Reggie Bush and Adrian Peterson are friends, both are prime-time story lines, but they don't feel the need to outperform the other.
They'll oppose each other on Monday night before a national television audience. Kickoff is 7:30 in the Superdome.
They were born 19 days apart, were top 10 draft selections and have become marketing stars early in their careers. But their styles couldn't be more different. The Minnesota Vikings' Peterson pounds defenses between the tackles and the edge, too, and has 420 rushing yards this season, second in the NFL. The Saints' Bush stars out in space, particularly when he catches check-down passes. He leads league running backs with 31 catches.
The running backs spent time together this summer in Bush's $5 million home in Los Angeles. "Some of his buddies from San Diego were there, and we just kicked it and had a good time for the weekend," said Peterson.
"When you watch TV and you see, 'Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings versus Reggie Bush of the New Orleans Saints,' it's already like that," said Peterson. "So that's how everybody is going to look at it. It's a big stage and we both need a win. I'm just going out there and do what I can do."
Peterson has been slowed by a hamstring injury in recent weeks, but said he is capable of reaching his peak against the Saints. "The past two weeks I have
been feeling good, but I haven't been Adrian," said the former Oklahoma star. "I really feel like like I''ve been playing at 90 or 95 per cent, but I'll be able to run full speed against the Saints. I haven't been able to open it up and really shift into another gear the last couple of weeks.
"I've been able to go out and get away from guys so it hasn't affected my game, but feeling 100 per cent with no tweaks, just feeling good, feeling fresh like I felt when we started the season is going to be a good feeling inside."
Both the Saints and the Vikings tend to boot the ball around and turn it over. But get a load of this stat heading into Monday night's game. The Saints have turned the ball over at least once in 23 straight games dating back to the 13th game of the 2006 season. They've turned it over a total of 40 times in those 23 games, going 10-13 over that stretch of games.
"That's a high concern and something we have to limit," said Bush. "If we want to win games, we can't turn the ball over. And we have to capitalize on turnovers from other teams.
"We have to focus on the right things. I can't pinpoint one thing as to why we turn the ball over. But we're going to have to stop it pretty soon or we'll not be a playoff-contending team."
Gus Frerotte will start at quarterback for the Vikes. He was forced to leave the Vikes' 30-17 loss at Tennessee last Sunday after suffering a cut on his hand that looked pretty bad. It really wasn't that serious. although it did bleed quite a bit.
"It's fine," said the quarterback. "It just was a cut that was a little deeper than normal. It's doing well."
He feels confident his team can have success against the Saints' defense. (ranked 27th in the NFL and 29th against the pass) and said his offense needs to take advantage of its opportunities this week.
"You see things you can take advantage of," said Frerotte. "As you scout teams and you see tendencies and things that you try and take advantage of. You find out what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are. The coaches have done a great job of planning that for us. With them, their offense is going to be to put up points, and we know that its going to be loud and crazy. It's going to be Monday night and an environment that's really loud because it's in a dome."
The Saints injury report has 14 players on it, including five who have been declared out.
Out: WR Marques Colston (thumb), DT Sedrick Ellis (knee), CB Aaron Glenn (ankle), WR David Patten (groin) and TE Jeremy Shockey (hernia).
NBA.Com scouting report on Hornets:
Here's NBA.com's scouting report on the Hornets:
The Hornets, behind Chris Paul, made believers out of everyone in the NBA. Thee are few guys in the NBA who make very guy on the floor with him better, but this is what Paul brings to the table night in and night out.
David West has emerged as one of the better power forwards in the West and gives the Hornets a considerable one-two punch.
Add Peja Stojakovic's ability to score from deep even with people hanging all over him and you have a very dangerous team.
Tyson Chandler is better than what they had hoped for when they made the trade the few years ago. And again. this may be the Paul factor.
James Posey gives them a steady hand off the bench and some depth, something they sorely lacked last season.
Mo Peterson can score in bunches and now that he's ad a season to assimilate to his new team. Watch for him to get back to his three-point form of three years ago.
