Training Camp still rolling along

Today the bad news was P.J. Hill going on injured reserve. Out for the season. So, the Saints bring in another running back Deshawn Winn(hope I spelled it right;just got the news). A former Green Bay Packer with supposedly a lot of promise. We'll see. Chris Ivory just moved to the front of the line behind Reggie and Pierre. Keep checking us out as the closer football season gets the more active we'll be. Now go watch Monday Night Football you Crazy Fans!

Still In Training Camp Mode.....

Good news Robert Meachem is back on the practice field claiming that the pain in his toe is still there but he will play thru it. If we were playing a game we all know there are deadening agents that will likely take care of any game time pain. Welcome to the world of antidotes Robert.
I meant to make a comment about this USC situation with Reggie Bush...................
WILL YOU GUYS IN THE MEDIA JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!!!
I am sick and tired of hearing about something that happened 5 or 6 years ago and ultimately is the fault of the Head Coach(Pete Carroll)! I don't see any one in the media grilling him! He knew EXACTLY what was going on and that is why he left USC. A local radio guy made a very intuitive comment...he said "I don't see USC giving back all the money they made on Reggie Bush Jerseys" and "I don't see USC giving back all of the Bowl money they received as a result of having a dynamic player like Reggie". I agree. When is the NCAA going to get REAL!!! If not for these players they wouldn't have these huge TV contracts paying their Universities MILLIONS of dollars every year. It's a business for them but for the students it's just for fun and games. And don't give me that B.S. that they get an education. If it was really about an education the NCAA would see to it that ALL students left with a degree. But they could care less as long as they are filling the University coffers. I really could care less if a college program gives a poor student athlete a place to stay with his folks or a new car to drive around in. I only wish I would have had that kind of talent when I was in college. I say WHO CARES!!! Enough already! Leave Reggie alone!!!
In other news as expected the Saints like having experienced players so they signed Ladell Betts for some insurance at running back. I guess will see how quick he can catch on to the system. This is definitely a stong signal to Hill and Ivory that if they want to make the team they need to step it up because Betts isn't going anywhere. Either Hill or Ivory will be out by the end of the Pre-Season. Right now it looks as if Ivory has the edge. We shall see.

Camp Notes......and other things

We made it thru with little or no injuries in Thursday's Pre-Season game. I do believe though we had a couple of bruised egos based on the way the First String of the Patriots handled the First String of the Saints on both sides of the ball. It took Drew Brees and the offense 3 series to finally settle down for a 20-play drive taking 10:00 minutes off the clock. Let's hope there are more of those and less of the 3 & outs we saw Thursday.
It is no secret that Sean Payton has scheduled a tough Pre-Season for his offense going up against teams that primarily use a 3-4 alignment. Payton purposely did that because when the games start counting we will play several games during the season against 3-4 defenses. Yes, they are more difficult to contain and that is exactly why Sean Payton chose to get as much practice as possible against that defense. Look for a much better outing this week against the Texans, a team the Saints and Payton are a little more familiar with. The Saints should have a little more success this week. 

Check It Out.....

Make sure you go to www.saintspartyreview.blogspot.com for my thoughts on Rickey Jackson and his induction into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.

More Camp Notes.....

I've been saying all along this years defense will be markedly better than last year. They have been showing all camp that they have a chip on their shoulder because they keep hearing from the national media that they are
"not that good" and it's pissing them off. The defense has dominated several times when the first strings have gone against each other. I will be surprised if they don't finish the 2010 season in at least the top 10 if not the top 5.
This will only help improve an already high powered offense motivating Drew Brees to work even harder, if that's possible. I will not make my prediction for the season until after the final pre-season game but so far it's looking awfully good provided we have no major injuries.

Saints Camp Notes....

