{"id":703909,"date":"2026-01-25T12:50:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T12:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/703909\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T12:50:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T12:50:20","slug":"despite-early-setbacks-the-new-orleans-saints-keep-marching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/703909\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite early setbacks, the New Orleans Saints keep marching"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I really think the struggle…it’s been a blessing for our locker room looking back,” defensive lineman Jonah Williams<\/a> said. “When you’re losing like that in the beginning, you stop looking at the result. Everyone wants the win but you stop looking at the result and you focus more on the process.<\/p>\n

“There were games where we’ve lost and we still came in as a defense, (defensive coordinator Brandon) Staley walked us through the good parts of the game and just really focused on where we’ve got to get better. It wasn’t all about the win or the loss. It built us up from that standpoint. Just coming together through those hard times, I think that’s been a blessing.<\/p>\n

“Kellen is probably one of the most level-headed coaches I’ve ever had, and I think that’s a huge strength for the team. Through good or bad, he’s just level. Very process-oriented.”<\/p>\n

It makes sense. Moore is the son of a legendary high school coach, played in college and knew early in his NFL career that he wanted to be a coach. Even after the Saints’ early spate of losses \u2014 three were one-score defeats and the Saints felt they gifted a couple of the wider decisions \u2014 he emphasized process.<\/p>\n

“There are highs and lows in everything,” Moore said. “I think it’s really important for these guys to find some consistency as we go through these NFL seasons. Hopefully, I can lead them by example in that fashion.<\/p>\n

The ride smoothed considerably for New Orleans, in large part due to a cohesive locker room.<\/p>\n

“It’s been a great locker room,” Hill said. “The reality is there’s been no quit in anybody in that locker room, and everybody is still competing and playing for one another. It’s a fun environment to be in. We know that the postseason stuff is off the table, but everyone is still cherishing every opportunity, and I think that that’s pretty unique and special.”<\/p>\n

The game balls have been the cherries on top because they represent Moore’s grasp and people skills, as he lists the accomplishment which earned the reward.<\/p>\n

“If there’s one thing about Kellen, he’s a very aware coach,” Hill said. “He knows what’s going on and he knows how challenging this league is and I think he’s got a really unique perspective for having played. I think he’s got a different perspective from being in the locker room that way.<\/p>\n

“He doesn’t let those things just pass by. Our locker room and the recognition that he gives to guys for what they do is evident of that. I think everyone appreciates that about Kellen. It’s one of those things that endears a player to him and a locker room, and people feel that and rally behind that.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“I really think the struggle…it’s been a blessing for our locker room looking back,” defensive lineman Jonah Williams…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[17383,11114,7,7166,81,896,55,2572,2571,3051,6,1647,397],"class_list":["post-703909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-orleans-saints","tag-2025-reg-week18","tag-coach-executives","tag-football","tag-kellen-moore","tag-latest-news","tag-new-orleans","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-neworleans","tag-neworleanssaints","tag-news-john-deshazier","tag-nfl","tag-roster","tag-saints"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115955828850808314","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}