The reason the Spurs get the nod over the Hornets in their division is they have a little better depth and a lot more experience. But his is the team that will become the standard bearer for the Southwest over the next few years.
SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: Jim Haslett, those close to the Rams, say the reason his title doesn't say "interim" is because the former Saints coach will continue as Rams head coach after this season. After Scott Linehan was fired and Haslett was elevated from defensive coordinator, owner Chip Rosenbloom introduced him as "your new head coach." Unless the Rams bomb over the rest of the season, expect Haslett to get a long-term contract...I'm not saying Al Davis is living in the past, but he just announced that Daryle Lamonica will be starting quarterback for the Raiders when they play the Saints next Sunday. And did you see his news conference last week? Good Lord, I wasn't sure
if that was Davis firing his coach or Betty Davis in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"...He wasn't wearing a zoot suit. and i though I heard Tommy Dorsey records in the background...
Les Miles took advantage of an off week and went on a recurring trip in North Louisiana. He already has 18 commitments if the highest quality for 2009 and Rivals.com has the Tigers' class ranked No. 3 in the nation behind OhioState and No. 2 USC. He plans to sign 23 in all on signing day in early February. "I'm focused on a couple of positions now," said the coach, "but I'd like to have three to five others that in my opinion would really make the class." The two highest ranked commitments are quarterback Russell Shepard (6-1, 179 pounds) of Cypress Ridge in Houston and defensive tackle Chris Davenport (6-4, 318) of Mansfield. Both are five-star prospects, according to Rivals.com. Shepard is the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the country, while Davenport is the No. 4 defensive tackle.The Tigers will be a few scholarships short of the normal 25 to give in February because of the success of recent recruiting classes. They signed a No. 7 class in 2006, a No. 4 class in 2007 and a No. 11 last February. Because this is a strong year for Louisiana prospects, Miles may not have scholarships for high-end in-state prospects. Miles said, "If
there's a great player in Louisiana, I want him to come to LSU. "I'll hold a scholarship if I have to. I can make it work."...
New Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle wants his team to shed its nice-guy image and be more like his former Detroit Pistons teams. Said the coach, "How d you get guys to be nasty? Well, hating the opponents is a start. We've got to develop that as we go along.." For starters, Carlisle has banned his players from hugging their opponents...Warren Sapp, who was a defensive tackle for the Raiders or four seasons, said that nobody told him how bad it is to play for a Davis-owned team. Sapp added,"If a player calls me on the phone, I tell them do not go anywhere near Oakland."...T-Bob Hebert (Bobby's son) returned a kickoff 13 yards for LSU against Auburn. The 6-foot-3, 282-pound freshman center, said it was the first time he's touched the ball as a ball-carrier since he was 11 years old. "We practice things like that. but I was reacting off instinct. "When I got the ball and was things i"m not going to make any cuts, just go north and south and get as many yards as I can." Miles said T-Boy is a center and really doesn't have any good ball skills. "I don't want him to be too ambitious with his running skills. He's here to block."...The SEC has produced some of the most prolific teams in college football history, and now fans can voice their opinions on the best of all time as part of AT&T's "All-Time Greatest Team Tournament." The 10-week program allows fans to vote in a playoff style competition where they choose the greatest teams. SEC Mobile allows fans to choose from the 32-most accomplished teams in the league's rich history. The teams span all the way back to Tennessee's 1938 squad and ae as recent as LSU's 2007 national championship team. Fans can cast their votes to decide who would win if the two teams were to face off today. Fans can check out the latest seeded matchups online at www/mysecmobile.com and then vote via an AT&T handset...Last word: "Money won is twice as sweet and money earned."---The late great Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson in "The Color of Money
MORNING LINE: Saints 7 over Raiders, Florida 4 over LSU, Oklahoma 7 over Texas, Vandy 2 over Miss.State, UTEP 5.5 over Tulane and Louisiana-Lafayette 21 over North Texas.
