Saints host Oakland Raiders

The second week of the NFL preseason is finally upon us and tonight the Saints are at home,
hosting the Oakland Raiders with kickoff set for 7 o'clock in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The
Saints are coming off their preseason 17-13 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, while the
Raiders edged the Dallas Cowboys 19-17.
The Saints' injury bug at the linebacker position continued to mount yesterday as
Jonathan Vilma underwent an arthroscopic knee procedure his fourth knee surgery since 2007.
Vilma, 31, will be on the shelf for an unspecified time and coach Sean Payton didn't
give a time frame for his return. Those in the Saints' camp are hoping the next guy up can step
in and fill Vilma's void, which causes issues due to the fact that linebacker Victor Butler is
already out for the season with a knee injury.
One of the lead candidates to take over is six-year veteran David Hawthorne out of TCU, who
signed as a free agent, being picked up from the Seattle Seahawks. Hawthorne, 28, started 10
games last season and saw action in one other contest, but missed five games due to a 
hamstring injury.
Hawthorne recorded three tackles in the Saints win over Kansas City and is a confident player.
He finished with 38 tackles last including 22 solo stops.
Hawthorne said, "my opportunity is definitely out there. My whole focus is just to give myself
the best opportunity."
Tonight marks the final appearance by Jerry Romig, the Saints' public address announcer, who
is calling it quits after an illustrious 44-year career with the Black and Gold. It will be
interesting to see how many times he will have the opportunity to say his trademark call,
"First Down, Saints!" Fans are hoping it will be a multitude of times and the team can
move the ball consistently tonight against the Raiders.