Dennis Allen talks about the Saints practice squad and other moves following Wednesday's practice.
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00:00 All right, I don't have any opening statements for you, so I'll just go ahead and start taking
00:07 questions.
00:08 Yeah, I think after getting it, that's part of the issue with, you know, you start talking
00:25 a lot about injuries and there's still a lot of evaluation and things of that nature that
00:31 have to go through.
00:32 And so it was obviously a lot better than what we thought.
00:35 So yeah, he's healthy.
00:36 He was back out there practicing today.
00:37 I just think he's smart.
00:38 He's instinctive.
00:39 He's been a productive player in our league.
00:48 And so I felt like having, you know, when you really think about the linebacker room
00:54 right now, you'd say there's a lot of kind of young players.
00:58 I mean, Pete Warner's in his third year.
01:02 And so I thought having another veteran that's played a lot of football in the NFL was kind
01:06 of important to have around.
01:09 Yeah, well, look, you only get 53 spots and you're trying to, it's a, we've got 53 puzzle
01:20 pieces and you're trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
01:23 And so there's a lot of manipulation that goes along with that.
01:28 So I think it was just, you know, a factor of trying to make sure we get the right 53
01:33 and then who can we get on the practice squad.
01:36 Is anyone definitely going to injured reserves?
01:40 No, no, nobody, nobody as of right now that I see going to IR.
01:46 The new practice squad rules, keep the veterans on there, pre-elevation, how much does that
01:56 change?
01:57 Well, look, I think it just gives you a little more flexibility.
02:04 You know, if you have zero injuries, which very rarely happens in our league, then it
02:12 probably doesn't affect it very significantly.
02:15 If you have injuries, then it gives you more flexibility in terms of the things that you
02:19 can do.
02:20 What's kind of the nature of your guys this week?
02:23 Like what's the focus?
02:25 Is it soft scout?
02:26 Is it all or more?
02:27 Yeah, I think we've kind of started to turn our attention towards the opener and towards
02:33 Tennessee.
02:34 We'll get some, we'll get some periods tomorrow to work on those guys.
02:40 Do you like this new schedule?
02:43 Like having to begin off for players and stuff?
02:46 Is that good?
02:48 Yeah, I mean, look, I think, I think as far as I can go back, you know, we've typically
02:57 given guys a couple of days, you know, off.
03:00 So really we're giving our guys, you know, three days off at the end.
03:04 The only difference really becomes instead of getting ready to play a game tomorrow as
03:09 your last preseason game, you're able to kind of turn your attention maybe a little bit
03:14 more towards, you know, who you're playing in the opener.
03:21 Coach, what do you like out of John Trae for going to Adam in practice?
03:24 Look, he's just a guy that came in and came to work every day.
03:28 You know, he provides some value on special teams.
03:33 I think he's tough.
03:36 And, you know, he's a guy that I think has some developmental qualities that we can
03:42 work with.
03:45 What do you like about the different skill sets of your quarterback?
03:50 You guys are quicker outside of the coverage.
03:56 I mean, yeah, I like the group.
04:01 I think we've got a lot of -- we've got some veteran leadership.
04:04 We've got some young guys.
04:07 We've got some guys that are in that kind of, you know, mid-level guys that have
04:10 been, you know, in the league three or four years that have some experience, but
04:14 yet they're not in that leadership role yet.
04:16 But, yeah, I think there's some versatility in that group.
04:20 Do you consider it -- I mean, not so much pressure, but having him come in and
04:25 practice with that, obviously motivation for that person to develop it?
04:33 Well, it's a better question for him to answer, you know.
04:38 I don't try to make a habit of talking for other people, but, look, we're glad we
04:43 have him, you know.
04:45 So I think we've got a pretty good group.
04:50 Do you expect to have a rush on week one?
04:52 I do.
04:57 All good?