Doug Nussmeier on Spencer Rattler’s performance, Alvin Kamara’s usage | New Orleans Saints

pretty far away. What were the main uh coaching points you came away with for Spencer after after going through that first game? Uh, you know, the biggest thing is just, you know, to stay within himself. You know, let the offense work for him, not, you know, not try and press. And, you know, it’s hard when you when you get behind the sticks. You don’t manage first down and second down well, you put a lot of pressure on the quarterback. So, we’ve got to do a better job of helping him. How do you think he handled it likewise, confidence wise? He was awesome. He really was. you know, he was uh dialed in. Communication was excellent throughout the game. He had great vision, knew what he was seeing. Um obviously made a few mistakes, but he also made, you know, quite a few plays for us. So, uh good first outing. A lot of lot of quick game in this last game. Uh like what’s kind of the key to operating that like efficiently? I think Spencer was like 18 and 24 on quick passes in this game. Yeah. Um, you know, obviously it’s guys getting to where they need to be when they’re supposed to be there and the ball getting out on time. And um, you know, you take pressure off the the passer when you can get the ball out of his hands quickly, avoid sacks, like I said, avoid the negative plays. Um, you know, play within the stick, so to say. Did it be frustrating for a quarterback when that there’s a team sitting back in? Shel Spencer mentioned after the game that he expected more pressure and I’m sure that took away some of the opportunities. Like, how did you see him kind of handle that? I thought he did an excellent job. you know, it’s part of the style in which they play. You know, they were going to keep a lid on it. Um, you know, they get into what we call a penny structure and they play with three deep back there and they they kind of drop in from the sky, so to say. So, it makes it difficult and and challenging to find ways to get behind them. And so, you know, playing quarterback, it’s important that you stay patient, you stay detailed, and you don’t force the ball into coverage. I thought he did a good job of that. Kell pointed out after the game, first down efficiency and the run game, particularly in the second half, was something that maybe necessarily wasn’t as advantageous as expected. What what went into that and how do you go about addressing that going into this? Yeah, I mean, obviously, like I said, you got to win first down, you know, and everybody focuses on third down, right? So, what’ you do on third down? Well, okay, you were this percentage. Well, that’s not good. Well, okay, when you look at statistics, you know, where are you? What were your third downs? Were they third and five or less? Are they third and 10 plus? cuz if you’re playing in third and eight plus, you got problems in this league. You know, you just look at percentages, you’re not going to win. So, um you know, like I said, and when what you said, what Kellen alluded to is we got to win first and second down. Um with some of the runs you guys had on first down in the second half, a lot of it more for tempo. Didn’t have a lot of um preset motion. Is it is it hard is it harder to run preset motion when you’re you’re going fast or is it like you just don’t want to run it because you’re trying to go as fast as possible? Like um you know, one of the things, you know, when you talk about the run game is identification, all right, and and targets and where you’re going. So, anytime you start moving people on a run play, you move targets or potentially move targets. So, uh, whether we’re in a huddle tempo and we’re shifting and motioning or we’re playing fast, you know, where we where the targets are a key part to everything we do. When you put together the game plan, do do you have a rough idea of how many touches you want Alvin to get and this last week a little less than you would have preferred? Well, you know, obviously you go in with a certain idea, but you know, the game dictates different things, you know, and you can’t you can’t ever put a number on it. You know, if you had asked me if we were going to go in, I think what did Spencer end up with 46 attempts in the game? If you would asked me if we were going in, was he going to have 46 attempts? I would have said no. So, you you just got to play the game the way it plays out. But would you would you ideally like to see how Obviously, anytime 41 has a ball in his hands, I like our chances. That’s a good thing, you know. So, um, you know, and teams like talked about not, you know, having a great ability to try and create explosive plays in the past game because the shell was on it. You know, there’s going to be other games where we feel like, hey, we can create explosive plays through the running game. We got to get 41 more touches than we normally would, but obviously, um, it’s a point emphasis every week. You know, how are we going to get the ball to 41? Spencer spoke yesterday about the opportunity to build rhythm with some of the skilled position players because they were that 11 personnel group kind of 76% or more in terms of stat percentage. So we got a lot of opportunities with them. Is that kind of a hallmark of what y’all like to do or are there going to be situations where you are going to rotate more than maybe what we saw before? Sure. You know, I think when you look at our personnel, you know, uh we’re going to lean into the 11 and then, you know, the 12 where we have two tight ends, two wide receivers, and one back. As you see, we don’t have a fullback on the roster. So, you’re not going to see, you know, the 21 stuff that that some of the other teams in the league will run. Um, and we’re going to use that personnel accordingly. you know how we feel like we want to attack a certain team and what group gives us we feel a competitive advantage in a game plan first game I thought he was outstanding for a young guy um I thought he did a really nice job uh the moment’s not too big for him he’s a true pro um comes to work every day has a great attitude he’s smart he studies he’s prepared he’s detailed uh you know there’s enough You know, I’ve have all great things to say about Kelvin and what he’s done. Uh they’re very talented. They’re a good football team. Um you know, obviously it all starts with them up front in the core. You know, they’re going to get after you that that pass rush and the front four. They’re going to play vertical up the field. Obviously, Bosa, uh everybody knows about him. You got to have a plan. Um you know, you go to linebackers, Fred Warner, obviously phenomenal, phenomenal football player. um you know, having played them in the past, they’re a little bit younger this year than they have been, obviously with some of the young guys that they’re playing, but they’re a talented group and they fly around. You know, when you play, these guys are going to play hard. They’re going to play fast. Yeah. I was just about to ask you about Kell and and the moment not being too big for him. He’s going against Bosen this week. I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of rookie tackles that that started early. Is he even rare among them in preparedness and and kind of poise early on? Um, you know, I think obviously each player is different, their mannerisms are different, the way they handle things are different. So, I’ll I’ll just be specific to him. I just been really impressed since from day one how he’s come in uh with his mindset, with his approach day in and day out. His process has been phenomenal. You got

New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier speaks with the media ahead of Week 2 vs. the San Francisco 49ers from the Ochsner Sports Performance Center on Thursday, September 11, 2025.
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