--TE Jeremy Shockey sprained his right ankle late in the first half of Sunday's game with the Detroit Lions. There was some swelling and coach Sean Payton said more will be known on Wednesday.

--DT Kendrick Clancy did not play against the Lions and his status for this week's game with the Carolina Panthers was not known Monday.

--LT Jammal Brown left the Lions' game in the first quarter after re-injuring his sprained left ankle and also had some swelling on Monday.

--CB Usama Young sprained his left ankle while blocking on a punt return against the Lions, but returned to the game. Coach Sean Payton said he should be fine.

--WR Skyler Green was promoted from the practice squad to return kickoffs against the Lions.

--DT Remi Ayodele was signed off the practice squad to add depth at the position since Clancy was out with a hamstring injury.

--DE Josh Savage, who has split time between the active roster and practice squad all season, was waived to make room for Ayodele.

--FB Darian Barnes was released to open a roster spot for Green.

REPORT CARD VS. LIONS

PASSING OFFENSE: A -- The Saints threw the ball with ease against the Lions as Drew Brees connected on 30 of 40 pass attempts for 351 yards and two touchdowns. Brees was not intercepted, nor did he come close to being sacked. He compiled a passer rating of 117.8 with a long pass of 64 yards to Devery Henderson, who also had a 32-yard gain. The Saints averaged 8.8 yards per pass attempt. Marques Colston toyed with the Lions' defensive backs and caught nine passes for 99 yards with TDs of 6 and 3 yards.

RUSHING OFFENSE: A-plus -- While the running game was non-existent much of the season, the Saints have come on in the last month of the season. On Sunday, they finished with 181 yards on 30 attempts with a 6.0 average as Pierre Thomas and Deuce McAllister slashed the Lions' porous defense. The Saints got four rushing touchdowns in the first half from four different players -- Thomas, McAllister, Mike Bell and wideout Robert Meachem. Thomas netted 77 yards on 13 carries with a long of 29, while McAllister added 61 yards on nine attempts with a long of 19. All told, the Saints had five runs of 15 yards or longer.

PASS DEFENSE: A -- The Lions found the going tough against the Saints as quarterbacks Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton combined to compete just 11 of 26 passes for 137 yards and a 27.2 passer rating. Orlovsky started and was just 10-of-23 for 125 yards with two interceptions. Cornerback Jason David's interception ended the Lions' first possession and cornerback Usama Young got one on the final play of the first half as the Saints provided tight coverage most of the day.

RUSH DEFENSE: C-plus -- The Saints gave up 129 yards and a 4.8 average on 27 carries, but most of that came long after the outcome was decided. The Lions had just 56 yards at halftime, all from rookie Kevin Smith, He had a nice day as he finished with 111 yards on 24 carries and a 4.6 average. His long was 19 yards and he had the only TD of the game for the Lions on a 1-yard run in the second quarter. Backup quarterback Drew Stanton was the second-leading rusher with 16 yards on two scrambles late in the game.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A -- Thanks to a productive offense that scored touchdowns on its first six possessions, the Saints didn't have to call on kicker Garrett Hartley or punter Glenn Pakulak too often. In fact, Pakulak never punted although he did hold for Hartley's six extra point attempts. Skyler Green returned the opening kickoff 60 yards to set up the first TD drive. The Saints were solid covering kickoffs as the Lions averaged 24.0 yards per return with Hartley adding four touchbacks.

COACHING: A -- Considering their winless opponent, it would have been easy for the Saints to get down after being eliminated from the playoff race, but Sean Payton and his staff made sure their team knew the Lions could be dangerous. They warned them early and often that they had lost two games to the Minnesota Vikings by six points and were tied with the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth quarter one week earlier before losing -- and had them ready.