Erik McCoy only Saints player to miss Wednesday practice ahead of New England game

The first injury report for the New Orleans Saints ahead of their game Sunday at New England is slightly better than last week but still a concern.

Fortunately, only starting center Erik McCoy did not practice, due to his calf injury and is likely to miss a second straight game.

Six other players were limited, including three new names on the list in defensive back PJ Williams (back), guard Calvin Throckmorton (knee) and first-round pick Payton Turner (elbow), both of whom played in last Sunday’s loss at Carolina.

Those missing the Carolina game who were limited Wednesday included Marshon Lattimore (hand) and linebacker Pete Werner (hamstring).

There was good news in that defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon, who missed the game with the Panthers with a calf injury, was back in full.

The Patriots listed just one player who missed practice in linebacker Matt Judon (knee) while tackle Trent Brown (calf) and running back Damien Harris (finger) were limited.

New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton
Conference Call With New Orleans Media
Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Watching the film on New England are J.C. Jackson’s ball skills something that stand out?
“The first thing I see is their versatility. They can play a handful of their defenses with several personnel groups. They are extremely smart, extremely well coached. The technique, they do a great job of mixing up man and zone and so relative to Jackson, he obviously has very good ball skills. I think he has really good COD. Clearly they are on the same page relative to what they’re playing front and coveragewise. It’s a group I think moves well. I think they’re pretty stingy in the red zone. When you watch the tape, it’s a defense that communicates well. They present a lot of challenges. That’s what you kind of grow to expect in one of Bill’s (Belichick) and you’re seeing how they play. They’re one of the better tackling teams you see on defense. This year and last the tape shows you all that when you watch it.”

Do they look fundamentally the same on offense despite a quarterback change?
“Yes, they run the ball very effectively. They’re going to do a good job of mixing play action, hard sell of play action, second level throws that can challenge your interior hook defenders, guys that have a conflict on a play run or pass. They can get the ball down the field. They’ll give you some personnel groupings that are conventional, yet when they break the huddle they aren’t necessarily in conventional formations. So it forces you to sort through who your assignments are in man, probably a little bit more stressful than those man situations or how you’re going to deploy in zone. I think when you look at team and watch them not just in a two-game study, last year, the years prior, you have to battle all three elements. They’re one of the best special teams units in the league, statistically, they’re extremely athletic. You have to be able to handle the speed when we are trying to field and return a punt and then in Foxboro, the turnover numbers are going to be important. Under Bill since 2001 at home, they are 108-7 when they win the turnover battle at home. That’s your stat of the week.”

We’ve usually talked to you about how you look at other team’s play calls on offense and scoring plays, but do you guys do a similar thing with Bill’s defensive looks?
“Absolutely. We try to study the better teams. We’re not always necessarily right all the time of who we are looking at. Some teams, the film isn’t as good. Here’s the challenge sometimes, you’re watching New England defense Arizona, it might be a little different than how they defend the Saints or the Rams. If you’re watching them how they defend Baltimore, it might be different than how they defend (another team). He’s always done a good job of having a plan that week. But relative to the study yes, absolutely.”

What do you think about Payton Turner and the first game he played last week?
“I was encouraged. It was his first full-go exposure. I like how he’s wired. I think it’s important to him. He works hard and it’s something to build off.”

When did you guys identify Ty Montgomery as someone who could help on that gunner position?
“He can run. He’s a good football player. He can run. There has to be a little toughness there. I think it’s one of the harder jobs in football. One of the harder things to do in football is to beat a double team and so he’s one of a handful of a guys that we’ve worked opposite of J.T. (Gray).”

Given you are on the competition committee, what is your view of these Taunting calls being a big talking point around the league?
“I don’t. I think it’s a little like roughing the passer. I don’t think that all 17 crews are on the same page.”

