New Orleans Saints Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael
Conference Call with Saints Media
Friday, December 15, 2017
How have you seen Trey Edmunds adapt to his role on offense, we don't see him on offense really but what he does as backup and on special teams?"I think what we saw from him as a runner and on special teams during training camp we felt very positive about him and obviously the situation we have Mark (Ingram) and Alvin (Kamara) rolling. but we're not afraid to put him in. He's really progressing with his time here."
*How do you see that progress? Is it scout team stuff? Is it just random drills? *"I think obviously he had a very good training camp. Then opportunities maybe in practice where he is getting a rep here and you also get to see him do some stuff on scout team. I think you pay attention to his performance and like what you see. You have a smart football player."
How do you think Mark Ingram II has grown in his time here?"I think the number one thing for him is experience. He's always been a competitor, a tough guy who wants to go out and do his best. His familiarity with the system and his experience has helped him through the years."
*Is he having a better year this year than he ever has or is he just receiving more carries this year? *"That's a good question. I think he's playing very well this year. I think he's played very well in the past. But clearly this year he's having an outstanding year."
*Sean's (Payton) mentioned to us a couple of times this week about the study of play sequencing. From your perspective, how does that help you? *"When you're talking about it are you talking about openers? Or as series go on?"
*I think both? *"I know this when we get into a game the night before, we have the opportunity, we get the players some openers that we feel comfortable with but that's also a chance to get them to see early on what we're doing. But that varies week by week, how many you're giving them. That can change pretty quickly in a game you get yourself in a different situation, you're seeing something different or you get the third down red zone. That can change by game."
How much did you guys miss Alvin Kamara in that first matchup against the Falcons eight days ago?"Obviously a player of his caliber, you are going to miss him. But we feel comfortable with Mark (Ingram) doing all those roles. We have to be ready for when things like that happen."
*Where have you seen growth for Mike Thomas this year? *"I think a year in the system and a whole off season. I think he's had the ability to not just focus solely on his position, know the whole concept, what other guys are doing and really be able to move him around more and put him in some different spots."
*How much do you think Curtis Johnson has helped him with his development? *"Obviously, he's been in the system a year. Johnny Morton did a great job last year. Obviously CJ coming in and working with him. He stays on him. He's done a great job with him and his progression."
New Orleans Saints Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen Conference Call with New Orleans Media Friday, December 15, 2017
How has the line been doing since Alex Okafor went down?"I think they've done a nice job. Obviously any time you lose a player of Alex's caliber, it sets you back a little bit. But I think overall our defensive line has performed very well. Each week is a different challenge. This week will be a different challenge than it was over the last couple of weeks. But I fully expect that those guys will come in and play well this week."
*What jumps out to you about the Jets offense? What changes with Bryce Petty in there as the starter? *"Well obviously it remains to be seen what changes with Petty in there. Really what we have to go in and look at really is the little bit of time he played in the Denver game and also go back to the preseason tape to really look at maybe some of those things that they have done with him in the game. Obviously we went back and looked at some of the games from last year, but it is a different offense, it is a different system. So that kind of remains to be seen. I have seen an offense that has been able to make some explosive plays. They've been able to get the ball down the field. (Robby) Anderson is a good receiver. They've been able to really throw the ball down the field to him and they've scored a lot of explosive touchdowns. I think it's a challenging offense to face and we have to be ready to play."
*Coach Payton talked to us on Thursday morning for a little bit about the study of play sequencing. How does that affect you in terms of adjusting to a script? *"Obviously most teams come out and script the first 10-15 plays. Usually you are going to see change of personnel groupings. You are going to see some different formations. You're going to see some up tempo as far as they're trying to get in and out of the huddle and run these plays. Usually you'll see some misdirection things and things of that nature but really to try to get the defense off balance. The hope is that we come out and we're able to execute and know that they're going to try to do some of these things. We have to anticipate seeing some unscouted looks and kind of weather that storm a little bit. But ultimately offenses kind of fall back into what they generally do. We'll see a lot more of those conventional things that we've seen on tape, we'll see a lot more of those things as the game goes on. But obviously we'll see some unscouted looks early in the game that we have to be prepared to handle."
*How hard is it for you at this time of the year to not watch the scoreboards knowing how tight this NFC South race is? *"It is really not that hard because every week you go out there and play you have a huge challenge sitting right there in front of you and we do not control anything that happens outside of our building. All we can control are the things that we are doing. The best teams in this league are able to focus on one task at hand and take care of their own business and all of those other things will handle themselves as long as you handle your own business."
*We saw Marshon (Lattimore) dancing at practice and obviously we haven't seen that in a couple of weeks since he was injured. How much energy does that guy bring to the defense? *"There's a lot of young guys on our team that bring a lot of energy to our football team. Our guys enjoy playing the game, they understand this is something that should be fun. They're relishing the opportunity to come out here and play in games when you're in a competition whether it be the playoffs or the NFC South or whatever the case may be. There are a lot of things that we're playing for right now and our guys are really enjoying and relishing in that opportunity. Quite honestly those are fun guys to coach."
*With Manti Te'o, how much has he sort of been prepared since he's gotten here to handle a full-time role? *"I think Manti's played really well for us this year. It's always good when somebody goes down to have somebody to step in and play and perform at a high level and Manti's been able to do that and we would anticipate that he would be able to do that if that's what the role calls for."
