New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton
Training Camp Presented By Verizon Media Availability Transcript
Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Opening statement: Obviously (we held) a little different type of practice the day before the game (today). There were a lot of mental situations – end of game, end of half. We got the young guys some work, too.

How much do you plan to have Drew (Brees) play, and some of those other starters?

We'll see. We will typically look more at a number count in regards to how many snaps we want to get the first group. There will be some exceptions with guys, some guys may not play at all. But we are going to meet as a staff, we'll kind of go through the waves, if you will – the first wave, then into the second half the second group, and then how we finish the game. We've just got to make sure the communication is good. We had a handful of snafus out there in today's practice and there's a lot of moving parts. But guys have got to be on the same page.

Did the rain affect how you guys practiced today?

It really wasn't a rain decision. Going in, we knew that Tuesday was going to be a good, padded practice and we knew Wednesday was going to be more like an OTA practice. It was more situational and there were a lot of different scenarios that sometimes you don't get to work on.

Do you get excited about the first preseason game?

Absolutely. You're anxious, you want to see how the young guys perform, you want to see how these guys are doing. And you also want to see your team and how they respond coming out, do they have the juice and do they know what to do. That's the first element in evaluating a player. For these guys to have success tomorrow, they've got to know what they're doing. And I'm sure there'll be some things that we have to clean up, but the energy and the effort – there's an expectation level that they have to take advantage of that opportunity.

Overall, how were the last two days?

Real good, real beneficial. I think outstanding. We got a lot done, we've got a lot of things that we've got to correct and sometimes, it takes an opponent or a different team to give you something maybe that you haven't seen in practice. But I thought really good.

What are some of the things that you would like to see from (quarterback Garrett) Grayson throughout the preseason?

I think it's going to be important that he gets in and out of the huddle. The first thing you're wanting to see a quarterback do is move the offense and score points, make good decisions, just lead the team while he's out there. He'll receive a lot of snaps tomorrow night, I'm sure Luke (McCown) will receive a lot of snaps, Drew (Brees) will be much more limited. But I think those are the first things we look at in evaluating a quarterback – how do you handle a third-and-10, or a sack? How do you come back when maybe you've had a bad play? All of those things.

You talked about pace (for Grayson) a few times last year during camp. Has it been better this year?

I think it's been better, but we'll have a chance to see it tomorrow. That tempo is different than in college. Our clock is moving much differently, so in and out of the huddle, getting to the line of scrimmage with the awareness of how much time is left – you don't want to see delay of games, or you don't want to see certain things that sometimes can happen with situational awareness as to what's going on with each play.

Will there be an emphasis on winning this game?

It'll be important for us to compete, embrace it. Within the framework of how we play guys, yeah, I want to see guys competing and I want to see them trying to win. It's a young team and we get a chance to work against a real good opponent, so it'll be a good test.

Did Devon Walker talk to you guys today?

No, that was Eric LeGrand.

What was his message?

He was just visiting with the Patriots and the Saints a little bit on overcoming adversity. He and the group did a really good job just talking about their journey.

Is Keenan Lewis with the team or is he in New Orleans right now?

I'll keep you posted.

The younger guys on this team that probably feel like they're fringe players, do they maybe feel a little bit more pressure to have an impressive training camp?

Listen, the sense of urgency has got to be there, not just with the young players. The sense of urgency has got to be there from one through 90. That evaluation of the veteran player: Can they still do what we hope and what we think they can do? Obviously, with the player with less experience, they'll battle with some of the nerves that they probably had yesterday practicing against a different opponent for the first time.