On Monday, New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore made public a decision he believes will best help boost the Saints' run game, which currently ranks 28th in the NFL at 86 yards per game.
Run game coordinator T.J. Paganetti was fired over the weekend as the Saints (2-5) returned from their bye and began preparing for Sunday's game against Cleveland (5-3) in the Caesars Superdome.
"T.J. is a really good coach," Moore said. "I just felt like coming out of the bye week, we needed to make adjustments (in) workflow, and I felt like this was going to be beneficial to the workflow of our staff. We'll make a few adjustments as far as our weekly schedule from a staff perspective; some of the responsibilities — we'll keep those in-house. I think we can make some really good improvements moving forward in all three phases.
"These things aren't fun at all, and I feel like this will give us a path moving forward that will create a little bit of a flow and a sequence that I think will be beneficial for our guys. And then we'll make some adjustments internally as the week goes and I think that'll be good for us."
But while Moore ultimately made the decision, center Erik McCoy took it upon himself to shoulder much of the blame.
"I take 100 percent responsibility," McCoy said. "I do feel like it is my job to get all of us on the same page. And I have not done a good enough job. That starts and ends with me. I put that on my shoulders, I take that."
McCoy, in his eighth season, said any dismissal is an indictment on everyone.
"It sucks, man," he said. "I think he's a hell of a coach. At the end of the day, when somebody gets fired — whether that's head coach, coordinator, position coach, somebody else — it's an indictment on us, as well. Because we didn't execute the scheme good enough, we didn't execute what we were coached good enough. So it sucks because it is somebody else's livelihood as well.
"I just think, it starts with me when it comes to communication up front. Getting everybody across the line — whether that's tight ends, fullbacks, whatever — on the same page. And I haven't done a good enough job of that. I have to take ownership and accountability for the role that I played in it, and come into this week with a fresh set of eyes and be hypercritical of myself."
Moore said offensive line coach Brendan Nugent will lead run game structure during the week, and running backs coach Joel Thomas, who inputs on situational run game scenarios, will continue in that role.
"The rest of the staff will be a part of those conversations as we build it," Moore said. "Most of the stuff, at the end of the day, starts with me putting (together) a structure I think can help us.
"We'll make a few adjustments here and there as far as our staff workflow and trying to maximize everyone's abilities and different things that we can do. I think that'll be a good plan and put us in position...Because there's been some good stuff in the run game, it just hasn't been consistent for us. That starts with me and just getting this thing where we need it to go. We've got to find something that works for us and I think we can."
New Orleans has had a pair of productive rushing games: 148 yards on 28 carries against the Raiders, and 175 yards and a touchdown on 38 carries against the Giants.
But those have been surrounded by these: 27 carries for 65 yards and a touchdown against Baltimore; 19 carries for 50 yards and two touchdowns against Atlanta; 55 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries against Minnesota; and 18 yards on 17 carries against Pittsburgh in Paris.
"There's elements of what we do from a presentation standpoint — there's the back end of putting together the gameplans," Moore said. "And so, Nuge has done some of the installations in front of the team. I think we'll keep that consistent. There'll be some other changes as we go, but this is just trying to maximize our workflow."
McCoy said he welcomes new perspectives to the process.
"I don't think I can pin it on (Paganetti), or on a specific person," McCoy said. "I feel like it's all of us involved. From coordinators, position coaches to all five, six, seven, eight of us in the blocking schemes. Coming off the bye week I think it has to be an emphasis on the communication, everybody getting in the right place."
Moore said the bye week presented the right opportunity for the change.
"Bye weeks — you're really trying to spend as much time just studying everything that we've accomplished and done and the things that we can improve on, and kind of the back end of the weekend, felt like maybe this was the best solution for us," he said. "Some of the adjustments we'll do schematically and fundamentally, some of the adjustments we'll do from our workflow standpoint. Felt like this was the most beneficial thing we can do. I think it was important to take the emotions out of our loss against Pittsburgh and all the things that go into games, and just get back to studying everything and making really clean decisions."
IR UPDATE: Several players on injured reserve — including rookie receiver Jordyn Tyson (hamstring), running back Travis Etienne Jr. (hamstring) and left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. (ankle) — could possibly practice this week.
"The IR guys (are) still to be determined," Moore said. "They'll have some work (Monday) with the training room and then we'll make a decision whether Wednesday is the ideal time to bring them up and make their practice availability."
