entered the regular season with a little unknown along the interior of the defensive line.
Nick Fairley, whom the Saints re-signed to a four-year deal in March, landed on the non-football illness list in June with a heart condition.
The Saints, however, haven't crumbled and first-year defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen believes the players have stepped up to compensate the loss of Fairley.
"Nick's a good player and it hurts anytime you lose a good player at any position," Nielsen said in a telephone interview. "I will say this -- when we found out the news on Nick, it was terrible and as a group the guys felt really bad.