Kellen Moore on preparations for New England Patriots | New Orleans Saints

Got everyone everyone good to go? Okay. All right. Uh we’ll start medical. Uh so one DMP that would be Ike with the hamstring. Uh limited guys. Joan Johnson ankle. Alvin ankle. Trevor ankle. Justin concussion protocol. Caesar ankle. Chase Young calf. Uh Dylan Redun’s toe was a full and Rididgeway shoulder was a full. So those are our medical uh points there and other than that good day. So open up for questions. So Chase, what what did you make this day? Yeah. Yeah, he was able to get out there some. So obviously limited today, but uh yeah, looked looked good. Took some took some uh obviously steps in the right direction and so uh it was fun to see him out there. Um what what does that mean for Justin Reed? Does he pass something or he he still needs to complete the program? Yeah, he’s still he’s still going through that process. It’s uh yeah, traditionally it’s, you know, there there’s plenty of steps through that process, but he’s doing well. Looks like Young wasn’t out there at the very beginning of practice. Is he still kind of incorporating like rehab into what he’s doing? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, he’s No, no concerns there. Obviously, u you know, he was just getting ready for practice and so u yeah, a couple different options there for him early in practice and so he he popped in there probably late right as you guys were the tail end. I would assume he wasn’t there right away, but uh he’s good to go. So Alvin get hurt in today’s practice or is that something from the game? Yeah, just a little something. Just a little ankle. So um no nothing concerning. He’s fine. Sorry. Yeah, just today. Nothing concerning. Are you optimistic that uh Chase might be able to make his return this week? Yeah, I think I think there’s obviously optimism. Uh you know, there’s a steps through this whole process. You got to see how this thing uh responds each and every day through each step that he takes. But uh you know he’s obviously been doing so much work through this whole process and so uh today was a really good step in the right direction. What’s the return to play like process like for a calf injury like that or also for somebody like Chase like when he were to come back would that be like on pitch count kind of thing you know to get him kind of acclimated and what would that look like? We’ll just have to see how the whole week progresses as far as it relates to Sunday. Uh again this has been a full process. He’s done a ton of work on the back end u you know behind the scenes for a number of weeks now and so um you know it was good to have him out there in a limited role. I thought he did a really good job and so we’ll see how everything responds coming out of this practice and then put them in position to see how tomorrow goes. That’s kind of like the the broad overview of uh Patriots defense and some stuff they Yeah, they’re just doing a really good job. I think uh you know they’re just really detailed. Um I think they’re really sound. They don’t give up uh anything easy in the run game. They make you earn it. They play with tremendous effort, physicality. um you know, their ability to play coverage on the back end. Um you know, I thought I thought they’ve uh done some really good things and you can see the progress they’ve made over the course of the season. The last couple weeks they’ve played excellent football. What do you like about Trey Ben? Really liked him coming out. I thought he his ability to play in a number of different phases of the game was really special. Um you know, he he had some at times a couple challenging circumstances at North Carolina, but I thought he was resilient through that whole process. He’s got tremendous arm talent. Uh that jumped off the tape. I remember watching him um I was in Philly so we didn’t go through a deep dive process with him but uh I was really impressed with the film. Thought he was a really good player. His ability to use his legs um was obviously a valuable asset for him. Uh you get the sense he’s a really smart football player. He can handle a lot of football and so uh you know he’s obviously shown really good progress the last year and a half of of football. Is there some part of the progress like when you look at tape in the last couple of days that jumps out to you as some you know different from what you saw in the college day? Yeah, I think just his um growth as far as you know, you can tell, you know, Josh going to put a lot on on the quarterbacks as far as there’s a lot of different tools at their disposal. A lot of different adjustments at the line of scrimmage, whether it be run to run, pass, run to pass, all those different things. He handles all that stuff really, really well. And um you I think his calm demeanor, you can just feel it out on the field as he’s gotten more and more comfortable with the league. You work with a lot of pass like receivers throughout your career. Where does Shaheen speed kind of ranked and what does that allow you to do as a play caller? Yeah, it’s a great question. As far as ranking, I mean, I’m sure there’s someone else to debate, but uh you know, he’s he’s he’s as fast as I’ve ever seen. Uh he’s he’s a tremendous football player. U his ability to track the football and those deep balls is really special as well. And so, um again, I thought he did an excellent job in the game. Obviously, we’re we’re striving to find more opportunities to create those explosives and we’ll see how it all goes. How like does a week like that like you build on that? like how how often does or what does that do for you guys and him to kind of move on? Yeah, I thought it was a big play in in the game. We needed it. Uh big explosive play, one play drive. We’ve been living in these 10 15 play drive sequences. Um you know, you can get those done. They’re just they’re they’re more challenging than uh than short play drives. And so uh obviously one play drive is a huge differencemaker in the game. And uh you know, hopefully we can build on it and have more success in similar fashion. Spencer’s like pocket filled just year one and now college to now like seems like it’s gotten a lot better like how does someone develop that like avoid sacks and just get so much better at it all the time. It’s a great question. I think uh you know credit to Spencer. He’s put a lot of time and effort into this thing. I think a lot of it timing and anticipation understanding where your outlets are, understanding where your issues are, whether it be a protection or a potential concept. Uh there’s always stressors in every play. Not every play is, you know, designed perfectly. There’s always issues that could arise and I think his ability to recognize those quickly diagnose them, find the solution, find an outlet, use his legs when he has to, he’s done some really good things in that avenue. It’s like mostly study, field, knowledge of the game. Like does that increases that stuff that can improve? I I certainly feel that way. Yeah. Um yeah, I think he’s he’s done a really good job this year with that. Um, you know, we’ve had a couple games where there’s been some sacks, but I think, uh, you know, those were became very obvious passing situation challenges and so, uh, I thought, you know, Sunday was a great example. Those guys had a tremendous rush. I thought our tackles did a really, really good job against the Giants and he was able to find some checkdowns, find some completions, and and get the ball out of his hands just in time. Was that an area you wanted him to improve or did he just kind of do that on his own? Yeah, I mean, Spence is a younger quarterback. He’s got plenty of growth opportunities as he goes through this. Um, you know, he he’s done an awesome job through that whole process and so, uh, I feel like he’s taken some steps in that in a number of different ways. So, he’s playing some good football. Could you notice any difference in the vibe or the mood in the building over the last couple of days since you were able to get win number one? Do you see or feel any difference? I think Monday obviously everyone everyone had some juice, had some energy. We came out of a win that was good. Um, kind of got to get back to work in this environment. you know, Wednesdays you quickly got to move on and the NFL will humble you very quickly if you don’t. And so, uh, I think our guys are handling this really well. Wednesdays turn into Wednesdays are kind of grinds for everyone. It’s it’s, you know, some new material, some a new opponent. You’re trying to familiarize yourself and so everyone’s kind of going through that that grind phase this time of week, but um, yeah, I thought our guys had great energy the last few days. What’s the next step? I mean, the defense obviously with the five takeaways, you know, 23 on answer, all that stuff. What’s the next step for this defense to take kind of next uh next week against New England? Yeah, I think takeaways huge factor in games, run game, huge factor in games, and then comes down to situational football, you know, and so uh I thought we took a step in the third downs. They were three for 10, uh I believe the Giants were. Um now you get into those fourth down situations, now you get into the red zone, uh making people get three points there. And so um you know, we got some opportunities to take the next step there and I think we’ll be in a great place. John, you mentioned the uh tackle play in the game on Sunday. Uh does it say something about Kelvin that I mean hardly anybody’s even talking about him this year? I mean, he’s number nine pick in the draft in the first round and we don’t hear a lot of talk about him. I guess that speaks to the performance he’s having. Yeah, I think that fits that’s fit fits who Kelvin is as a person, too. I think uh he’s just steady, he’s quiet, he does his work, he’s very uh detailed in what he does. Um, you I just thought he had some tremendous sets in in that pass rush situations, you know, this past game. I thought, you know, those guys are really good at rushers. They’re top picks for a reason. They’ve been productive for a reason. And his ability to settle in there, play the game. Um, it was just really clean. I thought