New Orleans Saints Tackle Terron Armstead
Video Call With New Orleans Media
Monday, September 28, 2020
What's your general assessment of where you guys are at offensively right now. You are scoring about 30 points a game, but it seems maybe still you are not where you want to be?
"We've had some explosive plays in the run game and that was an emphasis of ours going into the season. We're doing some things well, but other things we need to be better and more efficient."
Cesar (Ruiz) got in for his most substantial action yesterday? How would you guys assess how things went for him?
"We just watched the film and he played well. You can see his athleticism and explosion and his suddenness out there on the field from his first few snaps. So it would be great to see him out there more and get more experience and more reps. We see a lot of potential. He also has a lot of talent we're excited for moving forward."
Are you seeing anything specifically pass protection wise that you feel like you guys should be doing a little bit better? How is that area coming?
"That's our first goal. As you know it is never going to be perfect. We have some single mishaps from time to time that we have to eliminate completely. We're always striving for perfection in protection, but we've been fairly solid in that area even though there is always room for improvement."
I know you've been working through an injury this week How are you feeling? I know nobody feels great the day after a game?
"Nobody's (completely) healthy after the first half of week one. So we all just get that recovery in early (in the week) and early (on a weekend on a Friday or Saturday) and be ready to go Sunday. I felt great yesterday going out there with the guys and we plan on the same thing Sunday."
Do you think anyone actually makes it to October and still feels like a normal human being?
"Ten different guys may give you ten different answers, but it's just the nature of the business. Everybody's dealing with something."
What was your vantage point on Alvin Kamara's long touchdown?
"One of the things that singularly stand out about him (are plays like this), I was further behind the play so I wasn't about to try to spring and catch up with him and Erik (McCoy). Alvin is amazing and I've always spoken out about how I feel about AK. He's a special talent, generational talent. He's Black Panther-like. His balance is unreal. Just his anticipation and contact like the way he prepares his body to absorb contact. I've always been a big fan of his and for great reason."
Was there a point on that run after the catch and said he's gone?
"Anytime he touches the ball it's always a possibility. Maybe he broke the first seven tackles. I thought it would go (for a touchdown)."
How close do you think this team is to turn the corner?
"Bad teams beat themselves and that' right now what we're doing. We're being a bad team, we're beating ourselves and that's the definition of a bad team. So the good news is we're more than capable of eliminating those mistakes, not putting ourslves behind the chain, not having a negative play, staying on the field on third down, getting off the field on third down on defense and it's mostly been apparent. It won't just happen from us saying that we eliminated bad plays. We have to practice, focus on, emphasize. But we have everything we need to get rolling. No playoff picture has been put together at all. So we have time, but at the same time, a sense of urgency to get that going and start moving forward."
Talking about Andrus Peat, how tough is it to see the guy go down again?
"I know how hard he's worked to get to get back and whatever he's dealing with right now he's going to put that same grind and effort into to get back on the field. It's all you can do. That's all you can do in this in this game. You go out there and you give everything you got. Unfortunate things happen. Rehab, recover, come back and do it again."
NFL Next Gen Stats had Erik McCoy have a high top end speed than Alvin Kamara on his touchdown reception. Given you had the top 40 time for an offensive lineman at the scouting combine, do you think he can beat you in a race and what was it like watching that play on film?
"What? With McCoy? You say? You think Erik can beat me in a race? I'm asking you if that's possible. Well, no, no, no, I just got (to) warm up now as opposed to back then. Once I want to move now, can be very, very fast for sure. He's just got his balls to the wall. He's giving it his all at all times. He saw saw Alvin break the first tackle too and he just turned it off."
How does that show off McCoy's athleticism?
"Nice. It's a huge advantage for us to have that. That level of athleticism in the middle of our screen game has been great. Erik gets out on screen tosses. And like I said, He's always going, he's always high energy, (look at the) high effort of the fumble yesterday. They pick it up and he was the one right there and he ran him (Z'Darius Smith) down (and) made the tackle. So he's always got it going, to give you his all and then that's all you can ask."
