New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees Conference Call with Miami Media (On what type of player was Brent Grimes) – “He’s an extremely good athlete, he’s got such good transition, he’s got great leaping ability. Being the fact that he’s a smaller corner, he plays big because he can get up and contest balls, he’s got great ball skills, he’s smart. Windows close down very quickly around him because he’s so quick to react. (On if he looks like the same player from before through video) – “Yeah, absolutely. I know he had the Achilles injury first game last year so he missed the whole year. He looks the exact same, he doesn’t look like he’s lost anything.” (On if having Sean Payton is the difference between last year’s success and this year’s early success) – “No I mean, honestly it’s as if no time has passed. We just kind of got right back to work when he got here and we’re executing the same offense. We’ve kind of added some new wrinkles just like you do every offseason, when you go back and do your, self-scout and evaluation. We’re not making a big deal out of it, it’s just business as usual.” (On Nick Saban’s reasoning for the Dolphins not signing Drew Brees in 2006) – “I do believe I was their first choice but at the end of the day I felt like New Orleans was the best fit for me, for a lot of reasons not just football. I know that they ran me through a whole round of physicals, evaluations and all kinds of stuff when I was there, which was not a good experience obviously, but I understood they were going to put a big investment in me so they wanted to make sure. I do remember him saying that they’re doctors felt like I had a 25% chance of coming back and playing, so if you’re going off of those statistics you make the decision based upon that.” (On proving everybody wrong with the way he’s played) – “Here’s the thing, we can sit back and kind of chuckle about it now but there’s no hard feelings, everything happened the way it was supposed to. I don’t think about it for a second, I really don’t. Obviously Coach Saban has gone on and probably wouldn’t trade his career path for anything either. I don’t think about it for a second, but it was just kind of one of those experiences that maybe not a lot of people get to experience, the whole free agency process, especially coming off an injury and kind of all the things that that entailed. “ (On what has Sean Payton’s return mean to Drew personally) – “Just knowing that all of the pieces are here, all the pieces are in place. Obviously he’s a great teacher, communicator, mentor as well as being a great head coach who has an excellent pulse of the team at all times. Always knows the right message to deliver to our squad, depending on the circumstances and the opponent and that kind of thing. He’s always there, throughout the week there is all kinds of communication that takes place between myself and him and the offensive staff. He’s one of the great offensive minds of this league, as well as being one of the best head coaches.” (On what makes Jimmy Graham such a strong weapon) – “Well he’s 6’6, 270lb. He’s kind of hard to match up with, no matter how big or fast you are and I think more so than anything is his fire and passion for the game. He wants to be a great player, he’s very versatile, very athletic. I think his basketball background certainly helps him in that regard. I’ve been blessed to play with Antonio Gates as well as Jimmy so I kind of know what that basketball background can do for you as far as body position, body control, your ability to kind of see the ball, go up and get it, some of those little nuances from playing the position. The biggest thing for a basketball player playing the tight end position, is the physical nature of the game, putting your hand in the ground and having to run block, pass block, take hits that kind of thing. Jimmy’s just extremely talented and can do a lot of things, but I think his mental toughness and his approach and his desire to be a great player is what sets him apart.” (On how good their defense is and how it helps him as a quarterback) – “You know what they’re playing extremely well and obviously its great offensively because you can feed off of their success and their emotion and kind of take their momentum and try to translate it to the offensive side of the ball. They’re getting turnovers, giving you opportunities, giving you field position. There is just a lot of confidence there, all those are very good things.” (On what stands out to him on the Dolphins defense outside of Grimes) – “Well everybody in the secondary has very good ball skill. They tend to get a lot of pressure on the quarterback, sometimes with their 4 man rush, sometimes with their pressure. They are very good upfront, they’ve got some very good pass rushers, good against the run, they went out and spent some money at the linebacker position with (Dannell) Ellerbe and (Philip) Wheeler. I think those are 2 experienced very good players. Just all the way around, you don’t see any weaknesses their very sound, very solid do a lot of good and they do it well. It puts a premium on execution and making sure we’re taking care of the ball and being good in situations, that kind of thing.” (On what is his impression of Keenan Lewis) – “I’d say those things, our lockers aren’t too far away from each other, we’re kind of down there with the DB’s so we get a lot of their conversation, and he’s usually right in the middle of it when there’s some discussion going on in that group. Plus we competed against each other now, all throughout the offseason and everything else, I think he’s been a great addition to our team. He fits our personality, our work ethic and cares a lot about football, he’s been a great locker room guy and he’s been a great addition.” (On how close the talent level is on this team compared to his Super Bowl team) – “I haven’t really thought about that actually. As far as straight talent I’d say its equal, but more so than that I think we’ve got a great group of guys. I remember that about our Super Bowl year, we had a great group of guys that felt like we had overcome a lot to get to that point. That was kind of our moment, our opportunity and I feel like we have that opportunity right now as well.” (On what he remembers about Dolphins Coach Dan Campbell) – “Dan was awesome. I saw him before the preseason game when we played you guys down there, it was good to see him. He thinned out a little bit as most guys do, most guys play at about 20 -30 pounds more than their normal everyday body weight so the minute that they stop playing I think they drop big time. Dan’s a good old Texas boy, I’m from Texas so we’ve got a lot in common there and it was great spending some time with him when he was here, great guy, I’m sure he’s a great football coach as well.”
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 18:44:40 +0000