New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - NewOrleansSaints.com Mickey Loomis: 'I think we are all a little bit more focused'

“First of all I want to welcome everyone to 2013 New Orleans Saints Training Camp. We are really excited to get started, we are really excited about the guys on this roster, excited to see how this team unfolds and how it comes together during training camp, excited about some changes that we had in terms of our defense, and excited to have Sean Payton back at training camp as well.”

How do you evaluate how this new defense is shaping up?

“I don’t think it is time for an evaluation yet. I like the things that have happened so far, I think Rob Ryan would tell you he is excited about the guys, how they have taken to it, but we haven’t put any pads on yet, we haven’t had any preseason games, and so I think that still remains to be seen, but all the signs are positive so far.”

Do you have any injuries to report?

“We have a few, one serious in Victor Butler, but the rest of these guys I think will resolve themselves, most of them in the first few days of camp here, a couple might take a little longer than that. I think we are in pretty good shape, relatively speaking except for Victor Butler. I don’t want to get specific about those other guys, but I will say this, Roman Harper’s will resolve itself in the first day or two. I think Patrick Robinson’s will take a little longer, probably the end of the preseason games before he is able to go full go, but Marques Colston may be a few days here. Obviously, Victor Butler is going to take some time, but everyone else’s will resolve itself in the next few days.”

Is there a reason why Victor Butler hasn’t been placed on Injured Reserve yet?

“We don’t have to do that, as long as we keep him on our 90-man roster. We will see how his rehab goes. If there is a possibility if he could be back before the end of the season, maybe into a playoff run, we might have that opportunity to designate him as a player that could return.”

What does it mean to you to see Sean Payton and Drew Brees together on the sideline?

“It’s just that, it’s just back to normal. We have 2012 in our rear-view mirror and look, we are just looking ahead, we are not looking in the rear-view mirror, so all that just feels normal, and it feels good. It was an excitement that, it’s probably a little fresher excitement than it would be ordinarily because of what happened a year ago. I think we are all a little bit more focused than we would have been otherwise.”

What are your biggest concerns going into training camp?

“I think there are some position battles, obviously, left tackle (as an example) that we want to see how that unfolds. We like the guys that are going to be a part of that competition. We have some other spots and they aren’t necessarily starter spots, there are some spots that we are going to have some excellent competition at. I think we have a lot of young guys. We have some guys that are in their second year in Nick Toon, Akiem Hicks, and some other guys that we are looking to see some significant progress from and I think we will see that. Those are the kinds of things we look forward to, particularly (in) the early part in training camp.”

Is the working relationship between you and Sean Payton the same or has it changed?

“I don’t think anything has changed. I would say, from my standpoint, it’s stronger than ever. It is certainly not worse. I would probably say it is better, but it was pretty good to begin with.”

Have there been any talks about a new Jimmy Graham deal?

“Look I would probably rather not get into that, those are things that we haven’t (talked about in public in the past) - obviously we have some guys in the last year of their contract that are important players to our team and have been important players to our team. We will talk about it and we have talked about them. Those may or may not happen. We are just going to see how this unfolds these next few weeks and it is possible.”

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