By now, you know the deal. A few more pictures have come in, as they do everyday, so be sure to click Mickey and Archie on the right for more!
jeffduncantp Good morning Tweeps. Today's an "off day" so no scintillating camp tweets. To-do list: bank, cleaners, office, making groceries, laundry ...
jeffduncantp Fantasy football owners should do everything possible to draft M. Colston. "Big Trusty," as Brees called him, is primed for a monster season
saints83 I love the compitition on the field today between the O & D. It is making us a better team plus i love to hear guys talking trash
jeffduncantp Word is Saints will call off p.m. practice for bowling excursion. Team building stuff. The players will love this. Perfect time for a break.
GregBensel ST Coach Greg McMahon took Hartley, Morestead, Pakulak n Kyle during the AM practice to kick in the Dome and test thier footing on the turf
MalcolmJenkins Bout to do some team bonding at the bowling alley... should be fun
GregBenselhttp://twitpic.com/dj9ty - Archie Manning visited Saints practice this morning; talking with me and GM Mickey Loomis
ltorrence24 Coach thru us a bone today, no pm practice! Team bonding at the bowling alley! Do I smell a 300 in the air?
reggie_bush Going bowling with the team right now! Bout to show these dudes what time it is on these lanes! My best score is a 246. You guys bowlers?
saints83 TE Billy Miller made a sure-handed catch over LB Anthony Waters, with Miller diving as he hauled in a lofted touch pass
saints83 from QB Mark Brunell for a long gain - easily the most memorable reception of the day
Linkage
Friday Night Lights - New Orleans Saints official website
"Friday night is something I have thought about doing and set my goals to accomplish since I first started playing football when I was just a little kid."
-Reggie Jones
"It’s been a lot of hard work to get to the pros, it’s been hard work during the off-season and training camp is a challenge pretty much every single minute you are awake. Now, with a game a few days away, you start to think about them taking the nametag on my helmet off and putting the Fleur-de-Lis on there. That will be special."
-Reggie Jones
"When I was just a little boy, my father bought me a Walter Payton jersey and I would run all around our apartment and pretend I was a running back in the NFL game," he said. "The whole apartment was my playing field and I would juke and run and dive around. My dad and I would watch the NFL games together in our family’s apartment in St. Louis."
-Herb Donaldson
"It has been something I have thought about and worked really hard to achieve, and while it is a few days away, it is hard to believe that it’s actually going to happen," Donaldson said of playing. "You can never take anything for granted and I just have to remain focused on getting ready for the next meeting, the next practice and knowing what I have to do to get better."
-Herb Donaldson
"To be honest with you, that’s the reason I signed with the Saints," Donaldson said of his decision to sign a rookie deal with Black-and-Gold, despite the fact that many other teams also coveted him.
"I know that the Saints give their rookies a real chance to show what they can do. I look at Pierre and Lance and know they have done it and they took their abilities and let them shine in preseason games and know they are huge parts of this team."
-Herb Donaldson
"I am still excited, a bit nervous and juiced up for the first game," Thomas said. "You want to see another team, compete to win with a scoreboard keeping track and impress your teammates, coaches and the fans. Absolutely it is exciting."
-Pierre Thomas
"I think the one thing that I notice is that the really, really good players focus properly and get their minds right for the games, regardless of if it’s preseason, regular season or postseason games. They approach it the same and it’s something I will be looking for," he said. "This is serious and we want to see the same approach from our players."
-Sean Payton
"I have talked to a few veterans and they have said the key is to try to relax and not get so worked up that you forget what you are supposed to be doing," Jones said. "Sure it’s exciting, but at the same time I need to go out and do the things I do each day in practice and hope to get an opportunity to make some plays and open some eyes. There is a lot of pressure."
-Reggie Jones
Saints: Tuesday morning practice notes - NewOrleans.com
New Orleans Saints injury report: Rookie Chip Vaughn will have arthroscopic knee surgery - Times-Pic
New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton "bowls'' team over with afternoon plans - Times-Pic
New Orleans Saints linebacker Mark Simoneau has torn triceps - Times-Pic
Day 12 Notebook - New Orleans Saints official website
New Orleans Saints run defense plays with "swagger,'' stuffs offense in 9-on-9 goal line - Times-Pic
"Before practice, coaches wanted us to focus on attitude,'' defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis said. "That's mainly what defensive stands are all about. It's not so much about the Xs and Os of the system because mainly all the defensive goal-line schemes are pretty much the same. But it's an attitude of the guys who are playing in the scheme. Before practice we had a conversation about it and I think our guys just took it to heart.''
