Tanoh Kpassagnon talks about the growth in the defensive end room and why he came back to the Saints.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:07 >> Tyler, what have you seen from this defensive end group early on in camp?
00:11 Looks like y'all are getting after it a good bit.
00:14 >> Yeah, yeah, I think we got a lot of good energy in there.
00:17 We got some young blood in there and good competition.
00:22 New coach, he's really inspiring, just a really good positive thing to come
00:27 back to in the meeting room and he's teaching us a lot about the game.
00:31 He's been in it for a while, so.
00:34 >> What have you seen from Peyton Turner?
00:35 It just seems like being here from day one,
00:37 just kinda your confidence in the way you've seen noticeably different in him.
00:42 >> Yeah, definitely more confidence.
00:44 He's getting more settled in the NFL in general.
00:47 And yeah, man, he just goes out there, works, and
00:50 I think he believes in himself a lot more this year than any other year.
00:56 So I like seeing that.
00:58 >> What are some things that you worked on this offseason and
01:00 where you might wanna improve this season?
01:02 >> Well, pass rush definitely.
01:04 And we got a coach that's definitely coaching us to make plays.
01:09 So we all like that, playing within our system but
01:13 also being able to make a play when we see it.
01:15 >> And is there any specific reason you switched to 92?
01:21 Say like a guy you grew up watching 92 or something, just like a number.
01:26 >> No, it was my original number back in KC and throughout college.
01:31 Honestly, it got picked for me in high school, so I just stuck with it.
01:38 >> Yeah, 92 is not like, I guess it's like iconic number.
01:42 >> Yeah, I mean, yeah.
01:43 >> Reggie Whiteman.
01:44 >> Yeah, there's a lot of iconic 92s, I'm trying to make it a little bit of my own.
01:49 >> Yeah, yeah.
01:51 What's your impression of Brian Grizzley?
01:54 >> Great kid, first off, really good kid.
01:57 And he's trying to absorb everything from that room, him, Jordan, me.
02:03 Some of the older guys in his position, Roach, and
02:07 just some guy who takes film seriously, really good rookie.
02:13 >> How does he take film seriously?
02:15 >> [LAUGH] Well, he watches it, he sees, he learns off other people,
02:19 not just himself.
02:20 The coach will be correcting him, but
02:22 you'll see him asking questions on somebody else being corrected.
02:25 So you like to see that.
02:28 >> What's it like having a former teammate, Caleen Saunders, on the line with you?
02:32 >> It's actually Colin Saunders.
02:34 He'll remind you for sure, but no, it's great.
02:38 His energy, two rings, he got two rings on him.
02:43 And it's fun having him in there.
02:46 He's definitely somebody who comes to the room with a lot of energy,
02:50 a lot of just comedic relief, we could say that.
02:54 And yeah, he's just a great guy.
02:57 >> Where did Binky come from?
02:59 >> Binky?
03:00 [LAUGH] >> You call him Binky.
03:02 >> Yeah, Sir Binks, Bink, King Bink.
03:07 It really came from his high school highlights.
03:11 The bink is kind of like a dead leg move when you're playing running back,
03:16 you know when you stop and make somebody miss, that's a bink.
03:20 So he was doing that a lot in high school and it just followed with it.
03:24 He takes that in a pass rush and it's his game.
03:27 >> He's doing that as a running back in high school or he's doing that as-
03:30 >> Yeah, he was doing that as
03:31 a running back in high school and he's transferred that into his pass rush moves
03:35 and he's kept it.
03:37 >> Do you have a link to that footage?
03:39 >> A link?
03:39 Yeah, he does, bro.
03:41 Ask him, I'm telling you, he's got a link to his linebacker tapes in KC.
03:45 Like every single play, every running back play in high school,
03:48 he keeps that on him.
03:49 >> You made the decision to return to the team this offseason to buy my time line.
03:54 Was it that much of a battle?
03:57 >> I mean, I just love it.
03:58 I love it here in New Orleans.
03:59 I love the team, obviously.
04:01 Cam Jordan, great bet.
04:03 Learning from him, I'm learning from the guys we have in our room.
04:06 And yeah, I just felt like it was a good environment for me and
04:10 I like coming to work every day here.
