Dennis Allen said they asked him if Jamaal Williams could get a TD. He said no, he wanted to take a knee. He said the players ran that play anyway. He said Arthur Smith was right to be upset.
Brian Flores said he sent messages to the Saints and Texans prior to filing the lawsuit letting them know that would happen, but that he would still love to lead an NFL team. Flores interviewed with the Saints yesterday.
@TedJacksonPhoto
@NOLAnews
This is one of the best stories I’ve read in a long time, and the one of the hardest to read at the same time, especially the ending.
Tre'Quan Smith said that Alvin Kamara addressed the team after the game and said they're not playing 'Saints football.' He said it's the first time a player has addressed the team "in that manner," and it really meant a lot to him that Kamara stood up and did that.
Derek Carr was asked if was concerning that Pete Carmichael’s play call was overruled. He said no. Carr said players want to take care of their guys and sometimes there’s not much that coaches can do about that 🤷🏼♀️
I asked Cam Jordan his reaction to the final touchdown. "What do you mean? I loved it! I was mad Tyrann took so long to decide whether he wanted to score or not. Then we wouldn't have had the little 'How dare you score on us.' It's Atlanta Saints hate week!"
A.J. Green says he's loyal to Cincinnati: "When I got drafted, (the idea) was always to stay in one place the whole time, no matter what the situation is. I want to win. I want to bring something to this city. I don't want it to be 'Oh, A.J. left because he wasn't winning.'"
Defensive lineman Will Smith Jr., son of the late Will Smith, who played for the Saints from 2004-2012, signed with Ohio State today. His father also played for the Buckeyes, where he was an All-American.
So excited to announce I’m returning to ESPN to cover the Saints. It’s a big task to follow up
@MikeTriplett
, who is not only an excellent reporter but someone who has been a great friend and coworker to me for the last decade. Excited to hit the ground running this week!
Thrilled to announce I'll be joining
@TheAthleticNOLA
and moving back to New Orleans to cover the Saints starting Aug. 5. Louisiana. I'm coming home. 😁. We've got a lot of awesome things in store for Saints coverage and I'm excited to get started.
Taysom Hill said Drew Brees has been there for him every step of the way this week. He said "I look up to him so much ... he's really become one of my best friends."
Alvin Kamara: "We don't have an identity as a team. We're a team that says we want to do it and we don't do it and It shows. Consistently inconsistent. ... Everybody with a Fleur-de -Lis on their body and on their head. Consistently inconsistent. I'm saying as a team."
Demario Davis: “If you believe in the Saints and you’re a fan of the Saints, you should be excited right now. That’s all I’ll say.” He said the team is excited about this season for “reasons undisclosed,” that people will see when it’s time.
Alvin Kamara said "I just feel like there's too much talking, talking about what we 'need' to look like. We need to find a real fix, not just 'Oh we gotta be better.' We want to get better every week. That's obvious. Let's get past that. How are we going to get better?"
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has requested some of Taysom Hill's uniform elements to display (shoes, jersey, etc) following his career accomplishment (10 passing, receiving, rushing TDs).
Some personal news: Today is my last day at The Athletic. I loved my three years here, and being a part of building something from the ground up. This place allowed me to come back to New Orleans and I'm forever grateful. But on to the next adventure. Next steps to come shortly..
Cam Jordan was asked if the rivalry between the Saints + Bucs has gotten more intense. He said “Yall ask me that every time we have a divisional matchup. Is there a rivalry with the Bucs I don’t know about? … our only real rivalry is with (Atlanta) & that’s not really a rivalry”
Alvin Kamara on Dennis Allen: “He lied. During the week ... He didn't really say anything about it. But in the locker room, he was like, ‘Yeah, I lied. This shit meant a lot to me.’ I stick to what I said, we was going to go out there and beat their ass, and we did that"
If the NFL is going to hand down punishment for teams not following protocols, it needs to be consistent across the board, not just because one team's postgame celebration went more viral than another's.
Good news for the Saints: I'm told the re-test of the player who tested positive came back negative along with a negative rapid test. The rapid tests they did of the other players also came back negative.
The Saints really didn't have any excuses this season. Allen got to hire his staff after inheriting a lot of Payton's staff in 2022. He got his QB. They had one of the easiest schedules and for a while, they were pretty injury free. Maybe they put it together, but way too late.
Proof that Saints quarterback Drew Brees is just not like everyone else: He was at practice today, watching from the sidelines in a ballcap despite several broken ribs.
Malcolm Jenkins’ video was deleted but here is his Instagram caption and a transcription of what he said. He recorded this before he talked to Brees but wrote that he felt compelled to put it up.
Seems like Bengals fans would LOVE if they hired Eric Bieniemy. I really think the Bengals need to go outside of the organization for this hire. Hiring Vance Joseph or Hue Jackson just isn't going to bring the fans back, whether it's fair or not.
It was like a reunion at Saints practice today: Marshon Lattimore, Bradley Roby, Cam Jordan, Marcus Davenport, Mark Ingram, James Hurst, Andrus Peat and Trevor Penning were all there
Alvin Kamara's description of Jameis Winston right before the final TD: "We knew we had it. Jameis knew we had it before the snap. He came into the huddle yelling at me like 'Let's fucking go!' I was like 'what's wrong with you?!' But I didn't know he (already) had the play."
Scene in the locker room just now: Multiple IVs set up postgame. The Saints had a nasty GI bug going around and one of the players who had to get multiple IVs today to get through the game was Michael Thomas, who said he felt terrible and has barely eaten for two days.
Tyrann was asked a lot today about the boos and general atmosphere of the game today. He said the Lions chants bothered him more. He said at the end of the day, people in New Orleans want to celebrate you and be happy for you, but you’ve got to give them a reason to celebrate.
Bridgewater on Brees' help: "When you have a guy like Drew, it's like sitting next to the refrigerator and if you don't open the refrigerator, then you are a fool. You know what I mean? And you are going to starve. But Drew is that guy who you can lean on in a time of need"
Sean Payton said he cried when Jameis came in the locker room after the game. He was teary when he talked about it too. He's obviously really upset at the situation after how hard he worked this year. Jameis got a game ball.
Jameis Winston on that final score: “We got an interception to the 1-yard line. If we would’ve scored, would it still have been disrespectful? When you return the ball to the 1-yard line, you have the opportunity. We had the opportunity and we just decided.”
Derek Carr said the first place he and his wife went to in New Orleans was Chipotle because they didn’t know where else to go and they were laughing at themselves for it. “What are we doing?”
Last question to Kamara was about Dennis Allen facing his former team as a head coach. He said: "I actually forget about that, that he did coach there. Shit, we’re going to whoop their ass and make DA feel good."
Drew Brees' salary transaction officially went through today, reducing his base salary to $1.075 million and freeing up $23.9 million in cap room for now.
Right now the Saints are covering hotels, food, everything for the players and their entire families. Payton said he went to breakfast and there was a "ruckus" going on with fifteen kids playing touch football in the hotel.
Malcolm Jenkins: "New Orleans is family. I still have a place down there. My second daughter's middle name is Nola, because I love that place. I'm excited to be back in the community ... it feels like I'm coming back home."
I remember the night Ryan Shazier was taken off the field in Cincinnati and it was so jarring to me to see the game just go on. I've seen it happen so many times over the years but that night always stuck with me. I cannot even imagine how the players feel right now.
Little behind but if you somehow didn't see it: Saints/Bucs had 24,216,000 viewers, was FOX’s most-watched Week 1 national game since 2016 and was the most-watched telecast of any kind since the Super Bowl.
Some personal news: I’m leaving ESPN at the end of July. This was a difficult decision for me, however, an opportunity arose that I couldn’t pass up. Although it’s very bittersweet, I am incredibly excited about my next step, which I’ll announce later
Jameis Winston on Chris Olave: "Smooth as the other side of the pillow. Just real smooth. He can get in and out of breaks very well. Electric, and smart, man. He's a guy that's always asking questions. He's a guy that wants to know how you want it, and I really respect that."
Jameis Winston said he had no regrets about what they did, then added that he apologizes to Dennis Allen because it wasn't DA's call. He said it was a decision made as a team, for a teammate.
Derek Carr said when Jake Haener came off the field after his interception, he leaned over and told him "You know who else threw a pick in their first preseason game?"
Saints special teamer JT Gray said he can't even describe how he felt when Sean Payton called him to tell him he was making his first Pro Bowl. Said a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into getting to this point.
Drew Brees and Taysom Hill definitely have a unique relationship. I feel like often the aging QB resents the young up-and-comer, but it's the absolute opposite here. Hill called Brees one of his best friends, Brees looked like a proud dad on the sidelines yesterday.
Jayden Daniels wore his teammate Greg Brooks’ number today when throwing. Brooks was diagnosed with brain cancer in the fall. Brian Kelly said that’s an example of who Daniels is, because he’s always thinking of his teammates.
Sean Payton said he would be willing to be slimed if the Saints won this weekend. "Whatever that means. ... I will officially volunteer to be slimed if we win." NICKELODEON GAME LET'S GO
I know things usually regress to the mean, but Michael Thomas is blowing away his yards-per-game average right now. His career high is 87.8, set last year, he's at 109.4 yards-per-game with 875 yards this season.