-Sedrick Ellis
"When you get down to goal line, it's about d-line play and how they step up and how they knock back the offensive line,'' Fujita said. "There wasn't a whole lot for anybody else to do today because they were knocking them back 3 yards off the line of scrimmage. When you do that, it makes goal line defense pretty easy.''
-Scott Fujita
"It's all about swagger,'' Bush said. "I think that's going to help us and help our defense. Our defense has to have swagger and so does our offense. If we develop a swagger as a team, that's just going to make us that more dangerous.''
-Reggie Bush
New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton says Derrick Brooks graded out at a high level last season - Times-Pic
Video: Henderson: Bringing in LB Brooks big news - WWL
Deshazier: Another NFL Hall of Fame vote passes without naming N.O. Saint Rickey Jackson - Times-Pic
"It's not even a question," said former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert, who played all seven of his Saints seasons (1985-89 and 1991-92) with Jackson (1981-93). "To me, it's not even a question.
"Rickey was the kind of player, teams were aware of him and Pat (Swilling). That year that Pat won Defensive Player of the Year, Rickey had a lot to do with that."
-Bobby Hebert
Video
| Video: New Orleans Saints practice August 11, 2009 |
Sean Payton Press Conference Transcript
From the New Orleans Saints official website
Opening Statement:
"A couple of injury notes to keep you guys up to speed - Mark Simoneau is going to have surgery. He has a torn triceps on his right side and that procedure is going to be done tomorrow.Courtney Roby has a hamstring that he's battling a little bit. Tracy Porter has a slight hamstring that he's battling a little bit. Both of those guys are rehabbing well. Chip Vaughn has a meniscus in his left knee and he's going to have a scope done today. D'Juan Woods is working with a little nerve in his neck; we're giving him an injection and we'll see where he's at. He seemed to respond a little better today."
NFL Network is reporting that Derrick Brooks is coming in for a visit. Is that accurate and does that have anything to do with Mark Simoneau's injury?
"We have a couple of players coming in for workouts. Typically we wait until they're here to comment on them but Derrick will be one of those guys that we'll work out and Derek Smith will be the other one that we work out. We have two linebackers coming in to work out. They'll be in this evening and we'll work them out tomorrow."
What do you generally want to get accomplished in your first preseason game and is this preseason more important to your defense than your offense?
"It's not any more important to any one group. Obviously it's an important part for us to evaluate. We have a lot of players that we need to see in live action, so number one is evaluation. Then number two is that it's the first chance that we get to play a game against another opponent. That carries a lot of weight."
How much do you think Derrick Brooks still has in the tank?
"That's a good question. We're bringing him in to work him out to see. When we graded him last year prior to him getting nicked up and injured, we felt like he was still playing at a high level. He's an intelligent player; he's instinctive; he's a guy that has really been a pain for us over the years. We have a lot of respect for his ability and we'll see when he comes in."
Did you ask Jon Gruden about him?
"Yes. He was real positive."
Was it a deal where maybe he was just making too much money for the Bucs to keep him around?
"There's a point where you begin to start with some younger players. With Simoneau's injury, we want to take a look at who's out there and it gives us a chance to look at a couple of players."
What are the prognoses for Simoneau and Vaughn?
"The triceps injury for Mark is more significant than the meniscus for Chip. We went through this with Hollis Thomas and Charles Grant and it's going to take a while. With Chip, when they go in today and do the repair via the scope, they'll get a feel for the type of damage and I'll be able to give you more information after the report."
Do you plan to put Simoneau on injured reserve?
"No plans on that right now."
How did the work on the goal line go today?
"It's an emphasis for us - an area that we feel we need to improve on. We're looking closely at what we're trying to do. I think our defense did a good job today and it was a live, competitive drill. We need more of that and hopefully we can get into some situations Friday night where we can get a chance to evaluate it in a game."
Are you working more on keeping the back side out?
"We're looking closely at what we're trying to run and how we're handling the fronts."