SmashMouth

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cam Jordan was playfully deflecting any praise of individual success at this point last season.

By week 13 of last year, he had nine sacks and would finish with 12.5. The Saints finished with 49 as a group.

When asked to assess his season on Friday, his demeanor was decidedly different.

"Not where I wanted to be," he said.

Jordan has five sacks so far this season. But lack of production from the defensive line has gone beyond sacks, or beyond a down year for Jordan.

"I think it has something to do with that because they know what a dynamic player he is, how we moved him in to tackle some so it gets harder in there," said Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. "Just like him, we are all looking out for the good of the team. ...

"Whatever is best for the team is what we are going to do. I know stats say whatever they say. We don't really care about that. We are just trying to get better."

Pinpointing the problem has been a head scratcher for outside linebacker Junior Galette, who said poor execution has been frustrating.

"Missed tackles and critical missed assignments are just torturing us," he said.

Galette's stats have been essentially on par with last season. He was the NFC Defensive Player of the Week after registering two sacks against the Carolina Panthers, and currently leads the team with seven sacks.

But he said the problem lies with everyone, including him.

Galette was just one of many defensive voices that vehemently defended Ryan and the coaching, putting the blame on the shoulders of the players instead.

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