by By Brian Allee-Walsh, Staff writer , Times-Picayune

An MRI exam confirmed that Miller tore his right Achilles tendon in the second quarter of Thursday night's 10-7 exhibition loss to the Miami Dolphins at the Superdome. He is expected to have surgery Monday and be placed on injured reserve.

"I'm still kind of in shock from the situation," Miller said Friday while leaning on crutches and sporting a boot on his injured foot. "But this locker room is my family, and they understand that. They understand that I'm the kind of guy if it takes my Achilles for this team to be successful, I'd give anything I got.

"Now that I might be sidelined for awhile, I'm going to still be around here and go to the games and be as supportive as I can and try to help some of these young tight ends out to make sure that (Jeremy) Shockey's not bearing the whole load, and that we get some guys in there to help him."

The Saints already have lost tight end Dan Campbell, who was placed on injured reserve Aug. 10 after undergoing knee surgery, and tight end Darnell Dinkins is battling ankle and foot injuries.

That leaves Shockey, Buck Ortega and Martrez Milner as the only healthy tight ends on the active roster.

The depth chart at that position is expected to change after team officials pare their roster from 75 to 53 by 3 p.m. today. Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis said the team may consider going outside the organization to beef up the position.

Miller had overcome a knee injury earlier in training camp to get back on the field. Now his 10th NFL season has ended on the eve of the regular season.

"It's heartbreaking because you know what he means to the team," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. "He is the prototypical guy that we look for on this team. He has extremely high character; nothing has been given to him. He's always had to fight for every inch ever since he first came in the league.

"My heart goes out to him. He's a great friend; he's a great teammate, and I'm very confident that he'll come back stronger than ever. He might end up missing the whole season, but he's a guy who I know will come back better than ever."

Miller sounded as if he'd already thought about next season.

"I'm still smiling," he said. "That is who I am. I think that if anybody in this locker room knows me, that's just who I am. I know there is a reason for everything. This injury is just a steppingstone to something else, and a lot of my teammates have reflected that in their messages like Drew and (tackle Jon) Stinchcomb and some of other guys who know who I am.

"I'll take care of what needs to be taken care of, and I'll come back and try to go for back-to-back Super Bowls after these boys win it this year."

WATCHING, WAITING: Wide receivers Rod Harper and Adrian Arrington offered different perspectives on their chances of making the 53-man roster.

On one hand, Harper appeared to make a strong case by returning two punts for touchdowns and catching five passes for 83 yards this preseason. He returned 12 punts for 184 yards, an average of 15.6 yards.

On the other hand, Arrington was limited throughout training camp with a hamstring injury and caught three passes for 77 yards.

"Looking back at the camp, I've worked real hard, and I was able to make some plays, and now it's up to the judges," Harper said.

Arrington said he "had to beg Coach (Sean) Payton to let me play" against the Dolphins.

"He wasn't going to let me play at first," Arrington said. "I'm not 100 percent, but I needed those reps, I needed to play. I went in as a sub receiver because they didn't want me to take too many reps on a bad wheel (right hamstring). Hopefully they saw something in me in the preseason to keep me around."

UP FOR DEBATE: When NFL owners and the NFL Players Association get down to hammering out a new collective bargaining agreement, one of the topics for discussion will focus on expanding the regular season and decreasing the number of exhibition games.

Brees was held out against the Dolphins as a precaution.

When asked if he lobbied Payton to play, Brees replied: "I was a good soldier. I'll do whatever you want me to do. I'm a Football player; you always want to play. But you understand that in a game like that last preseason game, you don't want something to happen like what happened to Billy Miller.

"But obviously guys are out there still fighting for positions and fighting to win, and that stuff happens. That is something we will negotiate through the Players Association with the owners and with (NFL Commissioner Roger) Goodell, and we'll see what happens."

Brees sits on the NFLPA executive counsel.

"You ask me now after I got hurt in the fourth game," Miller said. "That's up to the guys like Drew Brees and those guys who are on those committees to figure it out. I think that preseason games are a way for owners in the NFL to make money, so everybody's going to have to sit down and see what's in the best interests of this league and the players in general."

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Brian Allee-Walsh can be reached at ballee-walsh@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3805.

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