Payton talks in-game adjustments versus new-look Bucs, injured reserve rules, young talents Harris and Roach

With the season opener at home against Tampa Bay now just a few days away, the New Orleans Saints are wrapping up preparations for the Buccaneers.

Under Sean Payton, the Saints are 6-7 in seasons openers, excluding the 2012 season (opening day loss) when Payton was suspended. New Orleans lost the 2012 season opener as well with Aaron Kromer serving as Interim head coach.

Clearly, season openers have not been a strength during an otherwise strong regime.

Prior to last season’s last second 30-28 season opening win over Houston, the Saints had lost five straight openers under Payton. It took a 58-yard field goal by Wil Lutz as time expired for the Saints to end that losing streak a year ago.

In a conference call Thursday, Payton said he knows that the first game of any season will present surprises, especially facing a team with a new quarterback and some new weapons. What are the keys to adjusting on the fly in-game?

“It’s seeing it right away,” Payton said. “We played these guys in Tampa last year and in the first drive, we got a pressure, like a blitz, if you will, that we hadn’t seen from them and Drew knew there was a free runner, a guy unblocked. As soon as that series ended, that needed to be solved. You knew it was coming back again. That would be a simple version of what we’re talking about. Same thing defensively.”

Payton knows that the Bucs are likely to use their running backs more in the passing game than they did a year ago, thanks to the presence of Tom Brady.

“In Tom’s years in New England, it’s been a big part of what they do,” Payton said.

With new rules in place for this season due to the presence of COVID-19, Payton expressed his support for the expansion and flexibility of the revised Injured Reserve rules in place for 2020.

“I think it just makes too much sense,” Payton said.

Payton sees the role of Pro Bowl return man Deonte Harris expanding as a wide receiver.

“I think with the player, especially someone who is a free agent from a small school to come in who was a punt return, kick return guy, then, that began to expand,” Payton said. “Being around him, working with the receivers, understanding his skill sets. I’ve said it already. He could have had more touches and more involvement a year ago but it started certainly as a returner.”

Perhaps one surprise to make the final roster is rookie defensive lineman Malcolm Roach, a Baton Rouge native who played at Madison Prep before playing at Texas. He signed with the Saints as a free agent and made the squad. What are the greatest assets Roach possesses that enabled him to make the team?

“His physicality, his athletic ability,” Payton said. “It would be hard to say it was apparent early because of the way we staged into training camp this year. I thought he did a number of things well. He’s a strong player, he’s got good movement skills and he was one of those guys that picked up obviously what we’re doing very quickly and he was one of those guys that made an early impression.”

New Orleans Saints Defensive Tackle Malcom Brown
Video Call With New Orleans Media
Thursday, September 10, 2020

Is this week a little bit different than week ones you’ve had in the past, just considering that the Bucs have so many new guys on offense and that you have no preseason, nothing to really go on?
“It is different in that aspect, but kind of the same because we are still preparing for a team. Every year, week one going into a season, you don’t have that much film on that team already. It is different people that go to that team every year, so I would not say it is too different. Obviously, we have not had preseason games, and work on anything like that. But as far as it being a difference, there’s not any, you know, you still prepare the same way still going about things the same way we would if it was any other year.”

What do you expect when you face a Tom Brady lead often, even though it’s a team, you know, it’ll be his first time with the team and they’re obviously going to be doing some different things but what are some of the consistent things you think you can expect?
“I can expect to see running and passing the ball. I mean, we obviously will get out there and try to, you know, control the offense. You know, we obviously don’t know too much about them and that relationship that they have. And if he’s going to be running stuff on the field, or everything’s being called on the sideline. But as far as it goes, you know, that’s something I can expect, just for some run plays and some pass plays and go out there and play 60 minutes and you know, finish the game strong, start the game strong.”

Yeah, when you are facing a team that there’s so many new pieces, but with Tom Brady, he’s been playing the same offense for the past it feels like 50 years, but it’s really only 20 but, how do you balance scouting what you’ve seen from Tampa before versus looking at what Tom (Brady) has done before?
“You kind of just, kind of prepare for that team. You kind of take everything with a grain of salt because it is a new quarterback and he’s in a different offense and everything. But as far as it goes, we just prepare whatever the coaches put in front of us for us to learn and you know, go out and execute on Sunday. And I think everybody’s doing their best jobs just to get those things down, get those jobs done and hone in on everything they’re supposed to be doing. So I think that’s what everything is going on right now.”

