Fans at Saints practice on Tuesday at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia were thrilled when they saw Saints Quarterback Drew Brees back in pads for the first time since suffering an oblique strain…but #9 still sat out of practice. It’s a good sign though he’s close to returning but there’s still not a good chance he will play in Friday’s preseason game against the Titans. Saints coach Sean Payton says it appears Brees is progressing well. Veteran cornerback Champ Bailey was also back in pads but was held out of on-the-field work with the team.

Also in the NFL, former LSU standout Tyrann Mathieu could be close to coming off the physically unable to perform list said Arizona Cardinals Coach Bruce Arians on Tuesday. The Honey Badger tore his ACL and LCL in his left knee in the game against St. Louis December 8th. Mathieu has been working out and says he’s confident his knee is better.

Southeastern Conference Fans are excited about the new network which will launch tomorrow. The SEC network says there will be more than 1,000 live events aired just this year alone. Each of the 14 SEC representatives must have some sort of studio in place for live interviews which are said to be as high quality as anything you’d see on ESPN.

The SEC officie announced Tuesday that the LSU men’s basketball team’s game against West Virginia on December 4th in the Southeastern Conference-Big 12 Challenge will tip off at 6pm on ESPN 2. Last week LSU revealed its non-conference schedule and dates, times and networks for the SEC portion of the schedule are expected to be released soon.

The full NBA schedule will be released today at 5pm.