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“Ball, ball, ball!”

This cry can be heard echoing between the Allegheny Mountains whenever the ball hits The Greenbrier grass during practice at the New Orleans Saints’ training camp. It doesn’t matter if it has been fumbled or if it is an incomplete pass. Secondary coach Wesley McGriff never wants his men to leave things to chance -- even when the outcome is obvious.

There’s a reason for this.

“At the end of every play the ball is the issue,” McGriff said. “So if we can get a lot of guys around the football, we have a high probability of taking the ball away. Be ball conscious.”

That has been the biggest theme of training camp thus far. The Saints created a paltry 18 turnovers last season, and are aware that doubling that number, while not a neccessity, would help them make a deep march into the playoffs.

It remains to be seen if the increased emphasis on creating turnovers in practices will translate into success on Sundays. Despite efforts to create them, the opportunities can be difficult to come by. Despite ranking fifth in yards allowed last season, the Saints finished in the bottom of the league in turnovers. In 2012, when it allowed 7,042 yards, New Orleans created 26 takeaways.

Granted, the 2012 team was on the field more often, and the porous play of the unit might have led to offenses taking more risks, but that group still averaged a turnover every 41 plays. Last year’s team averaged one every 55 plays.

Many of the moves made on the defensive side of the ball this offseason was with an eye toward improving that ratio, including the signings of safety Jairus Byrd, who has intercepted 22 passes over his five years in the league, and cornerback Champ Bailey. But bringing in a few new troops isn’t enough to turn this around.

“You don’t put all that on one man,” defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said. “We have an excellent defense. We’re going to work. We are going to strive to be better on these turnovers. We have to be. It is not just a one man job. It has to be all of us.”

So, the rest of the defense not only needs to take advantage of the opportunities that exist, they also need to find more ways to create them. That starts with jumping on the ball whenever it hits the grass, but it also means going about business with an entirely different mindset.



“What you have to do is make a conscious effort every single day to get the ball,” McGriff said. “The next thing you have to do is make sure you have strong population around the football on every play. I think the more aggressive you are with your hands, the more people you have around the football, you increase your opportunities to create turnovers.”

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