Initial reports are that Pierre Thomas will be okay. I 'll wait for the X-Rays. As I talked about earlier, you just never know who is going to go down with an injury. The good news is it is early in camp and hopefully Thomas will be healed and ready for the start of the season. It appears that everyone including ESPN, has no more info than anyone else on the injury. As usual Coach Sean Payton does not believe in giving anymore to the media than he is bound to by League rules. We will not know the true extent of the injury until Payton is ready to tell us period end of story.
In other camp news Marques Colston, much to the delight of Drew Brees and Coach Payton, seems to be close to 100% and was back on the practice field. If Sean Payton learned anything from the 2007 and 2008 seasons it was that it is not necessary to push the veteran players or hurry them back to the practice field. They are professionals and when they have to can kick it up a notch. Archie Manning once said that some players just have that ability when game time rolls around to change gears fairly quickly and perform well on the field even though they had little or no practice during the week. I submit to you that we have probably several players that fall into that category. Players like Sharper, Shockey, Colston, McCray, Vilma, etc,etc,etc. These players are the elite of the NFL. I am not suggesting that they do not need to practice at all but more than likely these players could get away with less practice than your average player and still have a respectable performance on Sunday.
Condolences out to Matt Tennant and his family with the death of his Mom this past week. You really want to pull for this guy to make the team just because of how tough it must be on him. Considering we need a good backup for Goodwin at center, he should have ample opportunity to prove himself. Good Luck Matt!
Finally, the defense is just looking awesome in practice. Remember, they face the Number One offense every day. This can only make them better. If the our defense can stop our offense, there aren't too many offenses out there that can beat us. This just might be the year that our defense outshines the offense if that is possible. Time will tell.

Tracy Porter.....

I don't know if you feel like I do, but I highly doubt that Porter our best cover corner will be used as a punt returner. Especially in light of the fact that when he was out last year for 4 games our defense was noticeably lacking in cornerback play. Does Sean Payton really want to take that chance with a star player? You can decide for yourself. With all the talent on this team, you can't tell me that someone else can't backup Reggie Bush. If Lance Moore goes down, no offense to Moore, but we have a little more depth at that position. Players who can step right in as evidenced last year when Moore was hurt for most of the year. Do we have any one proven that can step in for Porter and not miss a beat? I don't think so and again that was proven last year. Now, with the addition of Patrick Robinson this year, we might have a suitable replacement but it is way too early to make that call.
On another note don't forget to check out my other blogs...www.footballfancrazy.blogspot.com and www.saintspartyreview.blogspot.com

Continuing Camp Coverage...

I am not saying I have ESP but if you read some of my previous blogs, you'll notice that I am way ahead of the local media. If you woke up this morning and read the Sports section of our local newspaper, it's almost like they read my blog then asked the questions. Gregg Williams basically was quoted as saying exactly what I said here several days ago...The MAIN reason he signed on with the Saints was the fact we had Drew Brees and the other team didn't. Not to mention an explosive offense surrounding Brees which makes him that much better. Williams knows on any given Sunday for whatever reason your defense can have an off day. On those occasions he likes knowing that there is a leader(Brees) on the other side of the ball who can bring the team back or if you like "COVER"  for the mistakes that the defense might have made. Williams is smart enough to know very few defenses can play perfect ball week in and week out. He likes that fact that if his defense happens to give up 21 points that our offense can rack up 30 or better. This is another reason why you see the emphasis by Coach Williams on running to the ball, stripping the ball, batting the ball into the air, etc to create turnovers. If his defense can create a couple turnovers a game, that puts the ball in Drew's hands for one more scoring opportunity. If by some chance with a little luck his defense can score as they did last year, then all the better. Last season the Saints had 35 turnovers of which 26 were interceptions 7 returned for touchdowns. I just love to hear the football gurus go on about how it is unlikely the Saints can duplicate those numbers. On the contrary I'll be very disappointed  if we do not improve upon those numbers. As long as we can stay healthy we should do better than last season in both the play of the defense and turnovers created. Jonathan Vilma already stated that they left a lot of turnovers on the field. This is a defense which realizes they missed opportunities last year and intend on improving. Watch out Saints fans this defense is just getting started.