Saints TEs happy to catch or block



By LES EAST

METAIRIE — It’s easy to overlook the New Orleans Saints tight ends. In fact, the Saints kind of hope opposing defenses do.

With Reggie Bush coming at them from all over the place, Deuce McAllister pounding away at the middle of their defense and Joe Horn and even rookie Marques Colston getting open for passes from Drew Brees, it’s understandable that opponents wouldn’t zero in on Mark Campbell, Nate Lawrie, Billy Miller, or, before he got injured, Ernie Conwell when they defend New Orleans.

“Those guys play a big role as run blockers, but as of late they’re gotten more involved in the passing game,” Brees said. “They can be really valuable especially in the red zone. With all those other guys, sometimes defenses forget about the tight ends and when they do we can get a good matchup with them against a linebacker or a safety.”

Early in the season the tight ends were virtually nonexistent in the passing game — they combined for one reception in the first three games. Then Brees started throwing to Conwell more often — after not catching a pass in the first three games he caught five at Carolina, two against Tampa Bay, including a touchdown, and one against Philadelphia before being injured.

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