New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton
Conference Call with New Orleans Media
Thursday, November 24, 2016
When you look back at the contributions that Gregg Williams did for this team, how do you look at them in a positive light in the aftermath of what happened?
"Number one, I think he's a real good defensive coordinator. I was asked this by their media. He's done a great job and is doing a great job in L.A. right now. When you win Super Bowls those are important things and obviously he was a big part of that with our program and our team. He's trying I'm sure to do that in L.A. I think he's a good football coach."
What do you think of the job Dan Roushar's doing this year?
"I think he's doing well. I think as we were coming out of that training camp there were some uncertainties and I think that group's playing pretty consistent and we're seeing the development we talked about from a guy like Andrus Peat. I think Zach Strief's having one of the better years of his career right now. Max Unger and then there's been some subtle change on the left side of the ball. I think Dan's doing well."
Are the challenges of a Gregg Williams defense in gameplanning against him?
"The challenges are the players themselves. There's certain things they do defensively. There's certain things we do offensively, but (Aaron) Donald inside, (Robert) Quinn on the edge, the speed of the defense, corners, I think (Alec) Ogeltree is having a real good season at Mike. Those are the inherent challenges."
How underrated is Ogeltree in your opinion?
"He made the position switch for them. You're seeing quite him quite a bit. I think he has pretty good key and diagnose (skills). I think he appears to be a pretty smart player. He gets their defense going. I think he can run. I think he's very productive and just in watching each game, regardless of which one you put on. We've accessed plenty of games this year. We go back to last season and he's one of those guys when the game's over and you say what did he do in this game? He had this many tackles, pass defensed, one sack, one hurry. He's a good football player."
It seems like you guys are forcing fumbles at a higher rate this year, is there anything behind the uptick?
"I hope in practice the point of emphasis is what we try to make on both defense and offense (not losing the ball), because I think you have to practice it. You only have X number caused fumbles and if it's below the league average, we're not doing a good enough job coaching it and the same thing applies with ball security. It has to continue to come (from coaching). I has to be the most important thing and I think that it's a very simple formula the last two weeks. Four turnovers with Denver. We're still in a perfect position to win the game and we're fortunate to be. But four turnovers in that game and two the next week against Carolina, you're going to have a hard time beating last year's Super Bowl participants like that."
