Suspensions were reissued for players accused of participating in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal. The players immediately appealed and a date was set for Oct. 30th. In the meantime they are allowed to play and Jonathan Vilma has been activated for Sunday’s game. Read more after the jump.
The New Orleans Saints have activated linebacker Jonathan Vilma for Sunday’s game against theTampa Bay Buccaneers.
Vilma is expected to play between 20 to 30 snaps, two team sources told ESPN’s Ed Werder.
While Vilma will play, the Saints have declared tight end Jimmy Graham (ankle) inactive for Sunday’s game.
Sunday might be the only chance for Vilma, who is recovering from a knee surgery, to get back on the field this season if his bounty suspension, on appeal, winds up going back into effect in about a week or so.
He returned to practice Wednesday, although he did not work with the first-team defense. He practiced without wearing any kind of brace or sleeve on his surgically repaired left knee.
Vilma had several offseason procedures done on his knee, which had slowed him last season and sidelined him five games. He even traveled to Germany to see a specialist in platelet-rich plasma therapy, a relatively new blood-spinning technique also used by Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
Vilma’s initial season-long suspension was handed down in May and went into effect in July after his initial appeal was rejected. That suspension lasted through training camp before being vacated by a three-member appeal panel that instructed commissioner Roger Goodell to start the disciplinary process again and clarify his reasons for suspending Vilma and three others — Saints defensive end Will Smith, free-agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove and Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita — in connection with New Orleans’ cash-for-hits bounty pool.
Because of his rehabilitation, Vilma was placed on the Saints’ physically unable to perform list when his initial suspension was lifted, a move that saved the team a roster spot and also prevented Vilma from practicing or playing during the first six weeks of the regular season.
