WR Lance Moore set a career high with 1,041 receiving yards in 2012. The new career mark is bittersweet for Moore due to another stat: 7-9, the Saints regular season record.
"Personal accomplishments are nice but at the end of the day we finished 7-9 and we lost the game that I went over 1,000 yards," said Moore. "So it's disappointing. It's a nice accomplishment but I definitely would prefer making the playoffs and competing for a championship."
In 2012, Moore finished ranked first on the Saints in yards per catch with a 16.0 average on 65 receptions while pulling in six touchdown grabs but it was only the third time in Moore's eight-year career that his team had finished with a losing record, a bitter taste that he is determined doesn't repeat.
The Saints wideout has already begun his offseason training routine and said he will be ready for the offseason training programs, which begins next month.
"The offseason has been great," said Moore. "I have been doing a little bit of traveling and spending more time with my family. I have started to get back into training mode. I have been working out between four and five days a week and doing a lot of different exercises."
Moore said one thing he is working on in his offseason training is his durability. Although Moore only missed one game last year due to injury, that's one too many for the Saints playmaker.
"I want to stay consistent," said Moore. "If there is something that I can do to not miss any games this year. I missed one game last year. I want to remain healthy, focused and work on not missing any time."
This former undrafted free agent and member of the Saints practice squad has emerged as one of the top targets in an offense that has ranked in the top five in the league each of the past five years. Moore credits that to the stable of guys that have remained on the offensive side of the ball, starting with QB Drew Brees. All of Moore's 36 career receiving touchdowns have been thrown by Brees. Only WR Marques Colston (58) has caught more or Brees' scoring passes.
"Having that stable of guys for so long helps you to have success," said Moore. "Each and every year we change some things but most of it remains the same. With Drew, and I say this all the time, but with him it makes it easy for us to go play. We don't have to worry about doing anything extra or having any extra pressure because we are worried whether the quarterback is ready or doesn't have the timing the way it should be. Having those guys around so long, it's kind of unprecedented to have a group together for that long. It's pretty cool and a credit to Coach (Sean) Payton and his guys for keeping us together for so long."
