The Saints can put off their thoughts on reorganizing the workload in their backfield for another week.
Darren Sproles is inactive for Sunday afternoon’s game against the Raiders. Sproles was listed as questionable on Friday after missing the last two games because of a broken hand and there were several indications that he would wind up in the lineup. He was slated to get a full workload if he played and the Saints obviously decided he wasn’t up to it yet.
That leaves the duties to Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory and Mark Ingram. That trio has turned in two excellent games in a row and the Raiders defense hasn’t been particularly imposing this season.
With defensive tackle Richard Seymour and safety Tyvon Branch out for the Raiders, it’s hard to imagine they’ll be much more effective in this week’s matchup. Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey is active after missing most or all of all three practices this week.