Payton pleased with McAllister's game

• By LES EAST
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Sep 30, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:50 a.m.

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METAIRIE — Deuce McAllister is back as a significant part of the New Orleans Saints offense.

McAllister got his first substantial playing time of the season in the Saints’ 31-17 victory over San Francisco on Sunday in the Superdome, carrying 20 times for 73 yards and a touchdown and catching one pass for 10 yards.

Coach Sean Payton had kept McAllister under wraps for the first three games as the franchise’s all-time leading rusher worked his way back from major knee surgery last year.

But, Payton said Monday at his weekly news conference that McAllister’s role against the 49ers is one he’ll continue to reprise, beginning with the game against Minnesota next Monday night in the Superdome.

“I think Deuce is going to factor on a regular basis now,” Payton said. “His role now is going to be such that he’ll be a factor in each game. It was good to see him back there.”

Payton said he met with McAllister and cornerback Mike McKenzie, who also had major knee surgery last season, before the season opener and explained to them that he would bring them along slowly.

“I told them that we were going to transition them in slower rather than faster,” Payton said. “That’s disappointing to the players because they want to play, but we felt like they needed more time.”

McKenzie returned last week against Denver and made an interception. McAllister had two carries against Washington in Week 2 before finally getting an extended opportunity during practice last week.

“We felt like Deuce was going to be much more of a part of the plan than he was the first three games,” Payton said. “We planned on involving Deuce more in the plan. During the week he prepared himself mentally and physically for a much bigger workload than he had been getting.”

Payton said he and his coaching staff kept a close eye on McAllister early in the game and felt he was doing well enough to warrant continued opportunities throughout the game.

“In the first half we were anxious to see how he would do,” Payton said.

“He was playing well. We saw him moving the pile, which was encouraging. There were some plays where he was making additional yards, getting five or six yards when the gain probably shouldn’t have been more than two yards. He got some tough yards, which we needed in that game.”

Payton said the Saints had pretty good balance on offense as Drew Brees threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns.