Dennis Allen meets with the media following Saints practice on Saturday, updating everyone on injuries and more.
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00:00 Alright guys, so just update on the injuries.
00:04 It looks like you know Benjamin has ruptured Achilles.
00:09 They sent him over for imaging so that was the initial diagnosis.
00:14 We held Brian Berzy out with a calf injury.
00:19 Doesn't seem like that's going to be anything of significance.
00:22 We also held out Demario Davis.
00:25 He went over for some imaging on his calf.
00:29 I don't believe any of these to be serious, but they are soft tissue injuries.
00:35 Rashid Shaheed and Traquan Smith both left practice with a groin.
00:39 So we'll have to evaluate those guys and see where we're at.
00:43 But it does look like he's got a ruptured Achilles.
00:48 Do you think this is the time of camp when things start to happen?
00:52 This is when it generally occurs.
00:56 It's part of the nature of the business that we're in.
01:01 But yet we've got to look at it and see what can we do as a team.
01:05 Both as the individual and me as the head coach to try to prevent these as best we can.
01:13 What's your reaction to the suspension to Allen?
01:18 Yeah, well look, anytime you're going to lose one of your better players
01:21 for any period of time, it's disappointing.
01:27 But I think a three-game suspension is a pretty good outcome for us.
01:33 We'll adjust accordingly and kind of move forward.
01:37 It's really not going to change a lot with our plans with what we're doing right now.
01:41 The great thing about it is we know what it is
01:44 and we know that we're going to have Alvin for 14 games.
01:47 And so he'll still be a big part of what we're doing.
01:50 Alvin said yesterday that once he talked to Roger Goodell,
01:55 he felt like a weight off of his shoulder.
01:57 He said he was living with this even all of last season.
01:59 Did you feel that in him and can you see?
02:02 Yeah, I think you could see at times where there was a pretty heavy burden on him.
02:10 And so when you have something like that that's kind of hovering over you,
02:13 it's challenging to fight through.
02:16 I thought he did a pretty good job of that.
02:19 But, yeah, I sense a little bit of relief that there's some finality to this.
02:24 We know what the outcome is.
02:27 We go forward from here and start making the adjustments that we need to make.
02:33 And for a planning purpose, I'm guessing it's just a no-no exactly what you get.
02:37 Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
02:39 Like I said, it's not changing a lot of what we're doing right now.
02:43 As we get closer to that opener, we'll have to kind of adjust.
02:48 Yeah, it looked like Kendra went down at some point and then got back in practice.
02:52 Yeah, it was a jaw, TMJ or something like that.
02:58 I don't know, it's some medical term that I don't understand.
03:00 But he got back in practice.
03:03 And so you feel like it was a little -- because we saw some big hits like that,
03:07 it felt like it was a more physical practice today.
03:10 Was that kind of --
03:12 Well, look, I think when you get down there in the low red
03:16 and the ball's on the two-yard line, there's not a lot of space
03:21 and everybody's highly competitive and defense is trying to keep them out
03:24 and offense is trying to get it in the end zone.
03:26 So I think just the nature of where the ball was gets it a little bit more
03:31 physical and more competitive.
03:33 Was that in general you wanted that kind of, I guess, pace to practice today?
03:39 Well, I don't know that it was by design to get more physical,
03:43 but yet I was certainly aware of where the ball was
03:47 and how that affects how guys play.
03:51 But, look, it was good to see.
03:55 What did you think of the overall hands-on work today?
03:59 Overall, I thought it was good work.
04:01 There's certainly some things that we've got to clean up on both sides of the ball.
04:07 I thought there was a little bit of give and take there.
04:11 I thought there were some plays that the defense made.
04:13 I thought there were some plays the offense made.
04:15 But Lucas Kroll had a really good day down there in the red area.
04:17 So that was good to see that young player going out and making some plays.
04:21 I was going to ask you about Kroll.
04:23 You guys brought in a bunch of hands and stuff.
04:27 Where does he kind of fit into that mix?
04:30 Look, I think he's right there in the mix.
04:33 Obviously, there's some veteran players in that room,
04:36 and he's kind of the young guy of the group.
04:40 I think that forces you to kind of step up and answer the call.
04:45 I think that's what he's done.
04:46 Is he farther ahead of the task at your age right now?
04:50 I think that would probably be accurate to say, yeah.
04:53 But I think he's getting better as a run blocker.
04:56 Coach, is there anything you see that he's prepared to take a turn at the veterans?
05:03 Well, I'd say he's certainly behind those guys right now.
05:09 He's getting acclimated to NFL football.
05:14 He's been put in a position where he's in a pretty good room.
05:18 We've got a pretty good group of defensive ends.
05:21 There's a lot of competition there.
05:23 But, look, he's working hard.
05:24 He's practicing hard.
05:25 And I do see improvement every day he goes out there.
05:27 So, he's got a long way to go.
05:30 But, you know, again, like a lot of our guys, I like the way they're working.
05:34 I think they're heading in the right direction.
05:36 I assume Penning, Ruiz, and Baylor were scheduled rest days.
05:41 Correct.
05:42 What -- yesterday was another one of those days where Penning got kind of
05:46 doubled around, so it looked like a team.
05:48 What's the evaluation?
05:49 How are you looking at seeing these?
05:52 Yeah, I'd say there's still some up and down with him.
05:56 You know, there's some really good reps, you know,
05:58 I think particularly in the run game.
06:01 And then there's a lot of things that he's got to improve on.
06:03 But the only way he's going to get that improvement is if he goes out there
06:06 and gets a rep.
06:07 So, you know, we're trying to -- when we have him out there,
06:11 we're trying to, you know, soak him with some reps.
06:15 Dennis, where do you see Anthony Johnson working in terms of that?
06:19 Yeah, look, he's a young guy that's, again, you know,
06:24 it's another position group that I think, you know, we're pretty strong at.
06:29 And so, look, I'd say he's fighting an uphill battle, but yet every day, you know,
06:34 there's something good I see and there's something that needs to get corrected.
06:38 So, as with all these young players, man, just put your head down, go to work,
06:42 take the coaching, don't make the same mistakes twice,
06:47 and learn from everything you're doing.
06:51 Dennis, with the -- some of the suspensions around the league with gambling,
06:56 I'm sure you all addressed that early on to your team.
06:59 Like how important is that to emphasize what you see going on?
07:04 Yeah, look, obviously that's important.
07:07 I mean, it's clearly important to our league, and so we've got to treat it as such.
07:14 And so, you know, we've had a couple of educational opportunities with our guys.
07:19 And, you know, the best we can do is make sure they fully understand exactly what
07:25 the policy is and make sure they're abiding by the policy.
07:29 So, you know, the reality is with what we've done, there really shouldn't be any excuses.
07:37 You know, it's guys knowing that it's a serious deal with the league
07:42 and, you know, kind of taking it as such.
07:46 [Inaudible]
07:57 Yeah, I think Carl's just understanding of, you know,
08:03 obviously what we're doing defensively, but I think as much as anything,
08:06 is understanding, you know, how the offense is trying to attack him.
08:11 You know, when you really talk about when he first got here,
08:15 I think he was, you know, 237 pounds or something like that.
08:19 He's right in around 282, 285 in that area right now.
08:24 So he's a much more physical run player.
08:27 He's always had some pass rush ability,
08:29 but he's a much more physical run player than when we first got him.
08:32 So -- and look, I think that's a testament, you know, to the player.
08:37 I've said this before.
08:39 When you have a player that has talent like he does
08:44 and has the work ethic like he does, they can't help but get better.
08:47 And that's really the type of guys we try to bring into this program.
08:54 Okay, guys, thanks.