<span style="">New Orleans Saints WR Marques Colston, according to Head Coach Sean Payton, suffered ligament damage to his thumb that required surgery on Tuesday and could miss around a month or so of playing time.  

"He has a left thumb that he had a procedure done on yesterday," said Payton after this afternoon's practice. "It's a ligament in his left thumb and basically the surgery was to stabilize the thumb. It's going to take some time. He had that done yesterday. It's going to take him a while, a few weeks. By week's end, he'll be listed as out in this game. The surgery allows him to stabilize it. He had it done before with his right hand back in college, and weighing the options, it was definitely the best option for us and for Marques to get this done now and get it repaired the right way."

"It happened early in the game on Sunday," said Colston of the injury. "I suffered the same injury as a junior in college, although it was on my right hand and this is my left thumb. I knew as soon as it happened what was going on."

In a testament to the third-year player's resolve, Colston only missed a few snaps and returned to the field with the intention on finishing the game and helping the team to victory. "There really wasn't anything we could do to take away the pain or the discomfort, so I just gritted my teeth and fought through it."

Colston, who three receptions for 26 yards, said the receptions and the blocking assignments were uncomfortable at times, but that he tried to block the pain from his mind.

"It was frustrating and the injury is frustrating," Colston said this afternoon. "The positive that I take away from it is that I will not miss too much time and once I get the cast off, it won't take long to get right back out there and in the mix."

The 6-5 receiver said that he is confident in his fellow wide receivers and that he doesn't expect a drop off in productivity and that his absence will create opportunities for his teammates.

"Drew is going to continue to spread the football around," Colston said. "The other teams can't just key on stopping one guy, because that would play right into Drew's hands."

The injury to Colston could very well mean more playing time for the rest of the Saints wide receivers, including second year man Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson.

"Other guys, myself included, have to step up because he's (Colston) our main guy," Meachem said. "When the ball comes our way we have to make the plays."

Henderson said the receivers must all chip in collectively to make up for the temporary loss of Colston.

"It affects everybody," Henderson said. "We all have to step it up a notch and do what we have to do to help replace him. Everybody in our group knows their role.

The Saints had several players in addition to Colston that did not participate in practice today: DT Antwan Lake (groin), LB Scott Fujita (knee), S Roman Harper (hamstring) and CB Randall Gay (illness). The following players were listed as participating in their normal amount of practice reps: LB Troy Evans (ankle), RB Aaron Stecker (hamstring), LB Mark Simoneau (back), DT Brian Young (knee), RB Deuce McAllister (knee) and CB Mike McKenzie (knee).

The Redskins listed the following players on their initial injury report: 
Did Not Participate in Practice:
LB Khary Campbell (thigh), TE Chris Cooley (quadricep), LB Marcus Washington (hamstring)

Limited in Practice
S Kareem Moore (hamstring), CB Fred Smoot (hip)

Full Participation in Practice
WR Malcolm Kelly (knee), CB Shawn Springs (calf), LB/DE Jason Taylor (knee)

In other news, the Saints placced DT Hollis Thomas on the reserve/injured list. Thomas suffered a torn triceps injury on August 13 in a joint practice against the Houston Texans during a one-on-one pass rush drill and had surgery the next day to repair the muscle. Thomas was on the 53-man roster following cut-downs but was inactive for game one against the Bucs.

C/G Matt Lehr, whose contract was terminated on Saturday, was re-signed to the roster in a corresponding move to Thomas heading to the injured reserve list. The team also signed nine-year defensive tackle Alvin McKinley, a former Bronco, Brown and Panther. McKinley, who hails from Weir, Mississippi, has started at least ten games the last three seasons and gives the Saints a formidable presence on the depth chart in the form of his 603, 294-poud frame. McKinley was a surprise cut from the Broncos roster a little over a week ago.

The Saints also filled a roster spot they had open on their practice squad with the addition of rookie safety David Roach, who was with the team during training camp.