Bush out for final two games

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Dec 18, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:45 a.m.

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METAIRIE — The New Orleans Saints put running back Reggie Bush on injured reserve Wednesday, which ended his season after he sprained his surgically-repaired left knee in last week’s loss to the Chicago Bears.

Saints coach Sean Payton said Bush, who had surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Oct. 20 and missed four games, sprained the medial collateral ligament in the first half against the Bears. Payton said the team is optimistic Bush won’t need surgery this time although he’ll be examined on Friday by orthopedist Dr. James Andrews.

“It’s an MCL sprain, and for him right now, it’s going to be rehab and rest,” Payton said. “We feel pretty optimistic about what he has. He wouldn’t have been put on IR if we had more than two or three weeks left in the season. In other words, the news is fairly good — which is encouraging.”

Bush, who was injured earlier this year at Carolina, missed the final four games of the 2007 season with a partially-torn posterior cruciate ligament in the same knee. That means he’ll miss 10 of the last 20 games with injuries — although Payton didn’t seem concerned by the knee problems.

“Honestly, he’s at a position where there’s a lot of contact,” Payton said. “He had a great offseason as we approached this year and the start of the season for him was real productive.

“The injury at Carolina was obviously frustrating for him and for all of us, but I think he’s someone who is going to rehab this thing well. I think we’re going to be fine.”

The Saints signed former Miami Dolphins cornerback Michael Lehan to take Bush’s spot on the 53-man roster. With the addition of Bush, the Saints now have 17 players on injured reserve.

Defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy, who injured a hamstring in the loss to the Bears, did not practice Wednesday when the Saints returned to work to begin preparing for Sunday’s game with the Detroit Lions.

There was some good news, however, as tackle Jammal Brown, who missed the Bears’ game with a sprained left ankle, participated fully in practice.

Saints owner Tom Benson is recovering at his home after undergoing surgery on Dec. 10 to remove a malignant mass on his left kidney, which was found when Benson went in to have a CT scan for an unrelated issue.

Team physician Dr. John Amoss said the mass was frozen and removed and then diagnosed as early-stage renal cell cancer.