blacksaint

By LARRY HOLDER
SUN HERALD


Sean Payton could save his breath by hitting play on a tape recorder when addressing the defense. The New Orleans Saints coach has preached ad nauseum for the unit to cut down on the big plays and create turnovers.

The defense got it half right.

The Buffalo Bills' longest play in the first half Friday night in the Louisiana Superdome went for 17 yards. Buffalo also only tallied 104 yards of total offense in the first half and three points. Pittsburgh torched the Saints on a 55-yard pass in the first drive last Sunday which led to an outing with much to be desired.

And although the Saints fell 13-10 on Friday night to drop to 0-2 in the preseason, shutting down the Bills should give the unit some of the cockiness defensive end Charles Grant said he was looking for from his teammates.

Grant and fellow end Will Smith got good pressure on Bills quarterbacks J.P. Losman and Craig Nall with Smith acquiring his first sack of the preseason. Grant forced a near interception from Nall late in the second quarter, but cornerback Jason Craft couldn't hang on to the ball.

"We're looking to improve upon everything and not just the run defense," Smith said. "We want to improve our pass defense and get pressure on the quarterback and our blitz packages. We want to improve on everything. It's good to see that we didn't give up that many yards."

Strong safety Roman Harper made his first appearance for the Saints since tearing his ACL last season at home against Tampa Bay. Harper brought a noticeable spark in both run and pass coverage as he racked up four tackles.

Harper said before Friday's game that having such a lengthy layoff made his 2007 preseason debut almost as if he were taking the field for the first time in the pros all over again. It looked like he knew what he was doing.

"Coach Payton wants us to play fast and get juiced up early," Harper said. "I think we got after them pretty well in the beginning. We missed the quarterback a couple of times. He got out a couple of times. It's a good sign though that we're trying to get after people to make plays."

Payton said he also detected a difference in the defense with Harper back in action.

"It was good to get him back out there with the first unit," Payton said. "We will have a chance to see how he played on film. I thought he flew around pretty well. He has started for us before and is pretty instinctive. We have a pretty good rotation going on right now at that position. We just have to keep evaluating those players."

Up the middle, defensive tackles Antwan Lake and Kendrick Clancy also showed promise stopping the run. Both players started in place of Brian Young and Hollis Thomas. In the first half, the Saints only surrendered 36 yards rushing with 12 of those coming on a Losman scramble,

"I'm just going in there and trying to contribute and trying to get a good feel on things," Clancy said. "I wanted to keep (defensive line) coach (Marion) Hobby for talking bad to me. That was my main motivation. I wanted to earn the respect of my teammates."

Cornerback Jason David made his first start with the Saints after being a three-year starter in Indianapolis. Bills wide receiver Roscoe Parrish beat David on consecutive plays with the same out route with catches of 10 and 16 yards, respectively.

The Saints also failed to create a turnover for the second consecutive week. This aspect has been a habitual problem since Payton arrived in New Orleans. The Saints coach recognized those flaws, but said he was pleased with David and the rest of the defenders. As too did Smith.

"We know that we have a pretty deep team this year," Smith said. "For those guys to get out there and show they have the ability to step up and make plays against a pretty good offense. That shows were improving and getting better."

Schedule
Today

3:40 to 6 p.m. - Upper Fields

Monday

8:50 to 11 a.m. - Upper Fields

4:20 to 6 p.m. - Lower Field

Tuesday

8:50 to 10:30 a.m. - walk-thru at stadium

3:40 to 6 p.m. - Lower Field

Wednesday

8:50 to 11 a.m. - Upper Fields

4:30 to 6 p.m. - Lower Field

Thursday

3:40 to 6 p.m. - Upper Field

Friday

Team travels to Cincinnati

Saturday

Saints at Bengals, 7:30 p.m. (WWL-870 AM, Cable One Ch. 22)

Sunday

Camp Ends

Admission to each practice is free. There will be a parking fee of $5 per car entering the Millsaps campus.

saint4life
(504)

DeadmaN

good read

and I personally know I have been bashing our secondary but I'm not going to get upset because I still want to have faith in our defensive unit

they pulled it together last season so lets see how things go
have to stay positive if you know what I mean

TheDeuce

Anybody else really disappointed in Hollis Thomas? I am. This guy needs to be our anchor in the middle, and it pisses me off that he can't get his weight under control.

DeadmaN

don't know about Hollis
I did read something the other day about his weight and how it was also a concern for the coaching staff but I have not followed his progress much this season

I did think Grant looked good against the bills

phatoosdey

i find it very frustrating that hollis isn't ready to make this run
somebody please hide the red beans