The New Orleans Saints lost strong safety Jay Bellamy for the rest of the season after Bellamy suffered a season-ending injury to his right rotator cuff in Sunday's loss at Minnesota. The injury ends Bellamy?s streak of 122 games started. It marks the second consecutive week in which the Saints lost a key veteran for the year. Standout return specialist and wide receiver Michael Lewis suffered a season ending knee injury, a torn anterior cruciate ligament, last week.

Mounds of trash have been removed from the Superdomes concourses and as soon as it is fully cleaned and decontaminated will officials determine what will be done with the battered stadium. The first job is to get both buildings cleaned and decontaminated," said Glenn Menard, who manages both buildings. "Once we have that done we'll have the experts go in and tell us what can be done and what can't be done."

Ernie Conwell had a terrific game for the Saints until he suffered a concussion on a hard hit in the open field. The Denver Broncos not only lost a game to a Miami team they were counting on defeating, but they also suffered key injuries to Mike Anderson and Champ Bailey. Bailey sprained his left shoulder and Anderson suffered a rib injury. Redskins quarterback Patrick Ramsey left the game when he was hit in the neck by Lance Briggs.

It will not bring back what was lost, but the Saints delivered all they could for their city by defeating the Carolina Panthers by a final score of 23-20 in their opener. John Carney kicked a 47-yard field goal with :03 seconds remaining to break a 20-20 tie. Deuce McAllister scored two touchdowns to go along with Carney's three field goals. The Saints had a home game schedule for next Sunday, but that contest will be moved to New York, where they will play the Giants on Monday night.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue will meet with LSU officials on Monday and get a first-hand look at conditions in Baton Rouge with the session likely to determine where the New Orleans Saints play their home games in 2005. It is believed that Saints owner Tom Benson will also attend the meeting with LSU chancellor Sean O'Keefe. League and team officials have indicated they would like to resolve the issue of where the Saints will play by next week. The scenario Saints officials have presented to the league includes four games in San Antonio at the Alamodome and three games at LSU. The team's "home" opener is set for Sept. 19 at Giants Stadium against the New York Giants.

A deal is close that would move four of the New Orleans Saints' home games to the Alamodome, according to a published report. The San Antonio Express-News, citing unidentified sources close to the negotiations, said Friday that city and Saints officials have nearly completed a deal to bring four games to the city. A high-ranking city official said the NFL hasn't signed off on the deal, but other city government sources told the newspaper they didn't expect any problems gaining approval from league commissioner Paul Tagliabue. The Saints have set up makeshift headquarters and are practicing in San Antonio because of the hurricane damage to the Louisiana Superdome. They have said they would prefer to play their home games at LSU in Baton Rouge. The newspaper said the plan being discussed also would move three Saints' home games to LSU's Tiger Stadium. The newspaper said an announcement on an agreement could come as early as Friday. ``I'm not aware that an agreement has been reached,'' NFL spokesman Joe Browne told The Associated Press. ``The scheduling of games needs approval of the commissioner.''

The Louisiana Superdome was so heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath that it likely will have to be torn down, according to a spokesperson for Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. Katrina sheared away much of the roof's covering, and rainwater began leaking into the stadium when it was being used as a shelter of last resort for thousands of residents stranded by the storm. The Superdome is the home of the New Orleans Saints professional football team. The NFL season begins this weekend, and it is not clear where the Saints will play this season.

Despite their public stance that they hope to play home games in Baton Rouge, La., for the 2005 season, the strong preference of New Orleans Saints officials is to stage the contests here at the Alamodome, and it is a position that team management is expected to soon articulate to NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue. "The best [scenario] for us is to play the games right here, because, well, this is where we are," coach Jim Haslett said Monday, following his team's first practice in preparation for Sunday's season opener at Carolina. "I know a lot of things have been discussed, but we would like to be here. But it's not up to us. The league will make the decision." Saints owner Tom Benson, who on Monday afternoon declined to do interviews but did suggest he will sit down with the media later in the week, will meet sometime in the next few days with Tagliabue and other NFL officials. That session, which likely will be in New York, could occur as early as Tuesday, club sources told ESPN.com. It's expected that Benson will review his franchise's options, and also lay out for the league the details in place in San Antonio, where the Saints already have decided to practice all season. Multiple team sources said on Monday the Saints have focused hard in recent days on San Antonio as their home site.

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue says it's unlikely the New Orleans Saints will play in New Orleans this season after the devastation Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath inflicted on the city, but the team told ESPN that keeping games in Louisiana is a priority. "At this point you have to proceed on the assumption ? that they may be unable to play in New Orleans at all for the entire season," Tagliabue said Thursday in an interview with CNBC. "If things evolve in a positive way, then that would be something that we could adjust to. But our assumption is that for planning purposes, we should assume it will be difficult if not impossible to play in New Orleans at all this year." The Saints will move into a hotel in San Antonio, Texas, this weekend and practice in San Antonio in preparation for their regular-season opener at Carolina Sept. 11. They have spent this week in San Jose, Calif., and played their final exhibition Thursday night in Oakland. But it still hasn't been decided where they will play their regular-season opener Sept. 18 against the New York Giants or play the rest of their games. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis on Thursday told ESPN's Colleen Dominguez the team would prefer to play this season's home schedule in Louisiana and the logical choice would be LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. Loomis expects a decision to be reached in a matter of days.

Hurricane Katrina has taken its toll on the city of New Orleans and after the Superdome was damaged the Saints now face the possibility of playing out the 2005 season on the road. "We don't know the answer to that question," Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said by telephone from San Jose, where the Saints have been practicing this week. "Based on what city officials are saying, the future doesn't look too bright for being able to play games in New Orleans. But we just don't know right now." "We're going to go to San Antonio and set up our operations," Bensel said. "The players will have a few days off to try to deal with their families, deal with their situations at home and try to get their families to San Antonio, and then we'll go to work next week to prepare for the season. We're talking to the league office and looking at conflict dates with certain sites, and trying to figure out what we're going to do."