What’s the balance when you’re playing a team like them that can spread you out and they got, you know, all the good receivers and then they got (Leonard) Fournette in the backfield too and you can’t really just kind of pack in the box like how do you ride that balance?
“Everybody’s got to execute their jobs and be where they’re supposed to be whenever either (Leonard) Fournette has the ball in his hand or there’s a dropback pass. Everybody needs to be, where they need to be. As long as everybody’s doing their job, the whole defense, everybody doing their 1/11th of everything, everything goes to fall in place and how we want it to go. Everybody needs to go out there and play hard and fast and just take care of their business and we’ll be alright.”

I think a lot of people are kind of just bracing for the weirdness of seeing (Tom) Brady in a Bucs uniform, but for you specifically, just having been this teammate for a couple years, have you got your mind around, what that’s going to be like for you?
“Not really. I do not have too much focus on stuff (like) that (that) I have nothing to deal with. It’s going to be weird seeing him in a different uniform. But at the end of the day, everybody goes to a different team here and there. I was there (New England), I am here now. So it’s just another game. You go out and prepare the same and you go out and do the same things you’d do wherever you were at. At the end of the day, your job’s on the line every time you touch the field, so. We just got to go out there and execute our job. Seeing somebody in a different uniform really does not make any difference. Seeing Tom (Brady) in a different uniform won’t make a difference. And we still have to go out there and play.”

I know you’re on different sides of the ball, but what are some things that you have seen that Drew (Brees) and Tom both have, what are some similarities between those two?
“They win a lot of games, (they’ve) been in the game for a long time, got a lot of success under their belts. That’s about as much as I give you, like you said I’m on a different side of the ball. So I’m not, never nearly that close to them to tell you any differences or what are their similarities and everything like that. So, I’ll say, that’s about as far as I’ll go with it, with the comparison with the two. They win a lot of games, very successful quarterbacks and lead their teams well.”

I was looking at the Defensive Player of the Year odds the other day, I think Cam Jordan was like, tied for 23rd in that. Do you think that guy gets enough respect league wide for just the play he’s had the last couple years?
“I don’t know and I don’t really know if he cares too much. Cam’s (Jordan) going to be Cam whether in the building and out of the building. Very self-motivated by himself and you do not need too much to get him going. And he is going to be who he is at the end of the day. So I definitely think he is overlooked in that aspect as a defensive player of the year. But he goes out and balls, he goes and plays and balls out every day. So I’ve got a lot of respect for that guy and (he’s) a great teammate, a great person in general, but, he definitely should be in the talk.”

What has been your impression of Malcolm Roach, a fellow University of Texas alum just on the field and in the classroom?
“He’s trying to learn, get everything down, playing really well. As far as we have been so far right now in camp and where we are in the season, that is all we can do, go out and try to learn. He’s always open-eared when we’re talking to him and everything. So he already has some good positive attributes about himself already.”

New Orleans Saints Wide Receiver Michael Thomas
Conference Call with Local Media
Thursday, September 10, 2020

Earlier in training camp, you mentioned that you think you’re going to break that record from last year. Do you kind of see that as a byproduct of winning or is that something that you actually kind of set as a goal for yourself?
“I just know I’m going to get open a lot this year. When my number is called and the ball is thrown my way I’m going to do my best to my best my ability to catch it and make a play for the offense. It wasn’t something I expected to still be getting questioned about now, but I guess I do set goals, but the overall goal is to win a championship and help my team win as many games possible.”

What does Alvin Kamara do just for the offense just in terms of even when he is not getting the ball, like coverages and maybe get you guys some different looks?
“He’s a threat. They have to have to game plan for him. They have to know where he’s at every snap, he has to be accounted for every play. So, he’s a threat on our offense that has big play ability. So, the smart defensive coordinators are going to game plan real hard for him and try to come up with ways to stop him or slow him down, but it’s hard to stop a guy like that.”

You’ve been working with Drew Brees now for a few years. Are you marveled or just impressed by when you work with him, you don’t realize that he is someone over the age of 40. He’s 41 and he’s still at a high level. And to follow up on that, when you’re seeing two quarterbacks playing in a game like this on Sunday that are kind of defying age, does that kind of inspire you and in a sense going I can probably, one day I hope to prolong my career to play that long like those guys?
“Most definitely. I have a ton of respect for (Drew Brees) and Tom Brady. They’re guys that have set a very high standard for the game of football as a whole. They’re competitors, they’re champions, they’re leaders. There’s so many great things about them that me being a young player can look up to and learn from, from how they handle their business. But the most important thing is just staying in the moment and maximizing the opportunity that’s presented itself to play with a guy like Drew Brees and maximize it to the best of my ability, but mostly just stay in the moment and when my number is called make a play for them and always be there for him.”

