“So far it’s worked well. We’ve had two good work days. It still forces you to have a major installation tomorrow. Normally you have everything installed by now today, but the tradeoff has been worth it,” Payton said following practice on Friday.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is going back home, literally. While Williams has coached for many teams in the NFL, it was during his time with the Redskins where he and his family established some nice roots. “I have a beautiful home, my favorite home that I’ve ever lived in still there, a son that has had a phenomenal career, my daughter graduated from high school there in town,” Williams says, also mentioning that there are still strong football ties. “My old (defensive) coaching staff is there, so there’s some very, very close friends in that organization and like I said before, Dan (Snyder) and I are still very good friends. Dan treated my family so well. He treated me well when I was there.”
Williams was considered by many as a top candidate to replace Joe Gibbs and many national analysts said he was slighted when the organization decided to go with Jim Zorn, who by all indication will be fired at the end of the season.
So will there be hard feelings come Sunday? “No, there is no emotion,” Williams says. “In order to coach a long time in this league, you have to have an expertise and you have to have a way you go about teaching your attitude and philosophy. That’s what we’re going to do. When it’s inside the white lines, we don’t look at anything with insignia, white labels on the helmets. That was a big thing this past week. We talked about that from the Patriot impact. We don’t look at what’s on the side of the helmet. We have to get out there and compete, because our matchup.”
Part of the reason Williams says he will not get caught up in the revenge factor or similar emotions, is that to do so would be going against what he asks his players to do. “If I’m asking a player to focus on the day at hand, the next game’s the most important, I got to be the same way. Good, smart players can smell a con, just like when you walked in junior high and you could smell the substitute teacher walking down the hall. The players can smell that fake coach too. I don’t ever worry about those kinds of things. I take care of the job at hand that day and I’ve been real fortunate to make a lot of money doing this,” says Williams.
BUMPS AND BRUISES
A pair of Saints have officially been listed as out for Sunday’s game against the Redskins. WR Lance Moore (ankle, hamstring), and CB Tracy Porter (knee).
CB Randall Gay(hamstring), and LB Marvin Mitchell (hamstring) did not practice on Friday and are listed as doubtful.
RB Reggie Bush, CB Jabari Greer (groin), and DE Bobby McCray (back, knee), practiced on a limited basis and are listed as questionable. Bush said after practice however that we should expect to see him on field Sunday. “I feel really good. I feel great. I guess you can write it down, I’ll be playing this week,” said Bush, who added that while he hasn’t been officially told he’s playing by coaches, ” I imagine if I look and feel 100 percent that I will be playing in the game.”
There are 11 Saints listed as probable after practicing on a limited basis Friday. RB Pierre Thomas (wrist), RB Mike Bell (knee, neck) and RB Lynell Hamilton (knee), TE Jeremy Shockey (elbow), LT Jermon Bushrod (thumb), G Jahri Evans (toe), C Jonathan Goodwin (ankle), LB Jonathan Vilma (knee),LB Scott Fujita (knee) and LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar (wrist) and CB Chris McAlister (knee).
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