Ty had an excellent game as well. I thought both tackles uh just had tremendous games and and that’s a challenging circumstance and hopefully we can build on that. And that’s a a challenging position to come in as a rookie, left tackle, blind spot. I mean, has he even surpassed what you all thought or is it fair to say that or has he been what you all exactly? We had a lot of confidence coming in. I thought, you know, once you get on the field with these guys, you always draft players and then you get into these rookie mini camps and you kind of see, okay, who are these guys truly and uh I think the the first day we kind of played the game for you guys and played them in all the positions and then quickly got him over the left tackle and after that it was pretty easy. So, it was pretty obvious this guy’s going to be pretty good. So, Uh, is Ikeam a candidate for injured reserve or which one went into Michael Davis? Yeah, so Ike’s uh, you know, navigating this hamstring. Um, you know, we’ll see how it progresses. Um, kind of had the anticipation of being able to work out some guys. Mike Davis, I was in LA with him. Brandon was in LA with him. Um, awesome player, awesome person. He he can do a lot of different things from a defensive and a special teams perspective. And so we felt like uh adding a corner obviously provides us with some tremendous depth there. Um you know when when Ike’s available and ready to go, we’ll be fired up to have him back and get him back in his roles and opportunities, but uh you know I think Mike provides us with great depth in that group. I think um you know that corner group is getting better and better and we’re building uh on some really good momentum with that group. Still relying on a lot of young players. You know what what are some like the challenge of coaching a young they’re going to make mistakes. They’re going to have to coach through that. like how how are you managing it? Yeah, a lot a lot of first- time experiences for some younger players. Um, you know, they have to learn it on the practice field in the games. Uh, you don’t want to make the same mistake twice. Uh, tremendous growth. I think it’s all about how these guys just are really resilient and really responding to um, you know, when you make a mistake, just keep on moving, just keep on going. And I think u, we got too many guys that have had great examples of that. You know, this draft class with all these guys, you know, Kelvin has had his moments where, hey, he’s missed a block. Okay. He responds really, really well and keeps progressing. Yonas has done a tremendous job. All these other guys, I can go on and on about this group. Um, it’s a fun group. You talked about um Taesm’s evolving role as he gets more practices under him. Could that role include being the primary backup quarterback? Yeah, it could. Yeah, he he’s done it plenty of times in his career. Obviously, uh he’s allocated as a quarterback for for our sake. And so, uh he’s done a tremendous job. He can play quarterback for us. He’s been taking reps in that position. uh certainly plenty uh through the last couple weeks and so uh you know he’s definitely available to be be a backup quarterback. Is there when you’re making a decision like that is there any concern when he hasn’t practiced? I mean based on all of the prior history he has at that role does having only three practices, six practices. Is that a big deal or No, he’s he’s done a tremendous job. Uh he put a ton of work behind the scenes through the last few months. Uh I mean him and Foster they were ready. They they were chomping at the bit you last week when they had a chance to finally play and so uh they were ready. They had done so much work on their own and so feel like he’s progressed really really well. I think Taesm’s hopped in there. He leans on a lot of experience that he has which he’s fortunate to have. Uh he can play quarterback in this league. He can obviously play all the other fun tool pieces that he’s done in the past and so we’ll continue to utilize all of it. So that shot inactively? Um I don’t Yeah, I don’t know. U I we got three quarterbacks. I I love all of them. So, uh, I’m not going to worry about all that math problems, but, uh, um, yeah, these guys are all developing. I just wonder like because you guys drafted Tyler obviously and then someone to come in off major injury and leave him because that’s the same thing about his development. No, Tyler’s doing awesome. Tyler’s doing awesome. Um, we we got a good group going on right now. Was wearing the like wristband at practice. Is that like just indicative of his role already like what he did last week or trying to get him up to speed? Yeah. No, he he has Yeah, I mean he’s listed as a quarterback. He’s got a wristband like the other quarterbacks. So if you call plays, he’s got the ability to call him call him based off the same way that the other two guys have done it. And so uh yeah, he he’s done a good job preparing himself. I don’t know if you got asked after the game you might have about Kerson sack. I don’t want to get you fired. I mean, do you hear from the league on