Do you have any of your coaches that couldn’t return yet back on the field today?
“I’m not going to go through a daily update. I think within the next three or four days. There’s a point where you are just out of it because of time. You’re not longer contagious. That’s going to involve a handful of them by the end of the week. There’s no way with the current setup that these guys are going to miss New England because we’ll be at the ten day mark where there’s no longer any risk of giving it to anyone. I think we’re getting close to getting a few of those people back. Jamie (Meeks) our nutritionist is back. She came off and (we) go from there.”

What are your early impressions of Mac Jones and his development as a rookie?
“I think positive, really positive. He was someone that we were really high on. I think the he processes information fast. At Alabama if you watch closely his tape, the ball comes out, decisions are made fast. I think he sees the field horizontally as well as vertically well. He has the arm to make the throws that you want. His decision-making and processing are where I felt were really strong suites with him and I think he’s handling it well. It’s not easy to all of a sudden come in and start week one as a rookie, but he’s a smart player.”

New Orleans Saints Quarterback Jameis Winston
Virtual Media Availability
Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Sean Payton talked about how New England is very successful when they win the turnover differential at home. Can you address that?
“I think Luke (Johnson), that’s important every week. We know that this team, pretty much like our team’s been very successful when they’ve won the turnover battle, so we have to make sure we’re on top of that, focusing on ball security and making great decisions.”

Is that different with the effort with the coaches you work with here as opposed to in Tampa?
“No, I think all around the league, they preach that as the first thing, that a head coach will address a team and say in order to win this game we have to win the turnover battle and it starts with taking care of the football and then you can plan and play off of that. Every team is saying the same thing.”

You’ve had great games in your NFL career and some you wanted back after, what have you learned from that during your career?
“The biggest thing, is building on the positives and avoiding the same mistakes, not having the same mistake show up, not having that same action show up. The main thing is going out there and competing, but you don’t want to have the same thing happen through the course of a season.”

You thought so much about decision making all season, what was your thought after watching the film?
“I think the biggest thing is being in better first and second down efficiency, not putting yourself in position to have to make plays at the end of the game where you have to push the ball down the field, understanding just because you are capable of making a play doesn’t mean you should necessarily make it. I think it starts with the overall rhythm of a game, the offense, myself, going out there and executing.”

What stands out to you from the Carolina loss and how can you move forward?
“The biggest thing is being better on first and second down to give ourselves a better chance percentage-wise on third down. Developing a rhythm would be the second thing, just making sure we’re constantly staying in good downs and distances. Moving the ball, executing on third down so we can sustain drives. The third thing’s communication. Making sure everyone is getting the call so we can play fast and execute to our highest level.”

How much have you guys looked at the film trying to fix some of the pass protection issues from last week? Are you confident those issues can be fixed?
“We are. That’s just communication. We just have to get on top of the communication, make sure everyone is getting the right call, and make sure I’m back there constructing everything to get everyone lined up and sliding the right way. I’m confident in our offensive line because we have the best offensive line in the NFL and secondly, I’m confident in me being able to handle that (communication) process with those guys effectively so we can get the protections where they need to be.

When you were picking where to sign as a free agent, you partly picked New Orleans because Sean Payton had been here a long time. Bill Belichick has been in New England for a long time. From a player’s perspective, when you see a coach in one spot for so long, what level of respect does that bring for someone who’s been in one spot for 15-20 years?
“I think the respect I have for this game in general, not only when you have a head coach who’s been doing this for a long time, not just as a head coach, but being a coordinator in this league for a long time, you respect the value they bring to the game. Ultimately, knowing the players he’s coached (Sean Payton), the culture of winning, and the Super Bowl win. You respect everyone who has helped paved the way for the game to evolve to the way it is now. You don’t take that stuff for granted. You still have to compete against those guys. I still had to compete against those guys; I did it when I was down in Tampa Bay having to play against Sean twice a year. So, you still have to have the winning mindset to compete, but you still respect and value who they are as people (Payton and Belichick) and their careers.”

