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New Orleans Saints Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan
Post-Practice Media Availability
Thursday, May 29, 2014

Do you feel like there is more depth on this defense than in years past?

“I think I can only answer that from last year. I think we’ve got a ton of depth. I think we’ve got competition at every spot. It’s going to be great. We want to be a great defense, and I really think we’ve got the parts to really do something special. We’ve got a lot of great young players. They all work hard, they take coaching. I told you before, we have the best coaches I think. Our position coaches are outstanding. They’re all getting better, all working hard, all buying in, and things are going well.”

How anxious are you to see Victor Butler show what he can do for the Saints?

“It’s great to get him back out there. He looks healthy; I can’t wait. Right now, our tempo is that we’re working on our scheme, our communication on our scheme, and how we operate. This isn’t a full-contact camp, so that’s when I think Victor will really show up where he’s off his injury and things. Right now we’re working hard, we’re getting the communication, and we’re running the ball and doing the little things. That’s what this thing is: getting the details and doing a good job.”

Last year with so many injuries at outside linebacker, how much did it change the way you went into the season defensively? How much will you tinker with it because you have more depth at the position this year?

“The biggest thing is always – and we do this as a team, through Sean (Payton) and everybody – we want to get our best players and our (best) combination of players on the field. So whatever it is, the great depth will allow us to be more flexible, and that’s what we really want to be. We want to know what we’re doing, we want to get there in a hurry, and that’s our style of play. You watch us play, that’s our style of play. Some teams are hoping to be tough. We like to play good defense, and we will.”

How does Kenny Vaccaro look so far this offseason?

“(I’m) really excited about him. He’s been working out. I’m no doctor, I don’t know how fast he’s supposed to come back from injury or what, but he looks great. He’s been working hard. He knows the defense inside out, as most of our guys do. They’re looking really good.”

We got a chance to see Champ Bailey making some plays already today.

“He looks fantastic. I don’t know what happened (last year in Denver). I’ve seen him up close and personal, intercepting balls against us when I was in Oakland. He’s fun to watch and he practices really hard. You look out there and you think he’s just one of these young guys running around. He’s bringing excitement to our defense and knowledge. It’s awesome to add a great player like him.”


Read more: Rob Ryans talks about Saints OTAs

Rugby Saint II

Oh yeah, our defense could be dominant this year..............we want the ball and I'll wager we go get the ball frequently.

dizzle88

Couple things I heard about our defense today;

Rafael Bush and Stanley Jean Baptiste both forced fumbles
Champ bailey tipped a pass that got picked, SJB had a nice pass breakup also

TwistedTiger

Good to hear he's confident that Champ can still play at a high level. I think he could be a big difference maker this year.

hagan714

if champ comes back from the foot and Robinson the knee i am really liking the rotation. those last few CB spots will be a great battle.

I am watching to see what happens at NT. I think we were a little shallow there last year. the big boys need their rest as do DE. all of them were on the field too much. DL rotation i guess as a whole is an area I am watching.

but glamor always before trenches in interviews.

I am kinda back to last years expectations with the LB corp. lets see what we got first then address it in 2015.

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins