METAIRIE, La. - There are beaucoup reasons why Monday night is not an ideal time for the banged-up New Orleans Saints secondary to be playing the New England Patriots.

142 … 1,779 … 12.

Those numbers represent the collective catches, receiving yards and touchdowns turned in by Pats’ wide receivers Wes Welker and Randy Moss through the first 10 games.

But the league schedule waits on no one, so ready or not, here comes the NFL’s most prolific pass-catching tandem.

“It’s a big challenge for us,’’ Saints free safety Darren Sharper said Wednesday. “One guy (Moss) is a threat in any area of the football field. The other guy (Welker) works underneath and is a threat that way. Then, you got a quarterback (Tom Brady) who can get them the football in any area on the field. So it’s a big challenge for us.’’

Facing Welker and Moss would be a huge challenge for a healthy Saints’ secondary under normal circumstances. What makes it a bigger challenge is the injury status of starting cornerbacks Tracy Porter (knee) and Jabari Greer (groin) and reserve Randall Gay (hamstring).

Porter is not expected to play. If I were a betting man, Greer and Gay will be available for the nationally-televised game, provided neither one takes a step backward in the coming days.

That leaves rookie cornerback Malcolm Jenkins as the Saints’ lone healthy cornerback from training camp.

“Randy Moss is a guy I grew up watching,’’ said Jenkins, the youngest player on the Saints’ 53-man roster at age 21. “When I was younger and somebody would catch a ball, you’d say he got ‘Moss-ed.’ Now, I get a chance to cover him and go against him.

“It’s humbling because this is somebody I’ve looked up to, but at the same time I’m trying to beat. It’s one of those things where you respect him a lot but I’m expected to come out there and compete. So it’s going to be a fun deal for me.’’

Fun, perhaps, as long as Jenkins doesn’t get “Moss-ed’’ too often by the Patriots’ receivers when the ball is thrown in his direction.

“Most of their offense comes through Moss and Welker,’’ Jenkins said. “This week is definitely going to be a little more important when it comes to film study because the Patriots are a great team.

“I’m a little bit anxious. I’m a little bit nervous but I think as the week goes on, and by the time I’m done with my preparation, I think I will have prepared enough to where I’m not nervous and I can go and just play and let my instincts take over.’’

Jenkins declined to say if will start against the Patriots. He played all 59 defensive snaps in Sunday’s 38-7 road victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, registering eight tackles, two pass breakups and his first NFL interception.

The injury status of the Saints’ other walking wounded in the secondary is unknown. Team officials were not obligated to release a practice participation report to the league Wednesday because of the Monday night kickoff, so officially I can’t say who practiced and who didn’t.

The first indication will come tomorrow as Coach Sean Payton is expected to put his players through, in his words, a “meaty walk through’’ on Thanksgiving morning before releasing them to enjoy the rest of the holiday with family and friends.

Team officials beefed up the secondary Monday with the re-signing of former Saints cornerback Mike McKenzie, this coming on the heels of last week’s signing of veteran cornerback Chris McAlister.

Last season was cut short for both McKenzie and McAlister (in Baltimore) because of major knee injuries. McKenzie, who was released in March, said he has fully recovered from a surgical procedure on his broken right kneecap a year ago.

“I don’t think I’d be here if I wasn’t 100 percent,’’ McKenzie said. “It’s a matter of me getting familiar with the terminology. I’m just taking it one day at a time. I’ve seen my career go from one play to where everything has changed. So, I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I really just want to take it one day at a time and really just get into my playbook right now.’’

McAlister said he feels more comfortable with the Saints playbook with each passing day.

“I’m glad it’s Thanksgiving week to have an opportunity to digest the game plan a little bit more and to get a better feel for what we’re doing as a defense,’’ McAlister said. Asked if he might play against the Patriots, McAlister replied: “Who knows what’s going to happen Monday night?’’

One thing is certain, New England quarterback Tom Brady will have Welker and Moss in his sights early and often.

In Sunday’s 31-14 victory against the New York Jets, Welker set a franchise record with 15 catches for 192 yards, giving him 79 for 854 and four touchdowns. Moss contributed five catches for 34 yards and one touchdown, boosting his season numbers to 63-925-8.

Payton broke down the challenge that both players present for his defense.

“Randy is someone who still has exceptional speed,’’ Payton said. “He’s a guy who does a great job of making plays above his shoulders, when he can go up and come down with a football. He’ll catch it one handed and he’ll turn around and catch it in a crowd. He does a good job if you’re giving him any type of cushion of taking the underneath throws. So you got a dilemma in regards to how much safety help you’re going to give him.

“When the safety goes to Moss, then it becomes more challenging when handling Welker inside. He’s a smart player. He’s quick in and out of cuts. He’s explosive. When you watch him on tape, he’s dynamic. He’s having a great year. There’s obviously a lot of confidence in the quarterback to get the ball down the field to Randy and the other players. Even last week you saw Wes stretch the field on a missed coverage by the Jets and he ended up with a big play. All of those things become challenging and unique because we haven’t seen an offense like this certainly this year.’’

Sharper said the secondary should be near full strength on Monday night, though team officials provided no medical evidence Wednesday to support his claim.

“We think we’re going to have a lot of guys back,’’ Sharper said. “Hopefully, everyone will be healthy and the guys that we’ve brought in, Chris and Mike, are both 10-year vets who have played a lot of football and understand our system.

“So we’ll be fine. We know we have enough pieces in place with the new guys and the carry-overs from training camp to be productive in the secondary.’’

No doubt, that is Payton’s primary concern as the Saints try to remain unbeaten and in control of homefield advantage in the NFC.