Sean Payton talks about facing the Atlanta Falcons
 

New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton
Post-Practice Media Availability
Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Opening Statement: “Just some practice squad notes here, two players were waived on the practice squad, Demarcus Love and DT Garrison Smith. We signed G Andrew Miller (#69) and we signed K Dustin Hopkins (#5).”

Can you talk about signing kicker Dustin Hopkins to the practice squad?

“A lot of it was we had the workout last week with four or five of these guys and he was someone we had a pretty good draft grade on. He got injured in his first year but we felt that he kicked well the other day. We’re at 10 with that practice squad so you’re really trying to acquire the best group of players you have. So from a numbers standpoint it is pretty easy for us to do.”

Is that a move that looks toward the future a little bit?

“We think he is a highly graded young player more than anything else. He opened some eyes the other day when he kicked. He did a good job. His rookie year was kind of nonexistent because of his injury.”

What did you like from the secondary changes?

“Watching the game there are a handful of things. I thought overall, like anything else you watch it, you play well and yet you put the tape on and there are things you can look at. I didn’t like particularly how we finished. Our red zone defense needs work. But I thought there were some positives you can take away from the game. This will be an entirely different type of game and an entirely different type of team we are playing. We will be smart about our personnel packages and how we want to use them.”

What do you think it says about a guy like Pierre Warren to go what he went through in training camp and come back?

“He has real good hands. He’s able to highpoint balls. He did that the other night. Each year it seems to happen with a player or two in our league, a guy who maybe is on your own practice squad or someone else’s. It happens more than you think. They end up playing when you are really looking at a 53 man roster you are not carrying that same depth you might see in a college game. So to his credit though he has come in, having been here there is some advantage to knowing the system a little bit but none the less when you go somewhere else you really dive into another package. He’s picked it up quickly. He made some big plays for us the other night.”


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