New Orleans Saints Tight End Juwan Johnson
Media Availability
Friday, November 19, 2021
How hard was it for you to be a healthy scratch a couple weeks ago against Atlanta?
"Yeah, it was hard. But, you know, things like this happen. It's more so about how you respond from it and move on from it. You just have to trust the coaches are making the right decision and whatever the decisions they make, you get behind them and you just keep going. That's the only thing about it, is that it's like a setback. You just kind of move on and keep on going. So, in terms of that, just keep going and keep working to help our team win. The scout team just keeps doing our thing, so yeah."
How did you find out you were going to be inactive?
"I mean, you usually find out within the week. You see the personnel sheet to figure out what's happening and what's going on. You know, when you're not on there, you just ask questions, those questions are answered, and you move from there. You know, we have tough conversations here in this facility. From my understanding, it was nothing that I did, it was just the gameplan and moving parts. That's really what it was."
How close did you grow up to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia?
"Yeah, so Philly is about 20 minutes away from me. This is huge. It's an opportunity for us to stack another win. For me, it's just hometown with being close to Philly, growing up with a lot of Philly fans around me. When Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, and even T.O. doing those interviews in his front yard doing the sit-ups or whatever, I witnessed all of that growing up. Everybody back home is a Philly fan. Going back home is kind of right. Being back home is going to be really good. It's going to be really good to see my Mom, brothers, and those things."
Have a lot of people asked you for tickets on Sunday?
"Yeah, not so much. I kind of made that statement earlier in the year. I've got my people coming (to my games) and that's pretty much it. People ask for tickets, but it's good to read the messages and just keep on going."
Do you leave the text messages on read?
"Yeah, I leave them on read. It's just how it is. It can be very hectic during the week, so yeah."
Do you wear that (shirt) around the locker room?
"What, this right here? They just see that it's cozy, I don't even know if (teammates) read what's on the shirt. They just ask me, 'where'd you get that from?'. So, yeah, they just like my cozy little outfits that I wear. I have a bunch of these, I just try to stay warm in the facility when it's cold."
What stands out about the Eagles defense on film?
"Like I said, they're going. Obviously, that front seven they have is for real. The front four is a nice front and they have guys in the back end like Darius Slay Jr., who's a very veteran player. Just going up against their defense, we faced them last year so it is not like it is any different. We had a tough outcome last year, but we know what we can do in different aspects like attacking the run and help create those running lanes so we can exploit their defense. Looking forward to it. Hopefully we can get another win."
New Orleans Saints Center Erik McCoy
Media Availability
Friday, November 19, 2021
What can you tell us about the Eagles defensive front seven?
"They're very talented, very quick-twitched, explosive, powerful, big. Everything you would want in a defensive line. At each position, those guys can play."
What has been like going through all of the different injuries to guys on offense?
"Yeah, unfortunately it's just part of the game. Injuries suck, of course. Everyone on the offensive line this year has missed time besides Cesar Ruiz, who's a healthy young fella. But yeah, it sucks, because we know we have so much talent. When (that talent) isn't on the field, it's hard to display that (talent)."
How frustrating are the injuries?
"Yeah, it can be. We're still rolling with the next-man-up mentality, especially up front (on the offensive line). We just have to ball."
New Orleans Saints Defensive End Marcus Davenport
Post Practice Media Availability
Friday, November 19, 2021
When you're taking up one grown man and pushing him into another grown man for a sack, what's the process? How do you set him up to get him in that position?
"I don't know. That's kind of a hard one because I don't really feel like I set him up. I just felt like it was about that time where I actually had to commit to my power. And from there, that was the play."
How many different rushes do you have? When you say I commit to my power with, how many different rush strategies do you use in the course of a game?
"You say different rush strategies, it's a lot of just working to win. You try to find what works against him, what works against the quarterback, depending on how he moves and every rep every play is kind of different. So it's kind of going out there and just having something in mind and being able to work off of that."
Is that the ultimate adrenaline rush to basically run through a guy?
"No, I think ultimate is winning. Yeah, that the ultimate."
What about hurdling a guy where does that rank?
"I missed those. Yeah, like that was even more of a letdown. It's like I did this and then didn't get it. Try let that one go."
How disciplined do you have to be on the defensive line against a running quarterback like this? It seems a little bit different than a scrambling quarterback?
"(Jalen Hurts is) a great athlete, he's fast and he can move out the pocket. He makes quick decisions and he's one of those guys that can beat you just with his feet. So it's going to be really disciplined game, especially for us for the ends and the interior."
Is that one of those where you just have to kind of bide your time and sometimes you're just basically playing to contain them and yeah you might be rushing but you don't want to over commit because you don't want to give them too much?
"Yeah, I think that's one way to put it. You said bide your time, there's other ways like put them in a trap. Some people say set the pillars but it's going to be one of those games where we have to play smart. Can't just unleash as much as we want to."
How do you feel about the roughing the passer penalty? Like as a defender, how tough is it to not come in too high, not come in too low but still go full speed and not try to overthink things?
"Kind of like you said just try not to overthink things. For the most part letting your technique and letting the refs make the right calls. For a lot of those calls, I try not to even think about it because we can't change it. All we can do now is just go forward and hope that refs make better calls."
