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Saints-Stecker
11/19/08 - 10:40 PM
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METAIRIE, La. (AP) - The New Orleans Saints struggling ground
game took another hit when tailback Aaron Stecker was put on
injured reserve.
Stecker will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring
injury. Joining him on the sidelines is tight end Mark Campbell,
who sustained a season-ending injury to his left knee in Sunday’s
win at Kansas City.
Stecker had been battling his injury since the first week of the
season. He aggravated it on a 12-yard catch early in the first
quarter of Sunday’s matchup and left the game.
The Saints replaced them on their roster with free-agent
fullback Darian Barnes and free-agent tailback Mike Bell.
Agent Ronald Slavin said Stecker expects to need four to six
weeks of recovery time. With only six weeks left in the regular
season, the Saints needed to fill the roster spot.
A free agent after this season, Stecker’s future with the team
is uncertain. But he also was a free agent this past spring, and he
chose to sign a one-year deal to stay in New Orleans.
The ninth-year veteran has been a valuable player for the Saints
on offense and special teams. He has gained 95 yards this season in
six games, but he caught his first touchdown pass with the Saints
in Week 6 against Oakland.
Stecker has run for 1,109 yards and gained 908 yards receiving
in his Saints career, with a total of nine touchdowns (one on a
kickoff return).
Campbell is a 10-year veteran who signed with the Saints as a
free agent before the 2006 season. He’s started 15 of 23 regular
season games for the Saints, and caught 30 passes for 285 yards and
two touchdowns. He missed the entire 2007 season with a back
injury. This year, he’s caught 12 passes for 121 yards and two
scores in nine games before hurting his left knee against the
Chiefs.
Bell, 6 feet, 225 pounds, showed great promise in his rookie
season in 2006 with the Broncos, who signed him as an undrafted
free agent out of Arizona.
Bell ran for 677 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie, but he
fell behind on the Broncos’ depth chart last season and gained 3
yards in five games. He has been out of work since the Texans
released him during training camp, when he was stalled by a groin
injury.
Barnes, 28, has bounced around with eight teams since he signed
with the Giants in 2002 as an undrafted free agent out of Hampton.
His most extensive playing time came in Dallas in 2004, when he
scored his only career touchdown. Barnes, 6-0, 255, has appeared in
five games this season with Buffalo and Detroit.
The Saints are without starting fullback Mike Karney for at
least another week while he recovers from a knee injury.
The Saints also signed a pair of players to their practice
squad, wide receiver Chris Francies and running back Lavarus Giles.
Francies is a second-year player who split the 2006 and 2007
seasons between the active and practice squad rosters for Green
Bay. Giles is a rookie out of Jackson State who spent time in
training camp for Jacksonville and St. Louis.

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