something like that? Are you all here? I mean, we try and Yeah, we just try and find different educational opportunities for our guys and so, uh, yeah, Grando made a great play. Um, I’m not going to change the way we communicate with him. Did they say that was a bad call? I’m not going to get in that. I don’t Yeah, I’m good with how Grando played. I’m good with how Grando played. So, it could be a sack. Yeah. Yeah, it’s a bummer. Yeah. Yeah, it’s a it’s a bummer for him just as far as from a statistical standpoint. He’s playing tremendous. And so, uh, yeah, I I feel good with the way he played that play and, uh, he’s just going to keep playing that way and he’ll be just fine. I’m sorry. Do you not want to say whether you’ve heard from the NFL? Yeah. No, we’re not we’re not going to go down that road. Yeah. Yeah. It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it. Yeah. Conversation after a game about Kool-Aid’s first interception. Should have knocked it down. Is that something that you really care about or you just excited to see the guy make? Uh, my number one thing is I’m really excited for Kool-Aid. That’s his first interception in the NFL. Awesome play. Um, is there some educational opportunities there as far as situational football? Yes. U but, uh, Koulie made a great play, you know, obviously in the moment and so, uh, I’m not going to harp on it too bad for him. Obviously, there is some opportunities there based off of the situations that we can be more aware of, but, uh, he made an awesome play. Assess kind of the red zone go for three in the standings. 44% somewhere around those, but wonder have you been able to identify anything specifically that’s been the trouble point there? Yeah, the red zone. I got to do a better job there. I think obviously I’m going to spend a lot of the back end of this week really digging into that and that’s as our game plan sequence works. Red zone will fall into the back end of this week. And so um yeah, I think a lot of it we’re putting oursel in unfavorable situations because we’re not good enough and as far as executing and you know sequencing plays on first and second down. We’re falling oursel into two poor third downs. And so I think a lot of times if you’re third and 10 from the 10, you guys can go look up those stats. They’re not very good. You’re not going to convert a whole lot. And so what we do on first and second down has to be better. I got to sequence him better and put oursel in better situations. When it comes to Blake, do you have to talk to him a lot or you just kind of let him work through? Yeah, we we’ll touch base. Uh we’ll touch base. Obviously, we’ll have have a few conversations, but uh you know, he he’s battling through this and hey, everyone goes through these challenging situations in the NFL. Our job is to, you know, help rally rally him, rally the group. And so, uh I think he’s going to respond really, really well. So, uh, you know, I have a lot of confidence in his ability to respond to this. Beyond the the two interceptions kind of take a step forward in his last I mean, he’s only like I think last week was only his 20th game like Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Koulie still, you know, like you said, he’s a young young player. He’s still got a lot of growth opportunities, uh, just like so many of these other guys. And so, um, he’s taken some really good steps. I can, you know, I think having two interceptions, being the NFC defensive player of the week, there there’s some there’s some confidence I think that comes out of that and so you can see him with a little bit of that confidence, that swagger coming out of him. I think he’s we obviously think highly of him. We think he’s going to be a tremendous corner for us for a long time. And so, uh, you know, he’s going to continue to progress really well. Team like that can do something for kind of like build upon it. Yeah, no question. I I think no question. And I think uh anytime you get to experience evidence that supports what you’re trying to achieve, uh that’s always positive. Like Jonas and Deario had a few plays even outside the fumble where they like were passing stuff off. And what do you notice from their communication level? What does it say about Yonas being a rookie and being able to communicate with a veteran like Deario? Yeah. Having Dear and Pete inside, those guys are experienced players. They’ve played a long lot of football and so their ability to communicate is really high level. And so for a guy like Yonas to be able to step up to that level rather quickly and be able to communicate with those guys, handle all the different adjustments that you have to make based off of splits, fronts, um you know, the patterns, you know, sometimes you’re passing off, sometimes you’re locking, who’s carrying. Um there’s so many things that go into it and a lot of it’s verbal and some plenty of it is non-verbal. And so these guys have to spend as much time as they can together and uh he’s done a really good job. with the hidden yardage on Kool-Aid’s first interception. Is that a tricky discussion and that you know you want him to have confidence in his ability to return the ball? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think Yeah. Yeah. Great interception. Awesome play. uh we’ll educate oursel as far as try and get all the yards we can out of an interception and then obviously by situation if there’s if there’s clear and obvious and feel like you know there’s a bat and opportunity obviously we can talk through those sequences but uh that’ll come up in situational football on Saturday or Friday as we talk through some situations around the league. It’s a fun part of the NFL every Friday that we go through all the different things that come up in the league and as you guys know and follow there’s a million different things we get to talk about every Friday so it’s fun. You talked about not dropping the ball on the goal line. Yep. That has come up. Yep. It’s come up the last couple weeks in the NFL. So, uh it’s it’s created a trend unfortunately. So, uh you know, we’re doing our best to put oursel in the situation where we don’t don’t create that. Are you amazed that that still happens or not surprised? I’m kind of not surprised. Um just because there’s so much evidence going back five, six, seven years. Uh, I think last year we showed a reel where I I can’t even tell you 30 snaps of it, you know, across college football in the NFL, just how many times and how many games it impacts. And so, um, it happens all the time. Um, we always just say you got to run through the letters and logos, whatever the end zone is, there’s some sort of letters and logos. Get through those and then after that do whatever you need to do. You had that happen? I don’t think I have. I think we’ve been close last year. I think Squan was close, but uh, we were good. So, when when it comes to to Drake man, you mean obviously you work with a ton of QBs, but for someone just trying to kind of break through and establish themselves, how big is a win like he had, you know, Sunday night, you know, in Buffalo against a Super Bowl favorite and whatnot, like what can that do for a quarterback? Yeah, they’re progressing really, really well. You can tell their their confidence is growing. Uh that’s that’s as big of a win as you can have uh you know this time of year, you know, to go play Sunday night football at Buffalo and to come out with a win and to, you know, play really clean, good football. Uh he he’s playing really really well and so he’s going to be a really good quarterback in this league for a long time. He’s he’s going to challenge a lot of people. His ability to uh throw it anywhere you need to. His size, stature, his athletic ability, he’s got a lot a lot of tools and so uh you know, he’s going to get better and better and become, you know, a challenge for everyone. Yeah. Where do you live with your your game ball? It’s at my house. Yeah. It’s It’s in Yeah, it’s in my office somewhere. So, yeah. No, I don’t think so. You’re not quite sure where it is. It’s in my office. It’s over on the side. So, I had one on the on Spencer getting back to avoiding sacks and turnovers. Is there an analytical formula or a way that you like to convey how to weigh that against like if someone says, “Okay, well, he doesn’t average 303 touchdowns per game, but he’s very low on on sacks and turnovers.” How do you how does that fit into the whole court? Yeah. No, I think that’s that’s very relevant. I think um you know, turnover worthy plays, the the negative plays. I think he’s done a really good job and I think it’s allowed us to compete in a bunch of different situations because of that. Um we need to find a little bit more explosive plays. We know that. That’s that’s a goal of ours and we’re we’re pushing for that. Um but again, he’s putting us in positive situations to compete and so u you know it’s a matter of uh continuing to execute football at a really high level and we’ll keep finding these different opportunities aggressively take what they give us and hopefully we get some more of these explosives as we go. But uh any chance you have to continue to protect the football, keep your team moving, uh is going to be a really positive thing for quarterbacks. As far as the field goal operation goes, have you seen anything beyond just Blake’s ball striking? Is it more complicated than maybe we’re seeing? I think that’s a good question. I think I think all aspects of it, you know, it’s it’s a it’s a group that’s working together. You can always get better. I think, you know, even the protection part of it, we’ve had a lot of offensive linemen moving and so we’ve got a lot of different offensive line rotations because of the injuries that have occurred on offensive line. So that group’s kind of been evolving and so uh we do have some opportunities to get better there as a group collectively and um yeah I have confidence our group will respond really really well. Thanks. Okay thanks.

New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore speaks with the media from the Ochsner Sports Performance Center on Wednesday, October 8, 2025 ahead of Week 6 vs. the New England Patriots.
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