Saints safety Darren Sharper started the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, which means he won’t be eligible to play until after Week Six. But it looks like he could indeed by ready to roll once Week Six has come and gone.
Per a league source, Sharper was able to run full speed before Sunday’s game against the Falcons, though he had some soreness in his knee after doing so.
Sharper had knee surgery only days before the opening of free agency, which forced him to defer his effort to parlay a strong 2009 performance into a new deal. Eventually, he took another modest one-year deal from the Saints.
Once healthy, it’s unclear when Sharper will return to the starting lineup. Still, the Saints apparently think that he has something to contribute to the effort to repeat, otherwise he wouldn’t have been re-signed -- or he would have been cut before the start of the season.