ST. LOUIS -- Michael Sam got an extended look at defensive end in the St. Louis Rams preseason opener. Coach Jeff Fisher said thats where the first openly gay player drafted in the NFL will have his best shot at making the team. "Michael is a defensive end, OK? He plays defensive end with his hand down," Fisher said after a 26-24 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Friday night. "Theres a lot of talk with Mike being a tweener, maybe a standup pass rusher. Its rare to find a defensive end playing special teams in the NFL." Sam said his introduction to the NFL was "awesome," recalling thinking during the national anthem, "Wow, this is the big stage." But not too big. Sam, who was credited with one tackle and one quarterback hit, emerged with confidence. "You know, I can play in this league," Sam said. "I can play in this league." Sam was a seventh-round draft pick and hes attempting to launch his pro career a two-hour drive from where he starred on a 12-win Missouri team that played in the SEC title game last season. Sam shed weight to 257 pounds coming into training camp so hed be a viable special teams option on a team that already has a strong pass rush. Mark Ingram had eight carries for 83 yards and a 22-yard touchdown in the first half. "We wanted to come out here and start fast," Ingram said. "The line was just physical up front, got a lot of movement off the ball and created a lot of seams and holes for us to run through." Luke McCown started in place of Brees, limited by a left oblique injury for a week. First-round pick Brandin Cooks caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from third-stringer Ryan Griffin in the third quarter and had five receptions for 55 yards. "I know what Im coming into," Cooks said. "Im coming in with a great group of receivers. Ive got to come in and find my spot." Coach Sean Payton was non-committal about Brees chances of playing next Friday at home against the Titans. "Well be smart with his recovery. He certainly is smart enough, too," Payton said. "Look, it is an area that is affected every time that you throw, so its important that it is 100 per cent." Bradford was held out as a precaution coming off knee surgery. Shaun Hill got the start and threw two touchdown passes in the first half. Greg Zuerlein was barely wide left on a 59-yard field goal attempt on the final play after missing a 46-yard attempt with just under six minutes remaining. The Rams started both of their first-round picks, offensive lineman Greg Robinson and defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Robinson, the second overall pick of the draft, started at left guard and also played left tackle. Attendance was announced at 54,850, about 12,000 shy of capacity at the Edward Jones Dome. The stadium appeared to be at less than half capacity not long after the opening kickoff and dwindled to perhaps one-third by the finish for the matchup between the Rams, whove had consecutive seven-win seasons under Fisher, and the 11-win Saints. Chris Long, the longtime starter at left end for St. Louis, intercepted McCown on the opening series to set up Cory Harkeys 16-yard touchdown catch. Sam began playing on the next series and made two nice plays in the second quarter, pressuring Griffin into an incompletion and getting a tackle. "Hes unpolished like a lot of rookies," Long said of Sam. "But he pleasantly surprised you when he went out in a game situation and played pretty well." Saints kicker Shayne Graham botched an extra-point kick from the longer distance being used the first two weeks of the preseason, hooking it off the left crossbar in the second quarter. NOTES: Rams TE Mason Brodine fractured his left ankle and is out for the season. ... Saints S Jairus Byrd, recovering from back surgery, did not play. Byrd attended high school in suburban Clayton when his father, Gill Byrd, was an assistant coach with the Rams. ... Saints RB Pierre Thomas did not play because of an undisclosed injury. ... Both teams hit triple digits in penalties, the Saints whistled 10 times for 104 yards and the Rams whistled 14 times for 118 yards. Vans Soldes Pas Cher . It was my fifth straight year attending and, as always, there are many interesting matters discussed as it pertains to the use of statistics in sports. Chaussures Vans Authentic Soldes . After falling 5-0 on home ice in a game that could have tied them for second in the wild card standings, Washington head coach Adam Oates had some strong words for Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin. http://www.paschervans.fr/.C. -- Benn Ferrieros familiar with scoring important goals, just not in back-to-back games. Vans Pas Cher Destockage . Levante, which had lost five straight including a Copa del Rey game last weekend, fell behind at its Ciutat de Valencia stadium when Ionut Sapanura opened the scoring for Elche in the 26th minute. Chaussure Vans Pas Cher . - After a back-and-forth battle throughout the season, Alex Guenette has earned the 2013 rookie of the year award for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 by just one point over Ryley Seibert.Cornelius, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Sprint Cup Series driver Brian Vickers has been medically cleared to return to racing full-time in early March, three months after he underwent open heart surgery. Vickers, who drives the No. 55 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing in NASCARs top series, is scheduled to make his season debut in the March 8 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. MWR revealed on Wednesday that team co-owner Michael Waltrip will drive Vickers car in the Feb. 22 season-opening Daytona 500. The team will name a substitute driver for the March 1 event at Atlanta Motor Speedway at a later date. In December, doctors discovered that Vickers body was rejecting a patch that was surgically placed over a hole in his heart in 2010. Earlier that year, he was diagnosed and treated for blood clots in his left leg and both lungs. Vickers alsso missed part of the 2013 racing season after he was placed on blood-thinning medication to treat a blood clot in his right calf.dddddddddddd The doctors gave me a clean bill of health and said I will be better than before, Vickers said in a team statement. The advancements in modern medicine and surgical procedures are amazing, and I have to thank my doctors at the Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute and Carolinas Medical Center for their extraordinary care. I have literally put my life in their hands twice, and I cannot begin to express my level of gratitude. Vickers won the championship in NASCARs second-tier series (now known as the Xfinity Series) in 2003. He is a three-time race winner in Sprint Cup as well, with his most recent victory in that series occurring in July 2013 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. ' ' '