Cornerback Keenan Lewis left the Saints’ Wild Card win over the Eagles with a concussion in the third quarter, leaving the Saints to turn to the little-used Rod Sweeting at corner.
The Eagles promptly turned around a 20-7 deficit and briefly took a 24-23 lead before Shayne Graham won the game with a field goal. Payton told Mike Florio of PFT that Lewis was able to practice on Tuesday, but stopped short of ruling him in for Saturday’s game.
“Well, we’ve got a handful of guys that have played the position,” Payton said. “Sweeting played the other night, there’s some experience at corner with Malcolm Jenkins, Trevin Wade played the other night, hopefully Keenan will be able to go. He was able to get work today, he’s been cleared, so I think heading into this game there’s a good chance and we feel pretty good about where he’s at and with his status.”
Lewis also addressed the topic on Tuesday. He was more succinct than his coach.
“I’ll definitely be out there,” Lewis said, via the Baton Rouge Advocate. “I’ll be ready to go.”
Lewis is the best cornerback on the Saints roster right now and there’s not much need to go beyond that in explaining his importance to the defense. Barring setbacks in his recovery, it looks like the Saints will have him.