New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton Media Availability Transcript
Monday, August 15, 2011
Opening Statement
"The following players still remain on the failed physical list: RB Chris Ivory and DE Greg Romeus. The following players did not practice today: Ezra Butler, Ramon Humber, Clint Ingram, Joique Bell, Tom Johnson, Johnny Patrick, Jeff Charleston, Alex Barron, Leigh Torrence (hip), and Jo-Lonn Dunbar (quad). This afternoon we released Jon Stinchcomb. Obviuosly, something like that is a difficult decision for us as an organization. Here's a guy that has been a part of our program since we've come here in 2006 and was here well before that. He epitomized the type of player that we're looking for and certainly he's a guy that we wish well and who we'll miss. Zach Strief and Charles Brown will compete for that right tackle position throughout this camp and as we get closer to the start, we'll announce the starter."
Can you follow up on the reason for that decision?
"It was a decision we made to go with the younger players and those are always tough decisions. In Jon's defense, he battled through an injury last season. He probably played his best football the year before that. It was a decision we spent a lot of time on."
Did you want to see how he came back from that injury in the first two weeks of training camp?
"It was something we decided to do, and it wasn't easy, but after a week here we felt like we needed to get Zach and Charles more work and get them in that position. Again, it's always the hardest thing about what we do."
Is that why it was so important to get Zach Strief back?
"No, because that would imply that was the direction we were going when we contacted him. We wanted Zach back because we felt like we had a good young tackle that we drafted. At that time, we wanted to get Zach signed and get Charles healthy but in this short time frame it's something we decided to do with this organization."
We saw Jonathan Casillas spend a lot of time with the ones and Scott Shanle with the twos. Is that something to expect for the season?
"We're going to see those two compete at the Will and we're going to see a lot of competition at the Sam. You're going to see different guys with the ones and the twos in a number of spots and that would be one (position), but it won't be the only position. You're going to see competition at the Sam, you're going to see competition at the corner position, and you're going to see the same thing at right tackle and fullback. We have a fair amount of time to gauge as much information as we can on all these guys."
Can you talk about how Will Smith has looked?
"I think he's looked as good as I can recall. I think he played well the other night in the snaps he had. He's in good shape and he looks to have his legs back underneath him. I've been pleased with where he's at."
How difficult was it to let Jon Stinchcomb go?
"(Jon) is one of the first players in Mickey Loomis' first draft class back in 2003. We go back to 2006 in that first training camp, and he was one of the leaders. It was hard. I see that and yet I recognize it was still more difficult for the player. That's the hard thing about it. He has a ton of respect in this locker room by his teammates and it was similar to sitting down with Deuce McAllister when that time came."
Was it an option to think about keeping Stinchcomb around?
"We went through a lot of different options. The conclusion we came up with was that we wanted to devote a lot of time to both Zach and Charles."
Can you talk about Charles Brown in this training camp?
"I think he did well in practice last week. He's athletic and he's smart. I'm anxious to watch him and Zach during this process. He's someone who knows what he's doing, and he staying healthy is important because he's had the hamstring issue. We feel like he and Zach are going to fight it out and we'll evaluate the practice tape and roll those guys through."
Will Jordan Black be Jermon Bushrod's backup right now or will he move?
"We're flexible enough to take the one tackle that's not taking reps with the ones and he can work with the second group at left tackle. Hopefully, both Zach and Charles can play left tackle and Jordan Black can play right tackle, and we can be flexible."
