Kellen Moore on Buccaneers, injury report | New Orleans Saints

Good to go. All right. Uh medical. Chris Ol did not practice with the ankle. Uh Chase Young did not practice with an illness. Alante did not practice just with a personal matter. Um couple guys limited. Jawan with the neck. Alvin with the ankle. And then Ridgeway was shoulder but full participant coming off of the uh reserve. So those are the adjustments there and open up for questions. Have you guys made a decision on Rididgeway? Can you take that open roster spot or? Yeah. Yeah, he’ll be available. Yep. And um with Deon Neil, you know, you mentioned him on Monday missing the time in training camp. Is there a way for like a rookie like that to make up for lost time? Like how have you seen him yet? No, he’s made up for it. I think, you know, through practice, I mean, he’s ready to go. He he hopped in there in the game and uh it’s obviously still a limited role uh from a volume standpoint, but uh he hopped in there, handled everything great. Um he’s ready to go. What does he do? Well, as a great vision, good cut. Um, you know, he’s got a good balance to him. Uh, I think he’s, um, he just has a good feel for the for the run game. Um, have you been a part of of a staff or a season that was sort of this intentional about getting so many rookies playing time? Um, I don’t know. I mean, yeah, I mean, some sometimes rosters are younger than others. Um, young guys do play. Um, they get to grow as they as they go. I think, uh, we got a nice little mix. We got a nice blend of some veteran players who played a lot of football and some younger guys that are getting exposure and so um again we’re going for it each and every week. I know Mickey was even said on the radio Monday that you guys kind of all went in eyes open that there be a developmental aspect to this year. I mean was was that something you guys had talked about as early as August September about hey we want to find ways to get these guys on the field. We’re developing younger guys. We know that. But at the same time uh that doesn’t change the objective every Sunday. Um, we still got to go out and play better football, coach better football, and go win some games. And so, uh, you know, that’s that can be independent of what happens on Sundays as you’re developing those guys, which we think is really important as we go. Um, Baker said today that, uh, when he’s played the Saints in the past that it hasn’t exactly been clean on their part. I know obviously you weren’t part of that and that he just, you know, doesn’t like the Saints. Do you think comments like that can kind of help fuel your team a little more in a, you know, big rivalry game like this? Division games are always fun no matter where what organization I’ve been a part of. Um, division games are fun. They’re they’re a little bit different than all the rest of the games. Uh, you know, you’re going to play them twice in a season. There’s a lot of commonality. You know each other very very well. Um, obviously, you know, my understanding this is a this is a phenomenal rivalry. They’ve had a ton of success lately. We’ve had success. Uh, it’s going to be a fun battle. Baker’s as playing as good a quarterback play in this league and so uh it’ll be a fun battle. Can you maybe talk more about if you don’t mind just ask you I believe about your thoughts on the opposing quarterback as a quarterback but just his journey is kind of unique in finding his way where he is now. Yeah, ton of respect for Baker’s journey um you know to go have success in Cleveland have to navigate some things through a couple years there uh going to a couple other spots then coming out on top in Tampa and playing just phenomenal football. Again, he’s playing as well as anyone in this league. his confidence, his swagger, his decisiveness. It shows up each and every week. Uh his ability to make big plays and uh you know, they’ve won a bunch of games down the stretch because the ball’s in his hands and that’s all the credit you can ask for from a quarterback. With with Blake, is there like a a clock on like the patience of like allowing him to get himself out of it, but also like not hitting the points and maybe maybe not putting yourself in the best position to uh to win because you aren’t getting Yeah, we got we got to be more successful there. Blake knows it. Um you know, we got to keep keep going. Uh we got to keep going. Uh, do kickers miss some shots at times in this league? Yes. And so, um, there’s a lot of guys who have grown through these, get get through it, have a ton of success on the other end end of some adversity. And so, uh, we feel like Blakes’s can get there and, um, you know, we have a lot of confidence in him. Do you anticipate Quincy Riley continuing to start after even after Isaac is fully healthy? Quincy’s playing great. I mean, obviously, he can start right he’ll start right now and as Ike kind of gets back into this thing, we’ll see how everything progresses. But Quincy’s done a phenomenal job. He’s made plays and you can see again from a young developmental standpoint, you can see his weeks stack on top of each other which is credit to him. So you expect Quincy to still start this week? Yeah. Yeah. We’ll we’ll anticipate Quincy starting and then we’ll kind of see where Ike is as the week progresses. I was going to say what makes it so difficult facing the top defense. Uh continuous stress on um you mentally, you know, just from a threat of uh pressure, a threat of multiple looks. uh he’s going to apply a ton of pressure on you and uh he’s always done a good job. He’s not afraid to be aggressive. Um challenge you in a lot of situations. There’s not a lot of easy easy yards. You got to earn everything. And so uh you know we we’ve played obviously Tampa a lot of times over the years at various spots and it’s always been a fun battle. I have a ton of respect for Todd. He’s arguably one of if not the uh you know best defensive coach in this league. Is he is he very good at um I guess in-game stuff like adjusting what offenses are doing that he’s able to is he really good at that? He does a great job of adapting to each and every week of the opponent and understand okay what’s what do they do really well and how do I take that away and uh you know make make you play maybe a different style or have to counter move them in a lot