Saints HC Kellen Moore on Tyler Shough’s growth, improving the run game, facing Bucs for second time

Saints HC Kellen Moore on Tyler Shough’s growth, improving the run game, facing Bucs for second time

All right, guys. Ready to roll. So, uh, practice report. Uh, four DMPS, uh, Tally with the ankle, Alvin with the knee/ ankle, Chris with the back, and then Justin Reed with the knee. So, we’ll just let all those progress. Uh, we’ll see where that takes us and then other than that, today was a good day. Hybrid practice where we did some full speed and then transition into some walkthrough settings outside. And so, um, good day and ready to roll. Did you reagate the ankle in the game? Different ankle. So, yeah. And what about Chris? Uh maintenance or did it get wet? Yeah, I mean it’s a back, so it’s obviously it’s going to get you play a full game the way he did. Obviously, it’s going to be sore and so he’s just navigating that and so um we’ll let that progress obviously. Um you know, he’s he’s doing some good though. And do you have anything further on the prognosis for Justin? Justin, just an E. So we’ll we’ll see. Uh we’ll see how this thing progresses this week. Obviously has it reached a point you put him on IR immediately. It’s not. Yeah, it’s not an IR thing. Uh, but we’ll we’ll just kind of see how this thing goes. Clarify. Is it the same ankle different injury or different other ankle? Tally. Okay. Yeah, just the other ankle just came up in the game. That sounds like a obvious, but is is there any kind of tactical or whatever advantage of just having Tyler be in this position? I suppose Spencer starting to side against Tampa. Uh, just his experience playing playing them. Yeah. Um yeah, obvious you know Tyler was able to play the back end of that game. Uh so he got some exposure. It was challenging circumstances. We were behind a little bit against Tampa and so definitely some stuff to watch on that film. Um you know this be a fun battle. These guys are this is a really good team. Obviously uh they’ve played well this year. Um you know I think our team’s growing and getting better each and every week and so uh it’ll be a lot of fun to play a division game on the road. Have you seen growth from Tyler from being thrown in there in the third quarter to, you know, having started four games? Yeah, absolutely. Tyler Tyler’s done a nice job. I think he’s progressing well. Um, there’s highs and lows in every game, uh, for every player on our team, for every person a part of this thing. And so, uh, I think Tyler’s progressing well. I think, um, you know, he’s grown each and every step of the way. And, um, I think last week was, again, talk going back to last week, I thought was a great example. We didn’t start the way we needed to collectively. uh there’s a lot of challenging uh circumstances in there and u his resiliency showed up in that game to give us an opportunity towards the end and so uh a lot of great experiences to learn from and so uh he’s continuing to grow. 50 opening 53 man roster what do you do for you as a coach to have a guy who kind of stays patient waits his turn and kind of works his way into positions? Yeah, first we we loved TB. uh you know if yeah it’s a 53man roster we really saw you view him as 54 then uh cuz he was ready to go from the beginning and so um he’s just the ultimate pro the ultimate vet lead by example he’s always ready and prepared um his season’s I think a perfect example of that you know he plays these limited snaps in these kind of uh secondary auxiliary roles on defense and then when he makes and then he shows up and he makes the play you know it’s the one snap a couple weeks ago it’s the big play against the Giants to break up a pass on the flea flicker um you know, obviously reps all of a sudden increased this past week and he’s ready to respond and has a great you know pass break up in the end zone and so uh he’s just a really consistent veteran uh smart football player that um you know you trust at a really high level. Sir, can you put your finger on any reason why the the ground games kind of consistently hasn’t been able to get going last 890 yards? Yeah. Yeah, I think it’s uh it’s obviously something that collectively we got to we got to find a better solution there. Um, you know, I think part of it is, you know, I think it’s the extreme sides of it. We got to avoid the the negative, the zeros and the minuses. And then we got to find a way to generate the explosives. And that comes uh explosives come from um every aspect of it. You know, it takes all 11 to be on the same page, the perimeter blocking, the the pursuit. Um obviously the ability to run the football and make make a play. And so uh you know, I thought we got settled in there as this game went. Got four and five yard gains. Now we just got to find a way to create some of those explosive ops. on that two-point play, like if is the correction on that like do you spell the run like hey when you hit your line like stay on it like is it a quick easy fix or Yeah, I think uh the trick of it is you’re doing a two-point play from the seven and