Saints Sideline Blog

GREGARIOUS GREGG

Saturday, July 31st, 2010      Email Print

DATELINE: Metairie, LA/ July 31st, 2010 (Move over RIckles and Rock, we have Gregg WIlliams)
 
Gregg Williams is much like his defense-never boring and often entertaining. That's between the lines, outside of all the hitting its much of the same. The Saints defensive guru is never at a loss for words and isn't afraid to make fun of himself or in some cases the reporter asking the questions. Give Williams a question and he will not only give you an answer he'll answer questions you didn't even ask him. Lesson learned-don't miss a Gregg Williams post practice press conference or you might be sorry!
 
In the midst of the heat and humidity of Training Camp, Williams' words are a breath of fresh air. This "no cliche zone" features answers which are frank, fun and always informative. Case in point, Saturday's presser was full of some dandies:
 
On players missing training camp" The only guy that can do that is Brett Favre."
On new terminolgy for his defense " Why don't you guys ask all future questions in Russian"
On locker room chemistry "Sean Payton says its like a garden, you need to water it daily."
 
You get the idea, Gregg Williams knows X's and O's and knows to feed the media monster what's its craving for. OK maybe he doesn't care about feeding us good quips, but we'll take them anyway. He's much more than just talk though, as evidenced by his unit's "super" play last season. From the very first time he walked onto the practice field as the Saints' Defensive Coordinator, Williams' players quickly adapted to his aggressive turnover crazed style. Williams has learned to be flexible over the years where he says whether its in Tennessee, Washington or his one season in Jacksonville, he has learned to adapt. Like many defensive coaches around the league, WIlliams respects Bill Belichick and prescribes to his theory of "you can't create players, go with the hand that your dealt." In one year he took a Saints hand which had a few kings and aces and transformed them into a royal flush. A group where many of his stars had career years. WIlliams should and does get a lot of the credit for that.
 
His hand this year is still full of aces. Williams may no longer have the likes of Scott Fujita or Charles Grant but he likes this unit. He really likes the progress of converted safety Malcolm Jenkins whom Williams feels will push Darren Sharper for a starting job. WIlliams claims there is no frontrunner to replace Fujita and may not know the answer till Week 1 of the season. He told us there were many missed opportunities to convert even more turnovers last year, translation-- expect no letdown this year. The core of this unit is back and with added parts like Alex Brown, Jimmy WIlkerson and Clint Ingram, dare we say these guys can be better?--its coordinator knows they can.
 
It says a lot about Sean Payton to be able to bring on a Gregg Williams type personality. The Saints Head Coach had to forgo part of his salary to bring him aboard and part with some attention as well. It was a risk that was well worth it as Williams proved to be New Orleans' biggest free agent signing. He helped showcase Darren Sharper's skills and transformed this unit into a shadow of what it was under his predessor Gary Gibbs. The end result-- a Saints Super Bowl trophy which was worth every penny---the Gregg Williams' one liners were just an added bonus.
 
AROUND THE CAMPFIRE
 
PORTER ON PUNTS-Sean Payton has been a big Tracy Porter fan from Day 1, so its no surprise he's trying to find more ways to get him onto the field. Payton says this preseason look for the Saints Super Bowl star to return more punts where he will share reps with Reggie Bush and Lance Moore in the coming weeks.
 
"SHOCK" VALUE: The weather was as hot as Jeremy Shockey temperment at this morning's workout. The Saints Tight End dropped a wide open bomb from Drew Brees then followed that up by catching a ball and out of frustration did his best Thomas Morstead impersonation and punted the ball with some hang time Ray Guy would have been proud of
 
REGGIE REGGIE: Reggie Bush says he has never been healthier and is in the best shape of his career. A year ago, Bush's health seemed to be the number one question mark where Bush admits a year ago he was around 70%.
 
GREER ON THE JEERS: The Who Dat Nation is close to the open practices but not many players make eye contact during workouts, one exception, Jabari Greer. He always has a smile for any "creative" chant but on this morning after some fans gave rookie Patrick Robinson a hard time after slipping on coverage, Greer looked at the fan and said, "Be respectful."
 
MOORE OF MOORE: Three constants in training camp,the heat, the humidity and Lance Moore catching everything thrown his way. Moore is clearly back to his old self looking great for the second straight day and pulling down everything in sight.
 
UNTIL NEXT BLOG,
Mike Nabors
CST

By: Mike Nabors

An Emmy award winning sports reporter who covers a wide variety of events for CST. Primarily, Mike serves as the network's reporter for Saints coverage.

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