Transcript of Sean Payton Press Conference

Kyle T. MosleyNov 12, 2008

pFrom the New Orleans Saints a href=”http://www.neworleanssaints.com/Articles/2008/11/Head%20Coach%20Sean%20Payton%20Nov%2012.aspx”official website/a./p
pnbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bOpening Statement:/b/p
p class=”storyBody”ldquo;Let me just go through the injuries and then the roster real quick: Aaron Glenn (ankle) did not practice; Mike Karney (knee) did not practice; Jon Stinchcomb (calf) did not practice; Marques Colston (knee) was limited; Reggie Bush (knee) was limited; Jonathan Goodwin (knee) did not practice; Aaron Stecker (hamstring) was full and Garrett Hartley (back) was full. Roster moves: we placed Mike McKenzie on injured reserve and signed cornerback Leigh Torrence. Off the active roster, we waived Remi Ayodele and signed cornerback David Pittman and off the practice squad we waived Ben Moffitt and signed fullback David Kirtman. That puts us at 53 and nine with our practice squad.rdquo;/p

p class=”storyBody”bIs that Pittman from Northwestern State? Is he a local guy?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Yes.”/p
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p class=”storyBody”bDo you expect Reggie Bush to be full-go Sunday?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Wersquo;ll see. I thought he handled the snaps he had today pretty well. Itrsquo;s really just a work in progress to see how his knee responds after todayrsquo;s work and see how it goes tomorrow. But he got a fair amount of reps. He wore a brace today and wersquo;ll see how it responds tomorrow.”/p
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p class=”storyBody”bWill the new cornerbacks be pressed into action early on?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Right now wersquo;re just trying to get them acclimated and those guys Irsquo;m sure are trying to get adjusted to our system and scheme. Really it puts them at corner four and corner five on the depth chart when you look at the three guys that have been here ahead of them. Depending on the nickel and the guys in front of them, a lot of that would be based on how much they would play.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bAre Usama Young and Randall Gay 1-2 on the depth chart?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"No, all three of those guys are going to get work. All three of them are going to be involved in the nickel, obviously wersquo;ll need three corners. But right now wersquo;ll play Gay and wersquo;ll look at (Jason) David and Usama.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bHow much does it hamper the game planning not knowing whether or not yoursquo;ll have Reggie at full-go?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"We have to plan accordingly and put our base plan together. Thatrsquo;s really one in which itrsquo;s geared to him playing or not playing. Wersquo;ll be flexible enough and we have to be.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bWhat have your impressions of Tyler Thigpen been?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Hersquo;s a guy that has located the ball real well. He has impressed with me with his accuracy. You see him him when hersquo;s throwing that he can scramble to run; hersquo;s athletic and he has poise. When wersquo;ve watched him in these last few games hersquo;s done a real good job offensively and they really had a chance to win the game last week. He has been a bit of a surprise. Watching him on tape, I have been impressed.”/p
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p class=”storyBody”bWhat were the injuries to Marques Colston and Garrett Hartley?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Colstonrsquo;s knee is just something that he has fought now for a year-and-a-half or so. He had some swelling, but that was it. Hartleyrsquo;s back was injured on the tackle last week but he should be fine.”/p
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p class=”storyBody”bWhat has been the difference in the past few games for the opposition being able to get to Drew?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Last week there were a couple of things. Obviously you have a real good defensive end in John Abraham and when you start throwing the ball 50 times, your chances go up to see increased amounts of pressure. I think itrsquo;s a combination of those things. Hopefully wersquo;re not in a situation where wersquo;re throwing it 50 times this week.”/p
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p class=”storyBody”bHave the Chiefs played better lately than their 1-8 record might show?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"The most recent three games ndash; certainly they had a chance to win last week against San Diego; against Tampa Bay they had a big lead and werenrsquo;t able to hold on and when they traveled to the Jets, they had a chance to win that game. They have played real well considering some of the injuries theyrsquo;ve had and whorsquo;s had to fill in.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bWhat are your thoughts on them going for two and the win instead of kicking the extra point for overtime at the end of their game on Sunday?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"I can certainly understand when they were on the road the way they were and how they were playing ndash; I think each week it just depends on how you feel your team is doing offensively and defensively. We saw it earlier in the year with Mike Shanahan and it came up big. In Hermrsquo;s case, Irsquo;m sure he felt like it was his best opportunity to win the game, so I think a lot of people werenrsquo;t surprised by that.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bDo you like the fact that Randall Gay has the ability to adjust to a number of different roles?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"I think so. Hersquo;s had a chance to play this season already quite a bit in base at the corner position. He played that in New England and hersquo;s a veteran player and hersquo;s a guy that you look to ndash; especially right now with some of the injuries ndash; to fill in and handle more of the reps and I think hersquo;ll handle that well.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bEven though this is his first year here, does he have that respect that guys will follow him?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"I think so. I think guys certainly understand that he has played at a high level with a real good football team in New England, so I think so.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bHow about Jason David and Usama Young? Theyrsquo;ve gone through some inconsistencies but is this a chance for them to prove themselves?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Theyrsquo;re going to get a lot of work. Fortunately theyrsquo;ve had reps and wersquo;re not talking about bringing the two new guys into the starting lineup right away. Itrsquo;s a chance for Usama to get more playing time and certainly Jason David.