so there is a little bit of you got to get enough depth to give yourself an opportunity. So he was trying to, you know, be as subtle as he could build as he went so that when he catches it hopefully he can get into the end zone. Um, you know, obviously you look at it and we’ll we’ll continue to evaluate that one. Uh, as far as, you know, if you’re in a two-point play from the seven, you know, what different situations you can present. Um, the guy made a really good play. He undercut it and took a chance on this play. Obviously, if the ball gets completed over the top in any way, you know, he’s not going to make the play. But, uh, credit to Minka. He made a phenomenal play. And then on the first one, like do you like to build in like two three options? Like is that just kind of like when you get down to that area like the one where Tyler granted in? Yeah. like you had the the play to the the left the route to the back like do you like the quarterback to have like like a menu of things like we always Yeah, we just felt like it it was a really clean play for us based off some of the stuff we had done and seen on their film and so essentially it’s a it’s a movement. It’s a play action. The running back’s going to protect the edge for the quarterback and so he’s got they running across the field and he’s got the ability to run it. Um, you know, and the Y the Y technically ran a route kind of late and I think that was a key part of it that kept the corner occupied and so that was just great instincts by Tyler just react and trusting it and just okay I can outrun this and get it get it done. When you guys are talking about team building, coming back to kind of what I was asking about the wide receiver one on Monday, like do you guys talk about it in those terms or is it just this is our X, this is our Z, like how does that kind of factor in as you guys are making a roster or talking about longterm plans or anything like that? Um, so as far as the receiver room, I think everyone’s got to have a starting point. Uh, so naturally there’s X’s and Z’s and slots. um you know that’s a starting point but I think one big important part of our um operation is just making sure these guys have the ability to uh you know play in multiple spots and so uh you know you got to be a really smart player you got to be able to do that you know um again the more you have versatility the more allows us to you know move Chris and move Vy and some of these guys and put them in different positions and especially when you get into matchup football and you know if you put a guy in one spot the entire time uh defenses can kind of you know make a call make an adjustment to you know roll to his side at all times, cloud his side. Um, it’s just easier, you know, we got to make the defense work if they’re going to do those sorts of things to, you know, potentially a Chris or whoever it may be. Is there anything specific that stands out with with Devon that took a while for him to get a grasp of since it was a new team that he has in recent weeks been been done really well? I think we we saw him really u with a really good future for us, you know, when we brought him in. And so, uh, you know, he was banged up when when early when he right really right when he got here, he was kind of banged up. And so, we’re kind of navigating that for a couple weeks. And then, uh, you know, as we kind of built it and then, you know, I thought his experience with the system and ability to handle all the no huddle, which is a little bit of a a component that you you got to kind of memorize a lot of things in in a no huddle setting. And so he’s done a really nice job of kind of preparing himself and putting himself in position that once we made a couple receiver transactions obviously became pretty obvious that all right he’s going to play a ton of snaps moving forward. Um you know and he he’s he’s uh I think in many ways the ideal Z receiver because of his ability to do a lot of the dirty work in the run game which that position naturally requires in some run stuff. off that you got a lot of play action stuff and um you know the inbreakers and the you know kind of the contested catch world that Aziz may play in a number of times and so he he’s done a great job. How did he play primarily a lot how heavy was his last one? I think he played a little bit of that and a little bit of slot you know and so I think you know I always think of Z’s and slots as kind of intermixed. Those guys got to be able to move because you can play in and out of those two positions. The extra receiver tends to be a little bit more of an isolated one-on-one player. Um, you know, that’s just the way it rolls. And so, you know, really, if you look at our stuff moving forward the last few weeks, really Chris and Vay are the two that are kind of moving, you know, within the structure of the formations and those guys got to play intermixed. What have you thought about uh Quincy Riley and just kind of having developed over the course of this? Yeah, I think, you know, I think you just see the consistency show up more and more and so