New Orleans Saints Quarterbacks Coach Joe Lombardi
Training Camp Video Call with New Orleans Media
Thursday, August 20, 2020

Your impressions of Jameis Winston now that you can see him on the field for a couple of days?
"Real good. You can see why he was drafted so high. Real good arm, can throw the ball really well. Smart, learns well and loves football, real enthusiastic and brings a lot of energy out there. I've been real impressed with him so far."

Jared Cook mentioned his enthusiasm in the huddle. Do you notice that?
"Yes, he goes intense on everything. He's out front a lot of times in the conditioning. Whatever he does he's fired up about and you can feel that in the huddle and the way he plays the game."

During team drills when the pass rush is tough and the quarterback is hurried how does it change how you evaluate?
"I think every rep you're evaluating how the quarterback responds to the situation, first thing is don't let a bad situation get worse. You understand when he's under duress and how it affects his ability to make a completion, but you're still expecting him to make good decisions and not do something silly just because he's under pressure. I think the guys have handled it well."

Last time we asked you a question about turnovers you joked that Drew decided to quit throwing picks. How rare is it for a guy to look at an area like turnovers and then basically eliminate them?
"There's obviously a lot more than saying the words. There's a lot of work. I was probably a little flippant with that comment, but it's just understanding the situations you are in. Understanding when it's time to take a risk and when it's time to check that ball down. A lot of that is game awareness, situational awareness, understanding how the defense is playing, understanding the score of the game, time left in the game. A throw that you might make in the fourth quarter down by five with time running out, it might not be a throw you would make in the first quarter or up by a couple scores. Just understanding what we call the game script. Where are we in this game? What's required of you? It's a lot easier to make good decisions when it's a favorable game situation. I think all those things work into it. Just understanding that the five yard completion wide open is maybe better than the 20-yard completion that might come with a little more risk. It's not a simple thing to do. It takes a lot of work and situational awareness. That was all part of it. We've been real fortunate here that we've been in a lot of good game situations where he's been able to do that. There are times maybe where you're fighting from behind and a lot of the time those interceptions come because you're trying to make something happen in the game. It's obviously a big part of our success the last three years, cutting down on those things and we certainly plan to continue that."

With regards to Taysom Hill, have you seen him take more strides as a quarterback with the snaps he's received?
"Yes, you see him. He's more comfortable. His timing just continues to get better. You feel that confidence, (him better grasping) the timing of the offense, like you said, it's still pretty early with full speed reps, but he continues to make those strides, make good throws, throw the ball on time and throw it accurately. It's been very encouraging."