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Eye ON THE SAINTS |
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August 2009
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June 2009 Archives
The "experts" write all the time about who is going to do well and who is going to do poorly, whether it's the NFL, NBA, MLB, EPL, etc. But it's rare to hear former athletes talk unabashed about their thoughts and this week, we get that from former NFL quarterback Trent Green, who writes a guest column at SI.com, where normal columnist Pete... John P. Lopez at SI.com writes about the middle linebacker position and it's fleeting influence in the game professional game. While I can see his point - defensive ends and safeties seem to be gaining in importance as the league goes ever more to a pass-happy, pass-first style - I dare say the middle linebacker can still rule th... The newspaper in Alexandria -- the Town Talk -- didn't pull any punches with it's latest column about Louisiana's deal to keep the New Orleans Saints in state. I mean, vicious and low blow are a couple of words that come to mind. Sure, I get the points the paper is trying to make. But something tells me they didn't think about all the revenue th... Scott Fujita -- a.k.a. the Asian Assassin -- is one of my favorite players to interview in the Saints' locker room. He's knowledgeable, he's friendly and he actually puts thought into his answers. He's also got a good sense of humor, which makes the interviews that much more enjoyable. I'm apparently not the only one who likes Fujita. He floored a group of ...
John Lopez of CNNSI.com looks back on the tough decision the Houston Texans had in 2006 in passing on Reggie Bush and hometown guy Vince Young. ...CBS Sportsline's Pete Prisco has guard Jahri Evans rated #41 in his ratings of the league's top 50. He has only released his list from 26-50 so far, but there's little doubt that Brees will be in the top 25. ...
You know what I love? When coaches who just retired or were recently fired unleash on John Q. Public what they really think about certain players or coaches or teams. John Gruden, the former Tampa Bay head coach, is the most recent case of a coach saying whatever they want following a coaching tenure. And this time, Saints fans have to be pleased. Gruden called running back >> Continue reading: Former Bucs coach Gruden: Saints' RB Thomas poised to break out
It's done. And I'm fairly positive the players are happy about it. What did we learn from the final day? Who missed? Also out were WR Robert Meachem (hamstring), WR Adrian Arrington (hamstring) and DE Paul Spicer (groin)... The Saints will go through their final offseason workout today, finishing up a five-week process, including a three-day minicamp, of installation and team fun. Today we'll see who is playing with the 1's and 2's, or at least try to to have a final unofficial depth chart set before the month break heading into training camp. Saints news from around the world (or at least the world wide web): The Saints finish OTAs this week and all will go dark on the interweb with news about the team. OK, so that's no totally true. Folks who write for blogs and like to opine about things will continue to write about the Saints' offseason moves and what is expected from the team this upcoming season. That will never change as long as the internet stays in its current format. What also won't change? Drew Brees' name ... Hello from Saints camp out on Airline Drive, where people get in wrecks apparently watching practice. Yes, that's right, as the Saints were beginning practice, a loud crash was heard from outside the fence that protects scurrilous intruders from getting in. My guess is the truck that ran into the car was watching Drew Brees complete passes to Jeremy Shockey and Billy Miller and Reggie Bush. That said, onto the news. ...
Pat Yasinskas at ESPN.com was given the task of putting together 10 players out of the NFC South to build a championship team around. His first pick is likely everybody's first pick: Drew Brees. Jonathan Vilma was the only other Saint on the list. Carolina, by contrast, placed five players on the list. My guess is ...
Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline was in New Orleans this past weekend for the Saints' three-day minicamp. After watching QB Drew Brees practice and then stick around to work some more, Prisco came away with one observation - Brees is missing only one thing in becoming an "elite" quarterback. Brees has no championship ring, though Prisco points out that it hasn't been for la...
