John Carney

It's uncertain how much longer the Saints will go with John Carney, who is 13-of-17 on field-goal attempts this season. The 21-year veteran also has missed two extra-point attempts and is 5-of-8 on kicks shorter than 40 yards.

The Saints have another option at kicker. Garrett Hartley, who was 13-of-13 last season, is on the roster. But he was suspended for the first four games of the season and hasn't been active since he returned to the team.

Meanwhile, Payton is keeping a watchful eye on the kicking situation.

"I think you pay attention to the performance of your players, and certainly you do it with John," Payton said. "The difference is you probably can't bring two kickers and a punter up to the game-day roster.

"So we will continue to work with both of them and continue to clean up the operation with the first group and continue to give Garrett work and monitor his progress and put the best player out there each week that we think helps us to win."

Hartley said he has been performing well in practice. But he hasn't been told if he will be allowed to kick in a game.

"That's not my call," Hartley said. "Whatever the coaches feel that they need to do, it's going to happen. But I definitely need to prepare myself, like I have been week in and week out, just to be out on the field if I'm needed.