um, you know, I think he’s just been a really steady player. He’s got great instincts in the passing game. Um obviously he’s he’s attacking the football. He’s got a history of ball production which I think will continue to show up more and more. And so um you know for him he’s just going to keep growing, keep getting better. Uh there’s a physical component of this thing playing corner in the NFL that people are going to always stress you and challenge you with and so he’s got some great opportunities to continue to grow there. And so u but I thought he’s done some good stuff. Did y’all anticipate he like when you drafted him that if things kind of went the right way he could potentially play a starting role? I think you’re cautious. You know, we’re optimistic uh that he he’d be able to contribute in some way. I think during training camp, he got some indications that, you know, this guy has some ability that, you know, he could he can play, you know, and obviously he was coming in a little bit banged up and so it took him a little bit for OTA’s training camp. I thought he made some made some plays in practice. He seemed to, you know, make a pick it felt like every few days and make a play on on the football. And so, um, you know, when his opportunity presented presented itself in this early part of the season, I thought he responded really well and he’s earned that, uh, consistent role. I’m not really sure how to ask this, so I apologize. Um, is the mindset kind of following up on talk about team building, looking at the future. Have you seen enough because some it seems like some of the the high moments for Tyler have been really impressive that he is our guy in 2026 and we’re seeing enough to feel invested in that or are these final five games crucial because where you are picking potentially you may have to make a crucial decision on passing on perceived best quarterback in the draft or going with them. Yeah. Um Tyler’s doing an awesome job. Yeah. Uh we draft him, you know, with the intent of uh continue to develop him and let him grow. And so I think he’s just done an excellent job of taking advantage of these opportunities. We want to win some games. We want to play well down the stretch and put ourel in excellent position uh for the future with a lot of these guys. And so uh again, you know, next year and all that fun stuff. Uh you know, that’s for that’s for a different day. But uh we wanted to keep developing Tyler. We want to put him in an awesome position to be successful. Um I think he’s done a lot of good and so I’m excited about his future with us. Last time around you guys didn’t face or stand by now back to Yeah. Yeah. It’s it’s definitely shows up on film. Uh Buckyy’s just he’s a really, you know, big- time runner. You know, the explosive plays. Uh you know, I think that’s the thing that shows up. Uh you know, he’s a big part of this offense. And I think, you know, as much as all the other things that they can do, which is stresses you, their ability to run the football. If they can do that with him, uh it puts you in quite the conflict with what they have on the outside. You don’t have a kicker on the active roster right now. What goes into that decision of leaving both guys on? Yeah, there’s elevation opportunities and so it gives us the flexibility to to play the numbers game. You know, we’re able to keep a few more guys up and uh protect those guys and um you know, obviously we’ll have to make the move for you know, this week and so uh we’ll be good to go there. Is the idea to keep going with Charlie? Are you going to make a decision? Yeah, we’ll go with Charlie. Yeah, Charlie will be ready to go and so um he did an excellent job last week and um you know, we’re in a good development phase with both these guys. Uh, apologize for not knowing this, but would you all be able to like if somebody wanted to sign Charlie off your practice squad, would you be able to have like right there? Yeah. Okay. Um, take some pills to touch this. I know sometimes it just kind of works out that way, but you know, with the amount of work you got after Alvin got hurt and then following game with Alvin Audi, I think he only two. Yeah, probably only. He had a catch on the sideline, one run. It’s probably only the two. Yeah. Yeah. I think this past game wasn’t ideal uh for for that role. We anticipated playing a little bit in heavier sets and you know early in the game the run game just wasn’t working in the 22 and 13 heavier run game where he was going to be a part of that. And so we got to more air stuff you know with 11 personnel felt like the air stuff gave us at least some four and 5 yard runs. And so as a counter uh you know moment to that you know take some reps probably weren’t ideally what they would you’d want them to be. And so, uh, you know, that’s on me. That’s on me. I think he’s, uh, he’s done an awesome job. You look at the two previous weeks, I thought he had a nice impact on both those games, playing close to 25 some snaps. And that’s probably where it should be more often than

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