Are you kind of excited just see how this is all going all unfold just without the preseason, without going up against other teams in training camp with just like the addition of Emmanuel (Sanders) and Jared Cook being healthy, Alvin Kamara being healthy?
“Most definitely I’m excited to get out there with my teammates and compete and play for a championship, win a lot of games, maximize our game plan that our coaches have put together for us that they work real hard on all week and showcase our talents. It is going to be fun. Most definitely, it’s going to be fun playing with those guys.”

We saw Drew (Brees) throw it down the field to you a couple times during training camp, do you feel like that’s an aspect of your game and I guess an aspect of his game now too that is just maybe a little bit underrated and slept on by people a little bit?
“For sure, I think we have the ability to throw any route, catch any route and run any play in this offense. It’s just if we get the right looks or not, but I feel like when we’re on the same page and we’re handling our business and we execute our game plan and we prepare like we’re supposed to throughout the week, there’s not too many people that could stop us on anything.”

The wide receiver room is one of the few areas on this team where there are some new faces. You talked about Emmanuel Sanders. Are you excited just to go out there and really get a chance to play and see what you guys can do in a real game?
“Yeah, you guys just asked me that. Yes, we’re excited. Yes, we’re excited to go out there and play with the new additions on our offense. Yes, we’re excited to pick up where we left off. Yes, we are excited to be playing in the dome again. Of course, we are excited. We’re ready to play.”

This weekend, you will get to wear different names of victims of either police brutality or systemic racism. I’m not going to ask you about specifics because I know you’re still working on that, but what does it mean to you that you are going to be able to draw further attention to this problem that’s plaguing society?
“Just keep raising awareness. Supporting the people that don’t have a voice or may not be getting heard on a bigger stage. I guess it’s kind of just having a heart, you feel for those people. Anytime you see people being killed on camera by cops or seeing any type of brutality or anything of that nature all offseason, all summer, that kind of does something to your heart where you know it’s not right. We just want to keep letting people know that that’s not right and treat people how you want to be treated. I feel like that’s how I’ve always thought.”

I think a lot of people understand your abilities as a route runner. I just was wondering when that kind of started to click for you, when the technical aspects kind of really started feeling like that was an advantage for you?
“Every year, you have to find ways to elevate your game, to stay productive. Every time you take that next step, you have to find ways to answer weaknesses and have those hard conversations about enhancing your weaknesses and keep developing your strengths and enhancing those. So, just every year not being satisfied, not getting complacent and taking coaching. Looking in the mirror, but ultimately just taking coaching from Ronald Curry and C.J. (Curtis Johnson). They coach me real hard every day and are real honest in our room. They have a lot of talent, a lot of experience and I feel like they give me a great opportunity to go out day on Sunday and make plays.”

With the added muscle and the strength you put on this offseason, were you able to feel a difference during training camp and how’d that kind of show up for you?
“Training camp we are just going out there to compete and grinding with your teammates, building that camaraderie, going through those dog days and stuff like that. Once the season starts, we’re going against another opponent, but I guess time will tell.”

New Orleans Saints Safety Malcolm Jenkins
Video Call With New Orleans Media
Thursday, September 10, 2020

Malcolm, I was just wondering if you could fill us in on the project that I guess is out today on Peacock, Black Boys?
“So I started my production company, Listen Up Media about two years ago and this was actually the first project that I was able to come on as the executive producer. And I was really excited about the film because it really explores, kind of, the spectrum of the humanity of black boys and black men. Understanding that we’re not monolithic and really being able to display kind of the fear, the joy, the pain, the love, the creativity that is oftentimes left out in a narrative when we talk about our black boys. We’re oftentimes, we commodified the body, but completely ignore the minds of black men. And I think the film does a great job of really putting that on display, but also showing people how, especially in the education system as early as kindergarten, our kids are receiving messages about who they are and specifically black boys. And that humanity has been under attack since that, since starting at that early age, all the way through adulthood. So it is a project I am really excited to be a part of, and (I’m) looking forward to following it up with black girls and working with some women in the industry and maybe the Regina Kings’ and people like that who really can tell that story about what black girls are going through.”

