blacksaint

by Mark Simoneau, NewOrleansSaints.com
Tuesday, August 14, 2007


Mark Simoneau likes being in the middle of things. Acquired by the Saints around this time last year, the veteran linebacker stepped right in and took over the reins of the defense as the starting middle linebacker. In his first season in New Orleans, Simoneau finished fourth on the team in tackles with 73 and helped defeat his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, in the playoffs. Simoneau checked in with NewOrleansSaints.com Tuesday morning with his outlook for the team as the regular season swiftly approaches.

Practice was good this morning. It was a short one and we were in helmets and shorts – we kind of got in and got out. We got some good special teams work done and also some two-minute drill in. Practice today was productive but was less intense in respect to contact.

The defense as a whole is getting better every day. The first game we didn’t play as well as we wanted – we gave up some big plays which was our problem last year. Last week we came back and really played solid football against the Bills. We didn’t play as well as we wanted to on third down, but that just gives us room to improve and to get better so that’s what we’re focusing on this week.

With Fujita being down, it has increased the opportunity for other guys to get in there and to learn under fire. It’s been good, it’s important that whenever you lose a guy there are others able to step up and fill their shoes. Hopefully we’ll be getting Scott back soon, but I know it’s been encouraging to see what the other guys have been able to do; they’ve been doing a nice job.

Coach is starting to tailor back a little bit on the length and intensity of practices so we’re slowly starting to get our legs back underneath us. As the season gets closer we’ll be doing less and less so our legs will come back and we’ll get the quickness and explosiveness back. It’s just a process that you have to go through during training camp and soon it will be time to get ready for the season.

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