Jammal Brown Injured At Practice

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) _ What looked like a serious knee injury to Saints starting left tackle Jammal Brown on Tuesday morning was later diagnosed as a bone bruise. <br/><br/>``Everything came back structurally

Tuesday, August 7th 2007, 5:44 pm

By: News On 6

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) _ What looked like a serious knee injury to Saints starting left tackle Jammal Brown on Tuesday morning was later diagnosed as a bone bruise.

``Everything came back structurally intact,'' team spokesman Doug Miller said during Tuesday afternoon's practice.

Earlier Tuesday, trainers carted Brown from the practice field when he crumpled to the ground with a right knee injury. Teammates said he appeared to be in a lot of pain, but head coach Sean Payton said following the morning practice that trainers were optimistic the injury would not require surgery.

``His knee appeared stable on the practice field,'' Payton said. ``A lot of times you can tell right away if there's looseness in the joint, but there appeared to be pretty good stability.''

Brown had an MRI shortly after that did not reveal a serious injury.

Brown, who was drafted with the 13th pick in the first round in 2005 out of Oklahoma, started at right tackle as a rookie and was moved to left tackle last season, when he was selected as a Pro Bowl starter.

He's part of an offensive line that allowed 23 sacks in 2006, fourth lowest in the league.

It was not immediately clear how long Brown would be out of action. The Saints open their regular season Sept. 6 at Indianapolis.

In the meantime, second-year tackle Zach Strief might fill in.

Payton, however, was critical of Strief's performance Sunday in a preseason loss to Pittsburgh.

``He didn't play too well this last weekend, so there'll be competition over there,'' Payton said.

Strief, drafted out of Northwestern in the seventh round, played in nine games last season and did not allow a sack.

``My first thought was, 'I hope Jammal's OK,''' said Strief, the Saints' top reserve at left tackle during his rookie season. ``He's a big part of this offensive line, a big part of the team.''