This team always seems to be one that bounces back after a loss. What changes do you make after a loss as opposed to the week after a win?
“You just have to trust the process. You clean up the mistakes and build on the positives. That’s the main thing. This team, we’re a winning team. We know how to win. We’re resilient, and we’re going to be (resilient). We just have to execute better and get the job done.”

You mentioned potentially changing how you are communicating during games. How will your role change communicating during the games moving forward?
“Just have a little bit more command. Just making sure everyone is hearing me clearly and cleanly so we can play a little faster.”

New Orleans Saints Wide Receiver Ty Montgomery
Virtual Media Availability
Wednesday, September 22, 2021

When you kind of figured out that being a special teams gunner was something you would be good at when did you find that out?

“I played a little bit of it in college. I know I’m fast and can make tackles. They told me this year I was going to play.”

One of the things that Sean Payton was saying that the difficulty of the position is being double-teamed. How do you view that?

“I just play to my strengths, run fast, knowing for the most part I’m a strong guy. I usually dictate where I want to go.”

You said in training camp you liked playing special teams. What about special teams. What about it do you like? Second on the two big plays you have made in downing a punt and making a tackle, what did you see on those two plays?

“On special teams, you play fast, it’s really a ton of effort. Sure, technique plays a role, but those two plays against Green Bay, I was able to get to the ball, I saw that he (returner) wasn’t going to be able to catch it, the other let him go field it before it touches the end zone. The tackle we made in a game was something we made, something we talked about in the game. I just ran fast, took my guy and took a shot..”    

What was last week and parts of this week like with several offensive coaches and Coach Galiano out?

“The voices and faces were definitely different not seeing a lot of the coaches there. We had a job to do, no matter who’s doing it, we know what to do and we need to go out there and execute.”        

This morning Sean Payton emphasized that New England forces a bunch of turnovers at home and often when they do it they win up there. I know you guys week in and week out, you guys place an emphasis on ball security. I’m just curious if that is enhanced?

“Yes, I think turnover differential is important no matter who you play. There are numbers people and their job is to look at numbers and if the numbers show New England wins a lot of games when they win the turnover differential, it definitely becomes a point of emphasis, but taking care of the ball is something we should emphasize week in and week out anyways.”        

New Orleans Saints Cornerback Paulson Adebo
Virtual Media Availability
Wednesday, September 22, 2021

How do you feel like you continue to grow each week?
“For sure. I think every time I step on the field, I’m getting more reps and I’m feeling more comfortable. I still feel there’s a lot for me to work on and continue to improve.”

How different was it without Marshon Lattimore out there? What was it like playing opposite of Bradley Roby last week?
“I thought everyone was prepared to step up. We have a next man up philosophy. I think everyone was prepared going into the week knowing what it would be like and just putting our best foot forward.”

What goes into creating turnovers and how much time do you spend discussing turnovers in practices and meetings?
“Yeah, it’s definitely something we harp on in meetings and practice, whether its strip attempts or something, just constantly trying to take away the ball knowing how big of a role that plays in winning games. It’s definitely a huge emphasis.”

How much would you assess this team’s ability to handle adversity and stay positive with being displaced with the hurricane and the Superdome catching on fire?
“Yeah, we have a good set up here. We have everything we need to be able to succeed. We’re taking it day by day and not trying to make any excuses. We have a good set up, so everything is kind of taken care of.”

What stands out about their offense to you and what is your assessment on a fellow rookie in Mac Jones?
“Yeah, they have a new quarterback, so there’s going to be, at times, being gun shy and stuff like that. For us as a defense, we try to focus on what we do and make sure that we’re keying in on our cues.”

Is there almost a light at the end of the tunnel knowing that after this week, you’ll be able to return home to New Orleans for the first time in over a month?
“Honestly, I’m just focused on playing (New England). I haven’t even thought about going back. To me, it’s just another week. We’ve got another game on Sunday. I’m just trying to put myself in the best position to be able to succeed.”