The Saints will get running back Reggie Bush back on Sunday when they battle the Buccaneers. Bush has missed a handful of games with a knee injury.

Drew Brees threw for four scores; Deuce McAllister set a Saints' record with his 54th career touchdown; and New Orleans rolled to a 51-29 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Monday night, according to an Associated Press report.

Saints' running back Reggie Bush is expected to miss Monday night's game against the Packers because of his lingering knee injury. It would be the four-consecutive missed game for Bush.

Reggie Bush returned to the practice field on Saturday, but his status for the Saints' game against the Packers on Monday night is still in question. Bush was, however, limited in practice just 48 hours before the Monday night battle. New Orleans coach Sean Payton said Saturday that he was optimistic about Bush's possible return. "It's been tough, just being out in general," Bush said. "Obviously I wish the progress was a little faster, but you can't rush Mother Nature."

A lot has been said about what Reggie Bush brings to the Saints on offense. His recent knee injury has allowed us to step back and take a look at exactly how the team performs offensively with, and without, the former Trojan on the field. For starters, New Orleans is 3-4 in Bush?s seven games. They are now 2-1 without him after their 30-20 win over Kansas City on Sunday. Bush may not be the pure running back that many thought he would be in the NFL, but he is as dynamic a player as you?ll see in the league today. His hands are among the best in all of football, and his efforts on punt return duty have been second-to-none. One would think that it would be hard to replace 660 yards from scrimmage and eight touchdowns, but in actuality, the Saints aren?t struggling to put points on the scoreboard with Bush hobbling around. Per Game Offensive Statistics With Bush, Without Bush Total Yards: 402.3, 433.0 Passing Yards: 310.9, 340.3 Rushing Yards: 91.5, 92.6 Points: 25.6, 29.0 Time Of Possession: 31:01, 29:44 First Downs: 20, 25.0 Yards Per Pass: 8.5, 7.6 Yards Per Carry: 3.6, 4.7 Yards Per Punt Return: 23.8, None As you can see, nearly every one of the team?s offensive statistics looks better without Bush in the lineup. In reality, every one has improved over the last three games. Time of possession and yards per punt return ? a special teams stat ? aren?t nearly as indicative of a team?s offensive production as the other eight numbers. However, those numbers have been skewed slightly by the team?s offensive explosion against the Chargers in London a few weeks ago. The Saints won that game 37-32, with Brees tallying 339 yards and three touchdowns on 30-for-41 passing. New Orleans also earned 28 first downs and scored five touchdowns in their first game sans Bush. By simply looking at the team?s offensive splits, with and without Bush, it appears as though the Saints just might be better off with Kim Kardashian?s boy toy on the sidelines, but deeper analysis refutes that belief. In the three games since Bush went down with a knee injury, New Orleans has faced San Diego, Atlanta, and Kansas City. The Falcons (23rd in total defense) ranked the highest among their recent opponents heading into Week 11, with the Chargers (26th) and Chiefs (32nd) slightly worse. All three teams were also in the bottom third of the league in pass defense while only San Diego (12th) was in the top half of the NFL against the run entering Sunday?s action. With Reggie in black-and-gold, the Saints faced four of the league?s top defensive units ? the Buccaneers (7th), Redskins (4th), Vikings (6th), Panthers (8th) ? in their first seven contests. Assuming Bush is healthy enough to return in Week 12, it?ll be interesting to see if the Saints are able to continue posting strong offensive numbers against two of the league?s top defenses. With the Packers and Buccaneers on the schedule in consecutive weeks, they will need Bush?s versatility to keeping putting points on the board. If they don?t, or even if they do, Reggie?s critics will point out how well New Orleans played without him present. Doing so would be foolish, because the teams the Saints faced had more to do with their improved statistics than the absence of Bush. You just have to look a little deeper than the surface to realize that.

The NFL will reportedly conduct hearings Monday and Tuesday for the eight cases of players who tested for banned supplements under the league's steroid and performance-enhancement policy. The cases include Vikings' defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, as well as the Saints' Deuce McAllister, Will Smith, and Charles Grant, and the Falcons' Grady Jackson.

New Orleans running back Reggie Bush will sit against Kansas City on Sunday with his knee injury. The Saints have the 27th-ranked rushing attack, and Bush will now have missed three straight games.

Saints' head coach Sean Payton is frustrated by his team's lack of consistency this season. "We're not able to be in London right now after the Carolina loss and not pay attention to all of the things, where we were able to just disappear and focus on a game plan," Payton said Monday. "We're going to have to be able to do that here at home, and we're going to have to be able to focus on preparing to play our best game and improving this week." The Saints are 4-5, dipping below .500 for the fourth time this season. "It's frustrating because it's the lack of consistency that we talked about at the bye week," Payton said. "If you looked at the first eight games, that would be the one common denominator."

New Orleans' cornerback Mike McKenzie suffered a fractured right kneecap on Sunday against the Falcons. McKenzie was carted off the field after defending a third-down pass to Michael Jenkins. He will miss the rest of the season because of a rehabilitation period that could take anywhere from three to six months. "It's real disappointing," said Saints' Coach Sean Payton. "His [last] rehab process was very long and tedious. I'm disappointed for him, and I'm sure the rest of his teammates feel the same way. ... Certainly, it's a blow to our defense. We've just got to get him healthy and get him fixed."

Saints' running back Reggie Bush has officially been ruled out for the team's game against the Falcons on Sunday. Bush had surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee on Oct. 20, and earlier this week New Orleans coach Sean Payton left open the possibilty that Bush could play. He was listed as "out" on Friday?s official injury report.