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New Orleans Saints S Roman Harper
Post-Practice Media Availability
Thursday, August 1, 2013

With seven days in, can you kind of asses the progress?

“It’s moving along in the right direction. We got more installed in the past couple of days and we have handled it very well. The younger guys are moving along well. I think they did well yesterday but everything we have been doing they start to catch up. Now they are just starting to get the flow.”

It almost seems like you guys are doing a little more there, foreseeing the blitzes and seeing what Drew Brees does. How frustrating is that at times and also realizing your trying to improve but it’s not always showing up immediately.

“It is what it is. I have seen Drew do this for about seven or eight years now. You just got to understand he is not going to give you a lot, so the things that we can actually execute and actually confuse him on is going to really work in the game. At the end of the day, it is Drew but we got to worry about what we can do on defense and get better at doing that.”

Even though some coaches ask for players opinions about things, where does Rob Ryan fit in that spectrum?

“He’s always worried about, how do we like this, or how do we feel about this, or how do we like this look and if we don't like something then say something. Especially some of the older guys that have played some ball and got some stripes on the wall (he communicates this with them a lot). He is all about it, where we got to be comfortable and he understands that we play the game. If we are not comfortable then it’s just not going to work. It’s not just about black and white defense if you just put something on the board. Football is not played well that way, it’s played on the field, and it’s played between the lines. The players have to be comfortable there and you got to make plays.”

Does he do that more so than other coaches?

“That is Rob Ryan's style. I’m not going to say who had more or what. I am not really going to compare apples with oranges. At the end of the day Rob likes for us to be comfortable players about our play. (He wants us to) just go out there and make plays. If you are making plays he is happy with it.”


What’s your view of Kenny Vaccaro at this point?


“I like this guy, he has got some things that you can’t teach. He has got some toughness he has got some fight about him. Those are things that you can’t coach. You don't want to have to tell your players to be aggressive. It’s always good to have to tell them to come on back a little bit. If we keep him in the yard, he is going to be really good for us.”


Have you told him anything at this point?

“No I don't tell him anything. I just let him go and we will correct him on Sundays. Right now he is too young for me to be telling him what to do and I coach him up on football stuff, but aggression and things like that I just let him go and if he has got to fight then fight. It’s like (a) playground out here, you got to get it done.”


You know Sean Payton and Drew Brees very well. How would you say their communication their interaction have been this season compared to other seasons after having that year away? What did you first notice about them together?

“They always have (had) a special relationship. They work closely hand in hand. When it comes to the playbook especially in the game plan, how we are going to attack teams. We won’t do too much of things that Drew is uncomfortable with. Sean has a great feel of what Drew likes. Sean has a way of putting everybody in position, exotic formations whether it’s with spirals or having three running backs in he is very, very good with mixing up personnel Drew understands that. It’s really good seeing he has got his (opportunity to) work back together (with coach Payton) again.”

Has anything changed? Is anything different?

“Not in the huddle. They always had a strong bromance. It is what it is.”

As a defender, how much more difficult does it make when the offense is able to run the ball efficiently?

“It makes it so much harder because now you have to actually come up field, really keep your eyes right, but then it makes it better for the offense because now they can pull out, (run) play action, heavy sets. They can bring in 20 personnel, make a throw on third (down and) it just really keeps you balanced, when they are in control of the pace of the game. It really makes it hard on the defense.”

New Orleans Saints, WR Lance Moore
Post-Practice Media Availability
Thursday, August 1, 2013

Sarah Thomas, which was up here speaking. Did you notice any kind of stuff with the two female referees that were out there today?

“Yes, because you guys are all here. Sarah has actually been at our camp for the last two or three years, maybe even four years. You notice her the first couple times but after that you don’t really notice her when you’re on the field. Once the whistle is blown, we have to play ball. We can’t worry about who is up there wearing the zebra shirts.”

Playing ball now with seven days under your belt, how would you asses how the guys are progressing? We see more defensive side, more blitzes.

“I think we are playing a little better. It’s still early on in camp. We have not gotten yet to intersquads (which we will do) on Saturday. We have not had any live action yet. Guys can look really good in practice, but not so good in games. Once we get closer to those game situations we will get a better read. Like I said, we are working hard, trying to get better every day and that’s our focus.”

It kind of seems, when you look at position battles with receivers and defensive backs and lots of players in there battling for positions. It kind of helps each other around doesn't it?

“It does. Anytime there is going to be competition especially on both sides it’s going to bring the best out of us. We got a deep group of receivers. From top to bottom I think this is one of the deepest groups we have had since I have been here. I think that is only going to make us better. Each day we go out we are trying to make the DBs better and I hope in turn they are trying to do the same for us.”

What does it mean the you are the senior tenured player among the receivers?

“I don't really like it (joking). I don't want Sean (Payton) to come up to me and call me one of the old guys. He has done it a couple times already during camp and I don't want to get that label. It is definitely a credit to the way that I work and coming from where I came from to get to this point. This is my ninth training camp and about seven days in it feels like it’s my fifteenth. I feel good and I’m just trying to continue on forward.”

Isn’t that a compliment?

“It is because I’m still here, but you don't want them to start to call you old.”

Coach has talked about wanting to have more balance on running the ball this year. From your perspective have you noticed them calling a lot more running plays?

“I would not necessarily say they are calling more running plays, but the focus is definitely there. Anytime we can play more complementary games on offensive, not only is going to help us more on our offensive team; but it’s going to help our team in general. It will give our defense a little more rest and hopefully gain more yards, more first downs, and (produce better) time possession as well, and definitely help our special teams out too in bad situations.”

Is that something you noticed as a receiver when you guys ran the ball better in the past if you have more room to work with out there?

“Yes. The year we won the Super Bowl I think we were top 10 rushing. That kind of gets swept under the rug because Drew seems to pass for a ton of yards every season. The more success we have on the ground then I guarantee the more successful we will be every season.”

Drew said that Sean Payton came back in here this year with a different perspective and a lot of fresh ideas. What have you noticed that you have brought to the table on your side of the ball?


“I would say, first and foremost just the sense of normalcy. The whole last sixteen to eighteen months have been different around here. He is such a creative and intelligent football mind. He is always going to be breaking things down. He was away for a whole season and he comes back and knows every single play that happened last year because he broke it down on film. Like you said he has definitely got new ideas and innovative things to put into our offense (we) can’t give those away now but we will see those here in a couple of weeks.”

Read more: Drew Brees and other New Orleans Saints players transcripts from Day 7 of training camp

homerj07

Good read. Thanks