Opened up talking about last night's bowl game...
First practice with the game plan is today. Excited to play at home. Saints played great at Philly.
Said it's not like a divisional game but there is a familiarity due to having played them recently. Respect their team and coaches a lot. Lots of regard for Brees.
Asked about the difference in pass rush for our defense. Said our pass rush has made a tremendous defense in the overall defense. Said we are playing basically the same principals as before but with better results.
Asked who would get the Graham assignment with Wright out. Was coy and wouldn't say how we were going to play it. Said they could wait til game time to see it (no surprise there)
preached more on how the past is the past and we must prepare for the upcoming week just as we have each and every week. Said he expects neither team to worry about the last game
Said Percy is practicing today. No additional comment
Spoke on how well Russell played in the playoffs last season.
Noticed the Saints have run the ball more since they played us last time.
Will Harvin return kicks? We'll wait and see...if he's playing he's playing
Luke Willson will practice.
KJ Wright is the only guy not practicing this week. KJ Will run for them this week but is still out this week's game.
On Red and Mebane....said they have been the foundation blocks of the defense. Both have been so consistent.
On Clemons numbers down....Has played well. Not as many sacks....says he's been a factor in a lot of pass rush opportunities even when he's not getting the sack.
On Homefield advantage....doesn't guarantee anything but it's more fun for us to play at home than on the road...still no guarantee to win but it's a huge advantage. It will always be a focus to win our division and play at home.
Difference between now and last year playoffs...experience at the qb position and our additional pass rush and turnover ratio improved.
Did the team get to where it is on the time table he'd expected? Said he thinks it always seems to take too long. It's great that it's here but they didn't have a "time table"
Said the relationship between him and Schneider is the most important one in the franchise and that they work very well together. Says they will continue to be active. Always felt that the GM/Coach relationship would be the most important aspect of putting together a successful franchise and that goes for his beliefs across the NFL.
Seems to be lots of questions about the coach/gm relationship between him and Schneider. He's basically just rewording the same thing for each question/answer.
asked about the history of 1 seed losing to 5 seed...said he likes the ability to knock down history like that
How did Thurmond do against the Rams....he had limited opportunities..he did fine and continues to compete for his spot
on slow starts....not how you start it's how you finish....he's aware of the stat and would like to start better but believes it's how you finish.
On Wagner....Wagner is very consistent and excellent tackler
Saints defense under Ryan....doing a very good job. Overall season numbers are very strong. Noted for being aggressive with pressure 1/3 of the time doesn't expect that to change against us.
Can Percy be an asset having not played much? Yes he can. If he's healthy enough to play we will use him and expect him to do some unique things. Still have to see how it goes. We're basically on a day by day basis with him.
Offensive performances as of late...gives credit to the defenses we've played. Still wants to be able to run the ball and let the rest feed off of that.
on the 12th man donating to Lynch's fine and it going to charity...he said it says alot about the fans here and wants the money to go to something to do a lot of good. (maybe pete is pushing for a better seattle donation from Lynch?)
Rob Ryan's pressure defense...Said that some weeks they come with a lot of pressure and then there are weeks like against the Eagles where they use more 3 man fronts with less pressure. Said we really have to just be ready to adjust to whatever he's doing in the moment.
On our defense not doing a lot, just doing it very well...he said that everyone wants to just be able to run their base defense and stop everything, but that can't always be possible, but with our core, we can do that much more with the balance of our defensive talent. Says we can vary but when we don't have to we won't