I know we asked you a lot about how you called yourself a natural introvert before but I kind of want to ask you just about your comfort zone and being a public guy. I know you’ve talked in the past about even seeing a therapist a little bit when the pressure started to get to you, you lean on a lot of people in your life. I guess my two questions are, why did you feel the desire to push yourself so much and how has that comfort level grown as you’ve just taken on more and more?
“Well, I think that the comfort level of me, speaking on things and leading has always been there, but it’s something that is quite frankly draining. And for me to be worth anything to anybody else to lead, I’ve recognized that I’ve had to take care of myself as well and really prioritize my own health and mental well being. And so part of that is talking to a therapist every week because it’s not only the pressure of what’s going on in society are leading these different things, but just our job as athletes being in the public light, being in a performance-based business where your performance is your livelihood. A lot of that causes pressure and these are the things that we usually don’t talk about as men, as black men, as football players. But it’s necessary because a lot of us deal with anxiety, a lot of us deal with depression and I’m no exception to that.”

Obviously, a big matchup this weekend. What are your expectations? And what are you preparing for Sunday’s game?
“I think the expectation is to see a lot of new stuff. They have actually added a lot of new people, a lot of new personnel on offense, especially. Early in the game, we are trying to figure out what are the concepts and things that they traditionally do, their bread and butter that we have seen on tape from last year and years before. But you also know there’s going to be something that (Tom) Brady’s going to bring and add to that often. So I think a lot of it is, going to have to take some adjustments throughout the game. But they obviously have a very, very talented roster. They have got guys that can make plays all over the field, so it’s going to be interesting, interesting to see those matchups.”

This season with the Inspire Change program, you are going to be able to wear names and phrases. Have you picked somebody out who you want to honor and then what does that mean to you that you are being able to shine yet another light on all of the in justices, well as many of the justices as you can?
“Yeah, I think for me and our team, we talked about some different people we can highlight throughout the season. I think week one will be Briana Taylor for me. But we want to continue to do that throughout the season and draw awareness. But I think the challenge for everybody, not just athletes or NFL guys, but for everybody is to move not only with the demonstrations and the awareness, I think we’re in a place where we’re very, very aware. It’s how do we move to political engagement, and I think everybody is looking for what they can do. And there’s no way to avoid the politics of the situation, the policy and the people who have the power to actually create the changes that we want, and those being our elected officials. So, I think as a player standpoint, it’s great to raise awareness, but the next challenge is how do we ourselves, but also ownership and the league who has so much authority and so much power and leverage in these spaces, how do we get them to utilize that in a political manner to really change what’s happening on the street from a policy level.”

I have heard from a couple people that have credited you for having a positive influence on Patrick Robinson. Can you just speak a little on your relationship with him?
“Yes, P-Rod was drafted in the first round right after me. So we have been friends for a long while. I was one of the reasons he got to Philly. He had a great year that year, helped us win the Super Bowl (and) was a huge part of what we did in the secondary. I think P-Rob, like many other people, even like myself, I respond better and play better when I’m in a room with people that I trust and people that are dedicated and accountable to each other. You see guys bounce around the league a little bit and they’re different players, depending on which locker room they’re in. For me, and P-Rob believes we’ve been in some really good rooms together. Now, he’s one of those veterans like me, so I just think it’s always good to have a friend in the room.”

From your perspective as a as a defender, is it impressive to see somebody at the age of 40 or plus playing the quarterback position? Just not only the physical, but the mental toll on that? And to follow that up, how impressive and how cool is it that we’re going to see this Brees, Brady matchup on Sunday, just seeing quarterbacks still playing at a high level at that age?
“Yeah, I am 32 and can’t imagine playing this game at 40 or 40 plus. So, for me, it is impressive and I think everybody still has a tremendous respect for both these quarterbacks and being still at the top of our league for as long as they have been. They’ll both have a gold jacket at some point. It’s always good to see the best matchup.”

Along those same lines, I was wondering if you could just reflect on whether this game is special to you in any way in that you played with Brees in a Super Bowl, against Brady in a Super Bowl and have just encountered them in various times throughout your career. And now, of course, it’s the first time in the NFL’s 101-year long history that two over 40 QBs are starring in a game. What do you make of all that?
“Honestly, nothing. As a defender, my focus is on how I can make Brady’s life miserable on Sunday. I think that the special thing about this game, for me at least, is that it’s week one of our 2020 season. We’ve got a ton of opportunities. We feel like we have a great shot of doing something special this year and (this) is our first opportunity to really compete against another team and I think that’s what makes it special. Anytime we get a chance to test yourselves, I think that’s what the focus is.”