On an occasion or two, an unsettled Taliese Fuaga has felt the need to make the call.
"That's rare," the Saints' rookie left tackle said. "If it's a real emergency. I try to figure things out myself, or just ask teammates. But if it's a big emergency, I'll call him."
"Him" is offensive line coach John Benton.
"If I can't sleep and it's just bugging my mind, like, 'What do I have on this play?'" Fuaga said. "If it's that bad, then I'll just call the coach.
"Maybe once, maybe twice. I don't think you're supposed to call him; they've got to sleep, too."
New Orleans, 5-11 entering Sunday's season finale against the Buccaneers (9-7) at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., hasn't had many restless nights regarding Fuaga since selecting him No. 14 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
On Sunday he will open at left tackle for the 17th time this season, after becoming the first Saints rookie to start the season opener at that position since Ryan Ramczyk in 2017.
Initially, the thought was that Fuaga, who played right tackle in college at Oregon State, would step in at right tackle for Ramczyk. But when Saints coaches flipped former left tackle Trevor Penning to right tackle, they did so with the confidence that Fuaga ably would handle the move to left tackle.
Nothing that has happened since has provided reason to shake that confidence.
"The most impressive thing was his start, just the way that he just handles the game," offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak said. "He's a quiet guy that works hard, doesn't say a lot – and just works.
"(He) asks a lot of questions, he's texting his offensive line coach late at night, asking questions about looks he saw on film. So the game is really important to him, and it's got to be important to you to be successful.
"I've been impressed with his approach; probably the way his mom and dad raised him. His overall mentality is what you want."
The mentality for Fuaga has been that of a talented sponge – he has been a fast learner, able to process information and apply it rapidly. That began in training camp, when the rookie was welcomed to the NFL by Saints defensive ends Carl Granderson and Chase Young, who had early success against Fuaga before the rookie rapidly evened the winning reps.
"He can move very good and based on training camp going against him every day, his mentality," Granderson said. "He plays hard and he's a smart player. Over the season, I could see that develop more and more each game.
"He's athletic, he's smart and he's going to continue to excel at his ability."
But, Fuaga said, he has experienced his share of growing pains even as coaches and teammates have given high marks to his play.
"I just feel like the season goes up and down," he said. "I think that's just the way it goes. You're going to have good games, you're going to have bad games, good plays, bad plays.
"But if that's what they think, that's what they think. I just want to play my own game. I know I've got a lot of work to do."
He said losses against Denver (33-10) and Kansas City (26-13) were among his lowest performances.
"You could say a lot of games, really," Fuaga said. "Lot of games I've got to watch the film, see how I can be better and just watch the little things.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm gaining some progress, but then you might have a game or a couple of plays where I feel like, 'Man, I wasn't at my best,' or, 'What could I have done better?' That's just simple things I watch on the film."
Sometimes it's a step that needs to be improved, sometimes it's hand placement. Whatever it has been, Fuaga has been able to process and apply quickly while putting together a rookie season in which he, Penning and tight end Foster Moreau will be the only players on offense to start every game this season.
"It's a blessing," he said of the season. "But at the same time, it's not easy."