of different ways. And so uh he does that going into the week. He does a great job during the game. Um yeah again it’s been a battle every time. He’s he’s really really good. Neil had that like really good blitz pick up. Do you see that kind of just consistently like when you guys are are evaluating that? That showed up in the college film from Devin which was a little bit of an impressive aspect was his ability to protect. We felt like that would give him a head start compared to a lot of guys coming from college where protection isn’t necessarily part of their tools uh early in college careers. And so uh you know he’s done a really nice job. He hopped in there, handled it well. He’ll be just fine. the the other aspect of that too, like on that on that one play like Spencer looks like so incredibly calm and confident that it’s going to get picked up. Is that kind of rare to see a quarterback just kind of just so even like when when that pressure is coming in like that? Yeah, that’s an important aspect of this thing. You got to trust trust your teammates, trust that everyone’s um doing their part. Uh Devin did a phenomenal job of getting back across. Uh he had to navigate something on the other side initially in the protection game and then came back across and Spence was willing to keep his eyes downfield, stay in there. Spence is a bunch of examples of that through through uh you know the early part of the season hanging in there. Maybe a subtle move here and there, but he’s done a really good job in the pocket. What did you make of that? You guys have done such a big job taking care of the ball the first seven weeks of the year. Would you make the the turnovers Sunday? Was that just was part of that just this game situation you were in the team you were playing? Yeah, unfort unfortunate that I think credit to those guys. They’ve done a phenomenal job. Obviously, there’s a lot of evidence to support that those guys are creating these turnovers. Uh the fumble, we got to protect the ball in the pocket. we can do better there. Um, you know, we had a couple plays in there where, you know, a deep shot where kind of maybe took a little bit of a risk there in in the late scramble phase and then the last play, you know, we just got to we got to be cleaner in in the fourth down situations. And so, uh, you know, they made some plays. We obviously get to learn from them. Um, you know, the previous weeks I thought we did a really good job, but you can’t come out of this game losing your stinger and becoming passive. You know, that’s the one thing you can’t do going in coming out of a game like this is you still got to attack, you still got to play u your style of football. And so, you know, you just got to understand you got to protect a little more. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin both this week. Is seven weeks enough to kind of prepare for Luca and Ted Johnson? Are you dipping into the college film? No, we’re just watching Bucks film. These guys have played a bunch of football. They’re they’re playing really well. Um, what do you guys like about Pete Wer to keep him in their still mostly fulltime over rather than just make the switch like you guys did with No, Pete’s a really good player. Uh, Pete’s a really good player. We we think really highly of him. Um, you know, we’re just getting some rotations going there a little bit just to provide some depth and get get some experience from those younger guys, but Pete’s playing some really good football and, uh, again, he’s a he’s a really good combination with him and Deario playing there on the field and so, uh, he’s done a nice job. What does he add? Like, how did how do they complement each other? Sorry. Um, Pete is um, Pete’s got great vision. He’s got a great understanding of the defense. Um, he I think he diagnoses plays really really well and um, you know, he’s just a sound football player. you know, he doesn’t make a ton of mistakes and so, uh, you have a lot of, uh, confidence in him going out there and executing the plan. You guys don’t feel like it’s kind of like traditional running back screens. Like, is there a way to get that action just kind of like in more creative different like space advant advantageous ways? Yeah, it’s definitely part of u something that we haven’t probably dipped into as much as we’d like. Uh, sometimes that’s the way these games go and these game plans go and it’s not without practicing them or putting them on the call sheet. It’s just a matter of getting to them in different fashions and situations. And so, uh, you know, certainly it’s something that probably hopefully we see more as the season progresses. It may not be this week, but as it goes, you know, I think there’s definitely value there. Anything subtle that might not show up on uh film that Kell Banks has really uh shown improvement in in the last three, four weeks. I think he’s just really consistent. Uh, he doesn’t get beat. U, you know, he handles the challenging looks there. You know, you get on edges at tackle. You get on edges and his ability to recover. And I thought the cool thing was just his, you know, him and Trevor working together more and more now. Like their communication is getting really, really good. Um, you know, the deep pass to Chris Ave really, it’s Kelvin communicating with Trevor to get the O line to squeeze the blitz and leave the defensive end who’s dropping. Uh, ultimately they give us the opportunity to throw the deep shot. If not, we have a protection uh, challenge there inside with three guys blitzing inside the A gap. And so their ability to see it, diagnose it. Kelvin’s really the main guy that gets gets it going and so uh he’s I think he’s playing with a lot of confidence now that that a lot of people have to pick up Derek’s communication slack. I mean as far as the primary goes on some of the calls would you anticipate that going to some of the things he was going to quarterback for or um I think it still starts with the line. Those guys communicate in a really high level. the QB always has his tools within protections and adjustments that he can utilize and so uh you I think that that group’s been working well together and you know there’s an adjustment without Eric but they’ll handle it well the decision on who’s going to replace Eric how you’re going to handle that yeah we’ll just