METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints placed safety Rafael Bush on injured reserve Tuesday, the latest hit for a banged-up secondary.
Bush suffered a season-ending chest injury during Sunday's Week 1 loss at Arizona.
Bush, 28, was a replacement starter, filling in for injured starter Jairus Byrd, who has been sidelined since the beginning of training camp with a lingering knee injury. Top cornerback Keenan Lewis is also out with a groin injury.
Both Byrd and Lewis are expected back within a matter of weeks, though, which will be essential for the Saints, whose secondary got picked on a bit in Week 1 as Arizona's Carson Palmer threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns.
In the meantime, the Saints could turn to veteran Kenny Phillips or Jamarca Sanford at free safety. The Saints officially re-signed Phillips on Tuesday after releasing him last week. The 28-year-old former New York Giants starter was out of football for two years because of knee and quadriceps injuries before the Saints brought him back this summer.
Losing Bush will hurt, though, because he was a steady, reliable veteran who had been with the Saints longer than anyone else in the secondary. He has played in 40 games with 14 starts since 2012.
This has been a tough two-year stretch for Bush, who also wound up on injured reserve last season with a broken leg in November.
The Saints also released running back Tim Hightower again on Tuesday; he has bounced on and off the roster twice in the past week.