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bOf the two new guys, would one have more of a chance to contribute?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"It would probably be too early for me today to tell you. Wersquo;ll look at the tape from practice and wersquo;ll evaluate tomorrowrsquo;s practice and at some point wersquo;ll have to decide which way wersquo;re going there.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bDid you consider bringing in Ty Law?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"We talked about it. As soon as we had Mikersquo;s injury, we went to our short list and he was a player that was on that list. You kind of go through that exercise ndash; even on the plane ride home yoursquo;re beginning to call agents and come up with your plan.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bDo you find that therersquo;s much carryover of the frustration that was there in the locker room after the Atlanta game?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"I think todayrsquo;s work was good. These guys are professionals and they understand that we have to put that game behind us. That canrsquo;t be something that impacts how we play this weekend at all and itrsquo;s our job as coaches and certainly the job of the leaders of this team to get ourselves ready mentally and physically for this next game and I felt like we were able to do that today.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bDo you do anything differently in practice?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"There were a few things that wersquo;ll play around with, just in the order of what wersquo;re trying to accomplish and thatrsquo;s not uncommon. Certainly in this weekrsquo;s game one of the key points of emphasis is that when you look at Kansas City, theyrsquo;re second in the league in turnover ratio which is somewhat surprising when you consider their record. They have done a great job of taking the ball away defensively ndash; theyrsquo;re right at the top of the league in takeaways and that has to be a big focus when we prepare to play this game.”/p
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p class=”storyBody”bDo you get the feel that the team has a sense of urgency?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"No question.”/p
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p class=”storyBody”bWhat have you seen from Glenn Dorsey on tape?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Hersquo;s a big, physical player. Hersquo;s hard to move out of there. You can see his pass-rush skills getting better and better with work and repetitions like any rookie. You can see the improvement from week to week and you can really see his play improve throughout the course of the season from earlier tapes to most recent tapes.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bWhere has he made the most impact?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Certainly hersquo;s a guy that is physical inside and he gives them a presence. I think hersquo;s gotten better in his pass-rush, but it would be hard to say that therersquo;s one area. They have a solid tackle for a long time and a guy that was highly touted by a lot of us.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bIf Reggie is a go, will he be a go in special teams as well?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Wersquo;ll see. It would be hard to answer that yet. Irsquo;m not ruling it out that we wouldnrsquo;t allow him to return punts.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bDid you like what you saw from Courtney Roby the other day?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Yeah. I thought he showed some explosion. You could see his speed and that was encouraging. He has to do a better job in the coverage aspect of things, but from a return standpoint I think he has a little juice and you could see him almost break one and the one he muffed he was able to come out of it with a decent play. We just have to work on the ball security and his fielding issues and get him north and south, but he has good speed.”/p
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p class=”storyBody”bDo you think the performance of the defense was indicative of how beat up theyrsquo;ve been all season?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"I donrsquo;t know. Number one, yoursquo;d be wrong if you didnrsquo;t start by crediting the Atlanta offense. I thought they did a good job and their quarterback is playing real well. There were some positives and yet the big plays are the ones that really hurt us and led to scores. Irsquo;d hate to say that it was based on injuries. We havenrsquo;t really talked much about injuries and that has just been the way wersquo;ve approached it. We have to get back up off the mat and get ready to play another game.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bHave you been stressing any particular things to the defense?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"Number one is just keeping the ball in front. Wersquo;re trying to work on the emphasis of creating turnovers. We fit the run pretty well the other day for the most part but those are the things that we continue to harp on.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bIs there anything you can do schematically to get more out of your pass-rush?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"I think a lot of it depends on the game and the opponent. When we went back and looked at it, the defensive line played pretty well last week. There werenrsquo;t a lot of sack opportunities ndash; the ball came out early and there werenrsquo;t a lot of third-and-longs. The more we can win on first and second down and get the opponent in third-and-medium-to-long, the better off wersquo;re going to be and yoursquo;ll see those opportunities come up, especially if yoursquo;re playing a team thatrsquo;s chasing a lead rather than playing from ahead. They kind of go hand-in-hand.”/p
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p class=”storyBody”bDo you like the way the defensive line shaped up Sunday with Charles out?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"I thought they played pretty well. I thought Bobby (McCray) played real well.”/p
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p class=”storyBody”bDid you get a chance to look at what Drew Brees was trying to correct with Jeremy Shockey?/b/p
p class=”storyBody”"It was a protection. It was a weak safety blitz where we scan the away tight end or a back to come back to protect against the safety blitz. I was aware of that at the time it happened. They brought four players weak and we just missed the scan. Thatrsquo;s Jeremyrsquo;s assignment to come back and block the free safety and I think that was the main topic of the whole ordeal.”/p
p class=”storyBody”nbsp;/p
p class=”storyBody”bHas that been a recurring thing?/b/p
p”No.”/p