start Luke uh Luke as center he’s done a really good job uh he’s played some good good football uh fired up for him and um you know keep the continuity at the you know right side and the left side and I think we’re trending well how do you go about just when it comes to losing a captain as well for us to see. Is there anything in particular you have to do around that? Yeah, I think it’s just an opportunity for more voices to kind of subtly find their find their space to to increase a little bit. Um, you know, Eric when he can be around during this recovery process, you know, obviously those guys will love to see him. He means the world to these guys, but at the same time, um, you know, some other guys, some of those offensive linemen, you know, gain a little more voice. Caesar will gain a little more. Kelvin Tally as they go, Trevor. Uh, you know, we got some experience there with those guys that they can find their opportunities to kind of lead the charge a little bit. Warner’s veteran experience kind of the reason why not over Yeah. Yeah. He’s played he’s played center in this league for a little while. He’s uh responded well the last couple weeks. He’s he’s handled a bunch of stuff. I think uh it’ll be a good transition for our guys to just continue to build collectively as a group and um yeah, we we know we have some other options as we go. Those guys are developing well as well. You talk a lot about like patience with the quarterback. Is Baker Mayfield kind of prime example of that of how he’s developed? Yeah. Um Baker’s a great example. Feels like most of that draft class is a great example. Uh yeah, this quarterback position sometimes it takes time. They’re going to go through uh you know, this is an awesome opportunity for Spence. You know, uh you deal with a adversity game and you get to respond. And so um you know, all these guys have gone through this. Um, you know, I think you’re continue to develop these guys and they’ll continue to grow. Um, really affected scrambled drill defense with blaster. Like is that something that you spend more time on when you’re going against the Caleb who Baker kind of the same thing? Yeah, I thought our defensive staff did an awesome job last week really emphasizing that phase of it. Um, I thought our back end executed at a really high level. Um, you know, you watch those clips over over and over and there’s not a bunch of there’s not guys breaking free in those scramble phase. guys, you know, stayed attached uh really, really well. Our rush, continue to, you know, Caleb’s going to extend plays. That’s how he plays. And certainly a lot of the quarterbacks in this league are going to extend plays. And so the Dline has to just keep coming, keep going after it. Uh they’ll find a way to get there. And then that back end did a really good job. What’s the point on that? What are you guys trying to do different situation defensively? Offensive Spencer. Yeah. Yeah. you’re always trying to see, you’re always trying to find green grass. There’s a there’s a lot of there’s kind of a a guideline system that we have in place. And so, um, you know, the most important thing is it’s about finding grass and and finding space and and working back towards the quarterback. And when you do have those deep shots, uh, you don’t want to be you don’t want to not take them, but you got to see, you know, the other element of that. A lot of times those turnovers always happen. You know, Yonas had one against Buffalo. Uh, it was a very similar play where those balls deep outside the numbers. These safeties are really talented, really athletic, and they can get to those throws uh if the ball’s up in the air long enough. [Music] I thought the safety did an excellent job breaking on it. Yeah. And then, you know, that’s a challenging throw as you’re moving u you know, to your left as a righty QB and you’re trying to get it downfield and um you know, have we seen those plays executed? Yeah, you’ve seen those plays turned into big plays, but you know, there’s obviously risk that came as a result of that as well. Is that a throw you want to see made in that moment? I think you just got to see the safety. It’s first it’s first and second down. It’s not got to have it moments. And so in a perfect world, you’re finding another completion moving on to the next play. Did Eric and Kendrick um have surgery for injuries? If not, is that something you anticipate? Yeah, they they’ll have surgery soon and so uh they’ll be on their plans. J, when you see a guy like Baker, his ability to to scramble seems to be something like, uh, is there from your experience, uh, is that just an innate feel? I know you all coach it, but I mean, some guys have that ability to make something out of nothing. Yeah, there’s a lot of instinctual elements to it, you know, just because, you know, you compare it a lot of times to fast break basketball and, you know, there’s guidelines to everyone was introduced to basketball and the fast break and, you know, the one goes here and the three goes here and okay, cool. Everyone learned that fast break drill as a kid, but there’s a lot of intuition and instincts that go into that thing and and uh, you know, he he does a phenomenal job. Baker’s always made plays this way. I think when you look at what our league’s becoming and a lot of these top quarterbacks, you know, they do make their these explosive big-time plays in the offset component. You just look at a lot of these guys and so, uh, Baker’s leading the charge. He’s done a phenomenal job of it. You know, going all the way back to college, you know, it showed up. Uh, he’s continued to do it in a really talented way. And so, u, you know, it’s a challenge. It’s a challenge for defenses because you can say, “Okay, great. We covered the initial play. Well, here comes the second part of the play and this is just as explosive as the original play was.” And so, uh, you know, the time clock’s different, the effort’s different. It’s got to keep going. And so, credit to Baker. He’s doing a phenomenal job with it. [Music] All right. Thanks, guys.

New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore speaks with the media from the Ochsner Sports Performance Center on Wednesday, October 22, 2025 ahead of Week 8 vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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