The internet was abuzz all weekend with Saints news. It was minicamp, after all. But things have calmed down a tad bit. There were still a few things written about the Saints. Here's a story I'll get to most likely during training camp. Bleacherreport.com says of all the players who could benefit the most from the addition of Gregg Williams as defensive coordinator, >> Continue reading: Today's Interweb Saints headlines: Harper benefits from new DC the most Yahoo!'s predicting some improvement from the Saints in 2009 and they say it all comes down to defense, defense, defense. ...Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com says the Saints want to go from being underachievers to over achievers - for a change. ...I know. It seems like it has been forever that we've spoken about Saints stuff, right? Today is our lone day of open practice this week. We have two more opportunities next week before the Saints go silent prior to July 30, when training camp begins at the Metairie facility. Injury report
According to the Twitter page of NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus, linebacker Dan Morgan has retired once more. Morgan previously retired after signing with the Saints prior to last season. He came out of retirement this offseason and made it through one full minicamp practice before injuring a calf muscle early in Friday's afternoon practice. "Dan Morgan has informed the Saints that he has decided to retire due continued injuries," Ro... After bashing runningback Reggie Bush last year and calling him the league's most-overrated player, CBS's Pete Prisco shifted gears, redefining Bush as the perfect evolutionary running back for the current NFL." He says that while he may never be a great runner, the other elements of his game, such as his speed and hands, make him a valuable commodity. But that's what most Saint... I'll flesh out an entire column later this afternoon on my thoughts from minicamp, but I'll bullet-point several topics I "learned" from watching five no-contact practices at the Saints facility the past few days.
I've seen a lot of football the past three days, but I'm not in the heads of Sean Payton, Gregg Williams and any of the other coaches. That said, I'll throw out a very unofficial depth chart. And by unofficial, I mean it originated between my two ears (comments on that are not welcome, dear readers). Much of it is expected and similar to last year's first-team, second-team depth. Here you go: Post Minic...
We've come to an end to practice here in the Metairie facility and the final day was dedicated to third downs and nickel and dime defensive packages. From what I saw, the defense played well today, making several stops during third-down situational. Honestly, not much stood out to me this morning. The defense appeared to be blitzing more than I remember from the past two seasons. And in the dime package, instead of stic... We've come to our last practice - the team hits the field shortly for today's lone session. What have we seen thus far? QB Drew Brees looks like he's in regular season form, the defense is active as all get out and the receiving corps looks like it's going to be deep this season. But - and story commenter buytheplace... It was only a matter of time before an injury happened because of the defense's renewed aggression during practice. And the players aren't even in pads. Under Gregg Williams' direction, the defense is required to continue trying to hack away at the ball even after the play would be blown dead under normal circumstances. This time, it went on too far. RB Pierre Thomas got through the first line of defense standi...
Malcolm Jenkins, New Orleans' first-round pick in this past April's draft, made his debut Saturday morning. And the fans were out in force to see it. Officials estimated more than 3,100 folks showed up for the final open session of minicamp, prompting Head Coach Sean Payton to once again declare that this city's fan base is different than any other place. Were there that many fans? I don't know. There were a lot of people out t... The second day of the Saints' offseason minicamp is about to get underway. This one is open to the fans; the afternoon is closed to the public. So, if you want to get your final look at the Saints prior to training camp in August, today's the day. But you better speed on over because it'll be done by 12:30 p.m. Saints news from around the Web:
News of the Day: LB Dan Morgan strained his calf early in practice. TE Dan Campbell will have surgery on Monday to repair some damage to an MCL in his knee. He's expected to be ready by training camp. TE Darnell Dinkins has a sprained ankle. Scrum Count: Other ...
The big news - and by big we mean, it's news - is that first-round pick Malcolm Jenkins graduated early and will be at Saints minicamp beginning Saturday morning. He was expected to miss all of minicamp and come to training camp behind schedule. That's not the case now. He should be on schedule and ready to go when the end of the July gets here. Observations Of course, we all know what preseason picks are worth since many had the Hornets winning the NBA title or making the finals, but it is interesting to look at, besides what else is there for an NFL fan to do right now? At least one picks up on what I've said - that the Saints schedule - on paper at least - is brutal. ...Just a quick shot here from Saints minicamp: This afternoon's practice is open to the public. It begins at 3 p.m. Saturday morning's practice also is open to the public. It begins at 10:15 a.m. We're about to head out to practice. I'll try to update this afternoon when we arrive back in the media work room. ...In USA Today Drew Brees talks about his faith in Pierre Thomas and the Saints running game. ... |
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