Saints coach Payton set for surgery on injured leg

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton is scheduled for surgery Sunday night or Monday morning after he suffered a torn medial collateral ligament and broken tibia plateau in his left leg during a collision early in the first quarter of a 26-20 loss to Tampa Bay, the team announced. 

The Saints said Payton would join the team on its flight Sunday night.

Payton fell to the ground and appeared to have his left leg caught underneath Saints tight end Jimmy Graham when he was tackled by a Buccaneers defender on the New Orleans sideline. Payton stayed down while receiving attention from medical staff before being helped to the bench.

"It's one of those things, the play kind of got up on me quicker," Payton told the Times-Picayune. "I think the second part of the tackle seemed maybe all of a sudden. ... At first I just thought I went down and hurt my knee then when I tried to get up I clearly felt something was up with it.

The Saints had told NFL Network that Payton would coach from upstairs in the booth during the second half, but the coach never made it there and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael took over play-calling duties in the second half.

"I think my initial plan was to go up in the box," Payton said. "The problem was just dealing with some of the pain issues. And I thought Pete did a real good job. And I thought the staff did a good job."

Payton wasn't the only NFL coach to suffer an injury Sunday. The St. Petersburg Times reportedBuccaneers defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake suffered a torn left patellar tendon while celebrating with safety Tanard Jackson after his second-quarter interception.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.