METAIRIE, La. (AP) -Reggie Bush reached down to grab his left knee, gasped as if in pain, then looked over at the sideline, grinning.
Bush realized he’d caused a stir Wednesday morning when he suddenly walked off the practice field and returned with his surgically repaired left knee wrapped in ice.
So during the club’s second practice of the day in the evening, the star running back took a moment to joke about it, then returned to full participation in team drills.
“I iced it just as a precaution, so when I ice it, that means I’m just maintaining,” Bush said between practices. “I’ve got to stay on top of it and treat it as if it was the first day I injured it.”
e Heisman Trophy winner out of Southern California has missed 10 games in his past two seasons, including four games in 2007 because of a posterior cruciate ligament tear, also in his left knee.
Coach Sean Payton already has held Bush out of a couple practices on days when the Saints practiced twice, limiting him to one practice a day.
When Bush has practiced, he has done so vigorously. On Tuesday afternoon, he turned an end run into a 15-yard touchdown during 11-on-11 drills. He ran hard on Wednesday afternoon and did not shy away from contact.
Bush said he’s had one MRI performed since training camp began late last week and said “everything came back great.”
“Now it’s just about getting myself back to football shape and getting my knee back to carrying the load again,” Bush said.
Payton said that the Saints want to be careful with Bush and added he was confident he is healthy enough to play.
“He’s smart by grabbing some ice and trying to get some treatment while he’s out at practice, and he is doing fine,” Payton said.
“I’m just trying to be smart about the amount of work I give him so that it doesn’t become a bigger factor when we get ready to play in the season. But he’d play this evening if we were playing,” he said. “I’m not concerned with Reggie at all.”
l Gay is expected to miss several practices with an enflamed bursa sac between his Achilles’ tendon and heel bone. “Fortunately for us it’s not more serious than that.” Payton said he was not sure whether Gay would play in the team scrimmage Saturday afternoon.
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