04:12 So I'm not gonna change that.
04:15 >> Does the scheme and all that kind of play into your,
04:17 you feel like it plays into your strengths and everything?
04:19 >> Yeah, for sure.
04:20 They play me outside, they play me at the three tech.
04:23 They just put me where I can make plays, so I like that.
04:25 >> At this time of year, to what extent do defensive ends
04:34 deal with their responsibility to improve the offensive tackles?
04:39 And could you speak, if at all, could you speak in context of Trevor Penning and
04:44 the team trying to develop him?
04:47 >> I mean, I can't speak for him, but I know us in our room,
04:52 we definitely see it as iron sharpening iron.
04:56 We got a lot of good offensive linemen, one being Trevor.
05:00 And he's definitely been learning every day.
05:04 You see him coming out there and you see great plays out of him,
05:07 really, really great plays, and that's usually a bad play for us.
05:10 But you gotta remember that's your teammate, and we like to see that.
05:15 But I think it's just kind of like an iron sharpening iron thing,
05:19 or yeah, iron sharpens iron thing.
05:22 Come out and work every day.
05:23 >> What do you mean? Can you give us an example of great plays?
05:25 Maybe it's not easy for us to recognize, as it is for you, experiencing it.
05:31 >> Yeah, just coming off the ball, run blocking is pretty, really good.
05:37 And he's working on other areas of his game, and
05:41 you see him developing and getting better at it every day.
05:45 So we like to see that.
05:47 >> We've heard a lot from the secondary guys about things that Garakar does that
05:51 makes stuff complicated for them.
05:52 Is there anything that he does that complicates things for
05:56 the defensive line?
05:57 >> I mean, the dude is athletic, he's agile.
06:01 I mean, I remember playing against him in the Raiders.
06:04 He's just a good quarterback.
06:07 I mean, I've really been focusing on the tackle a lot.
06:11 So it's like when I get back there, I just see red and stop.
06:15 But in my head, I'm heading up.
06:17 >> [LAUGH] >> Yeah.
06:20 >> What's the excitement level going into your former team?
06:24 >> Yeah, I'm excited.
06:25 [LAUGH] I mean, yeah, camp got me not even remembering what day it is.
06:31 But no, I'm really excited.
06:33 Me and Colin have talked about it.
06:35 It's just something we've never gotten to do,
06:38 never play against our own offense.
06:41 And be seeing a whole bunch of guys.
06:44 I know Travis, all them, definitely be good to catch up and stuff.
06:48 So I'm excited.
06:50 >> How tough has it been just to deal with the temperatures of this camp?
06:55 >> Yeah, it's hard, man.
06:57 I've seen some guys go down.
06:59 It's really a full time job to hydrate.
07:04 And then once you hydrate, you gotta balance that out with waking up at 2 AM to
07:09 go use the bathroom and then trying to keep your sleep on.
07:12 And yeah, so it's been a lot more than just sweating.
07:16 [LAUGH] >> All you guys grew up with
07:19 the fall of it.
07:20 Is it really different now?
07:22 >> The heat?
07:23 >> Yeah.
07:24 >> Yeah, dude.
07:25 I mean, I couldn't even imagine doing two days.
07:27 I mean, I didn't grow up here, but still, some of the heat.
07:31 I was back at PA, it was some of the hottest days they've had out there.
07:34 And yeah, some of the two-a-days, the crazy standards coaches used to have,
07:40 like not drinking water was tough.
07:42 It's like, no, that's just not smart.
07:44 [LAUGH] But yeah, no, it's definitely a different heat.
07:49 >> What is a top grant that was brought to the room,
07:52 maybe that's a little bit different, that you can talk about?
07:56 >> Number one thing I think is just positive energy.
07:58 It's like they're reinforcing our guys, telling us how great we are and
08:02 great we can be.
08:03 And one thing you really coaches on is us making plays.
08:09 It's not necessarily always, or you wanna always be right,
08:15 but if you can make the play, make the play.
08:18 Where I see, I think that's where we're growing in seeing plays and
08:24 trying to go get them instead of just trying to be right all the time.
08:29 Yeah.
08:29 [BLANK_AUDIO]