Joe Vitt Gives Final Injury Update Before Facing the Oakland Raiders

New Orleans Saints Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers Joe Vitt
Post-Practice Media Availability
Friday, November 16, 2012

Opening Statement: “Today we installed our red zone, short yardage and goal line packages. We had a good practice today and we practiced well all week long. Zach (Strief), Junior (Galette) and Corey White did not practice today. They will be out for the game. Darren Sproles did practice today but he’ll be questionable for the game because there is some swelling in the hand. We’re going to monitor that and see where that takes us. Courtney Roby is probable, he went through three full days of practice. We’ll decide when we’re putting our roster together and our inactives on Saturday exactly where Courtney stands, but he had a good week of practice.”

What do you expect out of Johnny Patrick as he steps into the nickel role?

“We expect production. He is the next man up. We expect from him, at his position, exactly what Charles Brown gave us a week ago. He has been here since day one of the install, he knows this defense and he has been in every meeting this week, so we expect production.”

If Darren Sproles were to be active on Sunday, would you be comfortable with him returning punts?

“Yes.”

There has been a lot of talk of guys playing faster as they are becoming more comfortable in the system. Is that something you’re seeing?

“Yeah, I think so. Listen, that’s a staple of a good defense; the ability to play confident, quick and make plays. The more you expand mentally in a defense, the quicker, the more confident, the more violent you can play.”

Is it because they know the defense better or was it an effort to play faster?

“I think Steve (Spagnuolo) has done a great job of trying to cater his calls and his play selection based on the people that we have in the game and he’s playing to their strengths. Steve has a better feel for our defensive personnel, what they can and can’t do. I think he’s done a great job of cutting some things backs. He’s added some things but (has) really catered to what our players do best to play fast and confident.”