Just two practices remain before the Saints head to Cincinnati for the third and probably most critical pre-season game. The team spent Wednesday still working on themselves and getting better as a team, before throwing in the game plan for the Bengals on Thursday.

Deuce McAllister: Spoke briefly with the Saints running back who says he felt pretty good coming off his first game in almost a year. Deuce says his performance was pretty average in that he had some positive runs but did not break any tackles or go for a big gain. He also expects to see more time on the field this weekend against Cincinnati. The ACL injury that ruined his 2007 season is completely behind him and he doesn't feel that there are any lingering effects that will hinder him in 2008. Deuce was a little sore coming off the game but was back to feeling good today. Coach Payton said they do expect to give McAllister more carries against the Bengals and they've seen from him what they expected so far in camp

Coach Payton was asked about the battle for roster spots and playing time at the receiver position and had some interesting things to say. No surprise in that he feels good about the play of Marques Colston and David Patten, who each have a touchdown in the pre-season. Lance Moore has also been solid coming up with the big catch against Houston. Payton did say that this next game is a big one for Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem. At one point when Henderson was out with a hamstring injury, we thought he might be in jeopardy of being cut. That doesn't seem to be the case even though Payton still wants to see more from him. Henderson continues to take most of his reps with the first team. Meachem, who's turned heads with his pre-season play, may not be in as good of standing with the head coach. Payton was asked if he'd like to see Meachem getting in more work with Drew Brees and he responded by saying that's something that has to be earned. He added that guys are ahead of him because they are more efficient and although Meachem has improved, he still has a way to go.

Payton gave us the list as of now for who will not play on Saturday. Usama Young, Adrian Arrington and Mark Simoneau.

That means Sedrick Ellis is planning to play, despite being limited in practice this week because of a bruised ankle. Ellis sounds ready to go and excited about the opportunity to get more experience. He admitted that in the first pre-season game he wasn't very comfortable but things definitely felt better last Saturday. Ellis might have been the only Saints defender who even sniffed Matt Schaub as he came close to a sack early on. I asked Ellis if anything has surprised his so far in his first NFL training camp, he said that this camp has been very similar to those he went through at USC. That was surprising because he had heard NFL camps were a little more laid back. 

That'll wrap up things from Saints camp on this Wednesday. Here's another look at the practice timeline and we'll be back for the final day of true "training camp" on Thursday.

11:10 a.m. Only two guys cruising the stationary cycles at the start of practice, Usama Young and Curome Cox. Mark Simoneau is again sitting out, still recovering from a bad back.

11:14 a.m. I do see that Brian Young has finally returned to the field for the first time this week. Sedrick Ellis is another defensive lineman practicing today that did not go Tuesday.

11:26 a.m. Mike McKenzie came off the field to be stretched by one of the trainers. He was out of action for a few minutes but did rejoin the team for more drills.

11:34 a.m. The offense is going over some of their red-zone plays. The Saints, who were good at scoring touchdowns in this area last year, missed two easy opportunities for putting it in the endzone in the first half vs. the Texans.

11:36 a.m. The team has come together for 11-on-11 work. When they did this Sedrick Ellis left the field and went to pedaling on the exercise bike.

11:38 a.m. In the few plays we were allowed to watch of full team drills, Devery Henderson displayed the inconsistencies that have plagued him his whole career. Devery had one clear drop, then made a decent catch and then missed a ball where he was possibly interfered with but probably could have made the catch.

11:40 a.m. The media is escorted off the field, meaning we'll wait until the end of practice to speak with coach and some of the players before bringing you a full day wrap-up.