Saints defensive end Alex Okafor will miss the rest of the season after tearing his Achilles tendon in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win over Washington. The 26-year-old Okafor has four and a half sacks and Coach Sean Payton says losing him is a difficult loss. Okafor’s injury means Trey Hendrickson will get more playing time. Here’s what Payton had to say about the rookie from Florida Atlantic…

Cut 18 (18) “…his play”

Last night in the NFL, Atlanta held on for a 34-31 win in Seattle. So in the NFC South, New Orleans leads Carolina by one game and they are ahead by two games over Atlanta. The Saints are at the Rams this Sunday.

Just one more regular season game left for LSU, as the Tigers are set to host Texas A-and-M on Saturday. LSU Head Coach Ed Orgeron calls the Aggies a strong SEC opponent…

Cut 16 (14) “…this week”

LSU beat Texas A-and-M 54-39 last season in College Station.

Northwestern State has promoted defensive coordinator Brad Laird to be the Demons next head coach.

In basketball…despite a triple-double from Russell Westbrook, the Pelicans beat Oklahoma City 114-107 as Anthony Davis had 36 points and 15 rebounds. DeMarcus Cousins was ejected after swinging an elbow at Westbrook.

In Hawaii, LSU rallied from nine down to beat Michigan 77-75, freshman Tremont Waters had 21 points, while the Ragin Cajuns beat Iowa 80-71 in the Cayman Islands.