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His team has a great quarterback. His team has an offense that runs up yardage and points in eye-catching fashion. His team hasn’t lost a game.

His team just stuffed those pesky New York Jets [team stats].

For Heath Evans [stats], it’s as if he never left Foxbor

“It’s kind of like old hat around here,” said Evans, now a fullback with the 4-0 New Orleans Saints. “After being with the Pats for so many years, you get used to winning, you grow accustomed to it. That’s why it’s great being here. Teams want to knock us off. Every day is like deja vu, except it’s a different setting, it’s a different coaching staff, it’s a different team.”

There are some pundits who believe the Saints are the best team in football right now with the overall balance and dominance they’ve displayed the first four weeks. While their high-powered offense struggled against the Jets, their defense ultimately won the game. It’s a defense that has produced 13 turnovers.

“If there was a spot of concern coming here, it was, ’Do we have the defense to win?’ That was one of the questions I asked when I was here on my visit,” said Evans, who signed in the offseason as a free agent. “But they hired Gregg Williams (as defensive coordinator), and everywhere he had implemented his system, they had top 10 defenses. So from that standpoint, that concern went by the wayside. It’s been fun watching them get better and better each week, and watch them win that game (against the Jets).”

When the Saints slammed Gang Green, 24-10, last week, Evans said he still got the same charge out of beating the Pats’ archrivals as he did when he was bunkered down in Foxboro.

“I don’t know if you ever get out of that rivalry,” he said. “Between just being in the AFC East, and then playing for Bill Belichick, I think that rivalry is inbred in my system.”

During the phone interview with Evans, the deja vu theme kept coming up. Whether it was talking about quarterback Drew Brees, and how much he has in common with Tom Brady [stats], or discussing the wide range of backs utilized by Saints coach Sean Payton, there are many similarities.

Evans, who will see his former team on Nov. 30 when the Pats travel to the Superdome, wasn’t even sure he’d be a fit in New Orleans, but Payton employs a true two-back system with a fullback. In the Pats multiple-formation offense, Evans would generally be used for just 10-15 snaps per game.

“Here, I’m averaging probably 40 snaps a game and doing a lot. I’m catching balls, running a little bit and blocking a lot,” he said. “All in all, we have a pretty diverse backfield, kind of like we did in New England. We don’t have a Kevin Faulk [stats]. We don’t have that third-down presence you can put in there that is just so dominant in every area of the game, in the sense of pass protection, route running, receiving skills, understanding of how a defense is trying to attack our offense, but we have Reggie Bush, who at any time you make a mistake and man-up on him, whether it’s a corner or a safety, he’s going to win, and he’s probably going to win big, so we’ve got that threat.”

As for Brees, who started out looking like he might shatter Brady’s touchdown record of 50 in a season before cooling off a bit, Evans said he is just like Brady in that he’ll do whatever it takes to win. He doesn’t care about his personal statistics. He’s not looking to break records.

“There’s a lot of players and quarterbacks in this league that don’t work that way. They want the limelight. They want the glory. They want to throw for 400 yards, they’re not willing to turn it over to a running game to win a game,” Evans said. “In that sense, Tommy Brady and Drew Brees are two peas in a pod -- not to mention a few other areas, like their leadership, their skill, their knowledge of the game, their understanding of the week’s opponent, and the week’s game plan. I’ll tell you, I’ve been quarterback-spoiled for sure.”

Evans said preparation is what separates Brees and Brady from the rest of the pack.

“All throughout the Patriots [team stats] locker room, Bill (Belichick) had all these signs up about preparation and (how) the victory and the battle is won Monday through Saturday. And it’s that same belief system that makes Drew so good on Sunday. He knows the (opposing) team better than they know him,” Evans said. “He’s obviously got great skill. He’s got the best pocket presence I’ve ever seen. Tommy has great pocket presence, but I think Drew is a little shorter and a little more athletic, so it gives him what appears to be greater pocket presence because he moves a little better. But, all in all, this guy studies to win. And then he takes his skill set and goes out there and beats people with it.”

In terms of his new head coach, Evans says Payton and Belichick aren’t really all that similar, except they share a similar philosophy.

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Heath Evans comes up a winner again - BostonHerald.com

WhoDat205

That was a really good read. I loved what he said about the fans in NO vs. Boston on the second page.

And that reverse compliment insult on Reggie was well played. I hope Reggie read it.