hampered by knee soreness. Sharper, along with corner back Malcolm Jenkins were also given the day off Wednesday to rest their sore legs.

Sharper is third on the team with 71 tackles, and his nine regular-season interceptions are tied for first in the NFL. The safety received one vote in the year's Defensive Player of the Year balloting.

Jenkins, a rookie out of Ohio State, is seventh on the team in tackles (55), and is tied for second with two forced fumbles.