Junior LSU defensive end Lewis Neal is having a breakout season for the 5th ranked LSU Tigers. Neal has seven sacks and 30 tackles this season. In his first two seasons, he only had 10 tackles and zero sacks. Neal says first-year defensive line coach Ed Orgeron has been a big help this season. He says Coach O’s attitude rubs off on the rest of the players…
cut 18 (12) “….a lot”

Saints Coach Sean Payton says assistant head coach Joe Vitt is back at work after tearing his Achilles tendon and breaking his wrist while chasing down two car burglars.

While on the practice field….left tackle Terron Armstead, wide receiver Marques Colston, left guard Tim Lelito and punter Thomas Morstead all participated in the portion of practice open to the media.

The New Orleans Pelicans take on the Magic tonight in Orlando in another preseason game. It’s been a painful preseason for the Pels, who have seen several players go down with injuries. The latest is guard Tyreke Evans, who had successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and a timetable for his return will be announced later. Evans averaged 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds a game last season. Norris Cole, Omer Asik, Alexis Ajinca, Luke Babbit and Quincy Pondexter are also out as a result of injuries.

In college basketball….LSU’s Ben Simmons was named preseason player of the year in the SEC today. The Tigers are picked to finish fourth in the league. And U-L Lafayette’s Shawn Long has been named the Sun Belt preseason player of the year. The Cajuns are also picked to finish first in the Sun Belt, while ULM is expected to finish in third place.

And LSU coach Johnny Jones doesn’t expect freshman Antonio Blakeney to miss any games, even though is name surfaced in a report about an alleged recruit-sex scandal at Louisville.