Despite an up-and-down season, New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley is again repaying coach Sean Payton for the faith he showed in him.

Hartley, a third-year pro who made just 4 of 7 field-goal attempts in the first three games, has hit 10 of his last 11 tries. Included in that stretch were kicks of 48 and 24 yards Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals in swirling wind and sub-freezing temperatures of Paul Brown Stadium.

After being benched for two games in favor of John Carney, Hartley is 11 of 13, with the misses coming from 33 and 27 yards out. In recent weeks, he’s made field goals of 50 — the longest of his career — and 45 yards against the Dallas Cowboys and had the 48-yarder at Cincinnati.

When asked if he felt better about the decision to stay with Hartley, who is 15 of 20 this season, Payton said, “Honestly, we weren’t at that point that maybe you guys were in regards to a change with him.”

“We see too much and too many things that he’s doing well,” he said. “He has too much leg talent, and he’s produced in big spots for us. We’ve been at that point before, and that’s not a fun spot when you’re looking each week to possibly make a change.

“But he has proven himself and he’s playing very effectively and has been efficient. We just keep working on improving the technique.”

Hanging around

For the second straight day Thursday, the Saints practiced under the watchful eye of local college officials after they were penalized 11 times for 100 yards — both season-highs — in their 34-30 win over the Bengals.

Payton said he initially was going to have the officials watch Wednesday, but he brought them back Thursday and might do it again Friday.

Payton said he instructs the officials to look for certain infractions.

“More than anything else, it’s a timeframe where they can communicate directly with the players between periods, saying, ‘This is what I saw. You might want to watch this,’” Payton said. “That dialogue during practice is good.”

Double-dipping

With a victory in Sunday’s game with the St. Louis Rams in the Superdome, the Saints would improve to 10-3 and give them double-digit wins in back-to-back years for the first time since 1991 (11-5) and ’92 (12-4).