<span style="">New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton  

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Opening Statement:

"Jammal Brown (sports hernia) did not participate, Darnell Dinkins (left foot) did not participate, Usama Young (right shoulder) was full, Pierre Thomas (right knee) did not participate."

What do you feel about Pierre's chances for Sunday?

"I was hoping we'd get more from him today. We dressed him out but we'll see how it does tomorrow. Right now, he didn't participate today. We still have time being that it's Thursday, so we'll see."

Is it more of a stability thing than anything else?

"It's the MCL, so you brace it and eventually the brace can come off and you work through it. The key is getting to where he's comfortable enough to where he's not just practicing and able to plant on it, but he's effectively able to do that better than another player that might be dressing in his position."

Does the length of this recovery surprise you?

"No, I think it's fairly common with the injury and the timeframe. He is getting better and hopefully it continues to do that."

Does he have to be 100 percent in order for him to play?

"He has to be better than the other back that's potentially dressing in his place. As a running back, maybe it's a little different than a lineman."

Have you looked at enough tape of Matthew Stafford to make a comment about him as a quarterback?

"He has a strong arm and you can see him get the ball down the field well. He has a quick release; he plays with poise. I mentioned this to their media yesterday that he's a guy that has won a lot of games in high school, went on to college and had success and there's a reason why he was the first pick in the draft. Those are some of the things that you can see in the preseason film, especially when you watch him in the last four weeks."

How much have you picked Gregg Williams' mind about Jim Schwartz?

"We spent a little time talking about it. You have Jim there as well as Gunther (Cunningham). Teams tweak things from time to time and as best as you can, you try to gather as much information as you can and get ready to go."

When you play a team that didn't win a game last year, is there more pressure on you not to be their first win?

"I think it's week one and everyone understands the importance of getting off to a good start. To answer your question, I don't see it that way. It's a different team – more than half of the roster has changed, they have a new coaching staff and our roster has changed. We don't really spend a lot of time talking about last year."

Are you excited to see the defense with everything that Gregg Williams has put in?

"I'm excited to see our team. One aspect of our team is the defense and I know we're looking forward to seeing them play and play four quarters for the first time. In the preseason you don't get those same amount of snaps, so we'll have to be smart with the rotation and make sure we keep guys in there that are fresh."