Jake Haener talks about his performance in the Saints preseason finale against the Texans.
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00:00 - I mean, Carl was in for a while.
00:03 - Yeah, it was tough.
00:04 - It's all good though.
00:05 Things happen.
00:06 You gotta get better.
00:07 - And what's your, what was the biggest lesson you got to take away from these three preseason games
00:12 and get a lot of playing time?
00:14 - Yeah, you know, I thought every opportunity you get to go get reps and go learn
00:17 and see different defenses and different speeds and different things up front,
00:21 I think it's a really good opportunity for me to grow and make the mistakes that I need to make to learn.
00:26 Obviously, tonight didn't go our way and I made some decisions that I wish I had back,
00:30 but that's part of this game.
00:32 I'm a rookie and I gotta learn and I gotta go with the ups and the downs and take what's there,
00:36 but I'm glad that I had a really good group up in front that was fighting for me all night
00:40 and the guys outside, you know, AT to Lucas to Jantre,
00:45 they all did their part to try to help me tonight and it just didn't go our way.
00:49 - What do you think about Lucas' game?
00:51 I mean, obviously, people got to see it a little bit tonight,
00:53 but we've seen a little bit of that all throughout camp.
00:55 - Yeah, no, I think Lucas does a really good job.
00:57 He's been battling a little bit of aches and pains here and there
01:00 and he always comes out and is giving his best effort.
01:03 I appreciate the work he's put in this camp and the work that we've put in together this offseason.
01:08 The crazy part is I've never been through a round of cuffs before,
01:11 but some guys may be here and some may not be here,
01:15 so just gotta grow with the guys here around and appreciate the relationships we build all day
01:19 and just keep learning from it.
01:21 - What areas do you feel like you still need to grow in?
01:24 You think about it, I've been in this offense for 20 practices, 25 practices,
01:29 and I felt like I had a really productive camp.
01:32 I felt like I did a lot of really good things,
01:34 and obviously tonight was a little learning lesson to grow from and improve on.
01:39 I'm not going to let one bad game affect how I feel about being in this city
01:45 and affect how my training camp's going.
01:47 I've done a really good job protecting the football
01:50 and putting guys in positions to make plays,
01:52 and tonight just didn't work out for us.
01:54 Go watch the tape, get better, and improve.
01:57 That's all you can do.
01:58 - How was that Gatorade?
02:00 - Yeah, it got me a little bit.
02:02 I got a couple of elbows now.
02:05 I thought I was going to get a flag, but I obviously didn't.
02:09 Just trying to do my best, get the ball down the field,
02:11 and try to get some points for our team.
02:13 - Are you glad you were able to at least flash the wheels there for a bit?
02:15 - Felt like I needed to unhitch the trailer a little bit.
02:19 It caught me by surprise.
02:21 I kind of avoided it and made a guy miss and ended up making a play,
02:25 so it was good.
02:26 - Jake, I don't know if you look forward at all,
02:28 but have you talked to anyone about what role you might have in the season?
02:31 Because I know when they have three quarterbacks,
02:33 sometimes the third guy doesn't get a ton of reps in practice.
02:37 - I'm just going day by day.
02:39 I think I've shown them that I can be productive
02:41 and do a lot of really good things.
02:43 I don't think they expect things that just happen overnight for a rookie.
02:47 I think you've got to go in, you've got to learn,
02:49 you've got to go, like I said, through the ups and the downs.
02:51 I think I've had a lot more good than I've had bad this camp.
02:54 You guys have seen it, you guys have been there every single practice.
02:57 I think there's a lot to learn from, a lot to grow from,
02:59 but there's a good foundation where we're starting.
03:01 So just keep getting better.
03:03 - Is it tough to know it's going to be a while before you get another chance
03:06 after putting together something like this?
03:08 - Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's tough.
03:10 I'm a competitor, and every chance I get I want to be on the field making plays.
03:14 The crazy thing in this league is you never know when your opportunity is going to come.
03:17 I'm going to prep like I'm the starter every single week
03:19 and do everything I can to learn from guys like James and Derek.
03:22 If there's at some point, any point during the season,
03:24 that I have an opportunity to go play and do something, I'm going to be ready.
03:27 I'm going to put the preparation in to give myself the best opportunity to go play well.
03:33 - I know we've asked you this before, but having those 20, 25 practices with Derek,
03:37 just kind of being in the same room with him, the preexisting relationship,
03:40 how beneficial do you think that has been to you as far as learning?
03:43 - Yeah, I think it's been great.
03:45 I think continuing to build on the relationship that we kind of had,
03:47 I wouldn't say it was like a, "Hey, I know you really well."
03:50 I think coming into work every single day,
03:52 just kind of understanding what the type of guy he is has been great for me.
03:56 Just his approach to the game, everything he does, the family man he is,
04:01 I just think he's a really good person for me to model my game after
04:04 and try to model everything outside of this game after.
04:08 So I'm appreciative of him and everything he's helped me with through this camp.
04:12 He came up to me tonight and said, "There's a lot of really good things you did this camp.
04:16 Don't let one opportunity or one game kind of derail you from what you've done so far."
04:22 So I appreciate him, and we'll continue to grow together.
04:26 - Thanks, Jake. - Thanks, Eric.