Head Coach Brian Daboll
DABOLL: (Defensive lineman) Dex (Lawrence) is still sick. He'll be out here. We're not going to practice him. He should be ready to go though. Everybody else is going to practice. Including (running back Tyrone) Tracy.
Q: With (tackle) Andrew (Thomas) yesterday, was that a scheduled rest day or anything?
DABOLL: Yeah, just taking care of him.
Q: You said including Tracy?
DABOLL: Yep.
Q: Does he have a chance to play this week? Or are you just trying to get him back in?
DABOLL: No, we'll see what he does today. He's feeling a lot better.
Q: (Safety) Jevón (Holland) got added with a calf. Is that something?
DABOLL: Everybody's good to go. Tracy would be the one. We'll see where he's at.
Q: How do you feel about (running back Cam) Skattebo's touchdown celebration, the backflips?
DABOLL: How do I feel about them? I wish I could do them.
Q: Is that something that you talk to players about with back flips for just health concerns? Avoid unnecessary risks?
DABOLL: Don't get celebration penalties.
Q: With (wide receiver) Darius Slayton, even before (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) going down, what's his value been to this team as a veteran and all the years he's put in?
DABOLL: Slay has been here as long as I've been here and got a tremendous amount of respect for him and everything that he's gone through. He's a fantastic leader for us. Does everything the right way. Does a really good job in that receiver room but also has really done a nice job this year of really stepping in front of the whole entire room. He's consistent, dependable, tough, everything you look for in a guy.
Q: When you look at his career, he's second in the league with averaging over 15 yards per catch, which is pretty impressive. Do you think he doesn't get enough credit for how he contributes overall on the field?
DABOLL: Yeah, I certainly think he's got a lot of value for us. We've got a lot of respect for him here on our football team. He's just a guy that brings his lunch pail to practice every day, does everything he's asked. Been a good leader for us.
Q: (Tight end) Theo Johnson got into the end zone last week. What have you thought about his season so far?
DABOLL: Theo's a second-year guy that battled through some injuries. Has a good relationship with (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart). Tough, competitive. He's a good young player.
Q: How much do you look at that? Obviously, Malik was a huge part of the offense, got a very large target share. How much do you look at filling that void? Not just by one guy, but by committee.
DABOLL: Yeah, Malik's a unique guy. We've said that before. Not many guys like him in the league. Go out there and anytime it's one on one, you just throw him the ball. Everybody's going to have to do their part. All skilled players, and the quarterback makes the right decision. Got a lot of guys ready to fill in. Everybody's going to have to do their part.
Q: From a defensive perspective, there's been a lot of talk this week about not disguising too much on the back end, that you guys don't do that. Do you think the disguising that you guys do up front with your personnel kind of counteracts that and gives an offense something to think about with the way those guys move around up front?
DABOLL: I'm very confident in our guys defensively. Whether it's the front or the back end, we do what we think we need to do each week. That's what we're trying to do this week.
Q: Has this week been any different with just getting Jaxson prepared? I mean, last week he made the switch to the starter. I guess now, is he a little calmer? What's he like this week?
DABOLL: Same guy every day. Young guy that prepares, studies, has energy, comes out and practices the right way. He's pretty consistent with his preparation habits, consistent with his mentality. Same guy every day.
Q: How has he looked with his hamstring this week, and is it something you even need to keep an eye on?
DABOLL: He's looked good.
Q: Is it invigorating at all for you coaching a young quarterback?
DABOLL: I like to coach him. Have since we got him. Again, there's certainly challenges teaching young players and quarterbacks, you're always with them. I think (assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Mike) Kafka and (offensive passing game coordinator, quarterbacks coach) Shea (Tierny) and (assistant quarterbacks coach) Chad Hall have done a really good job with him, but I enjoy the person. I enjoy his competitive nature. He's always trying to get better. We have good meetings. Again, there'll be ups and downs, I've said this a number of times, but I certainly enjoy coaching him.
Q: You have Jaxson, obviously, as your starting quarterback now. He's a young player, a rookie. You have Cam Skattebo in a much bigger role than several weeks back. How much does that provide you guys, maybe in your mind, a different energy?
DABOLL: I think the most important thing is playing well. Everybody doing their job and doing it to the best of their ability. Whether you're a 10-year vet, a rookie, second year guy, we've got to do a good job of just doing our job.
Q: I'm talking about in the building, maybe behind the scenes. Does it feel any different with them? Obviously, they're in bigger roles now. Their voices might resonate more.
DABOLL: Yeah, I'd say we all go about our business each and every week to do everything we can do to get ready to play a game. Again, whether you're a rookie, a vet, third year guy, new guy on the team, a coach. You put everything you got into it. I don't think you really concern yourself too much with that. You focus on the things you need to do each week to play. Every week's going to be a tough game.
Q: Is Dex a situation where he might have to travel separately or it's not that bad?
DABOLL: I don't think so. I think he's kind of getting over it right now. Again, we won't practice him today, but he's done a little bit inside with the trainers. We're going to bring him out here. He should be good to go.
Offensive Tackle Andrew Thomas
Q: How are you feeling?
THOMAS: I'm feeling good. Good week of practice. A lot of snaps on Sunday, but I'm excited to get back on the field again.
Q: How did you feel Monday after getting those snaps for the first time since last year?
THOMAS: Normal soreness. If anything, my lungs are more tired than anything. It was a good game. We got the win, so I'll just keep building on that.
Q: How did you feel in the second half of the game at snap 50?
THOMAS: I was fine, honestly. Being up-tempo, I think that puts stress on everybody up front. You don't get as much break when you're huddling, but I think we did a good job handling it. Got a lot of reps with that this week to make sure we're ready to go.
Q: Is there any part of you when you guys are planning out what you're doing that looks at this week, and then next week, and the short week, and how many days? Does that factor in for you at all?
THOMAS: It's definitely something that we've talked about. It's pretty fluid because it just depends on how I'm feeling. They've got a plan in set. The focus is this game coming up Sunday. Try not to look too far ahead, but we're aware it's a short week coming up.
Q: How much different is that on the road when I'm sure it's obviously going to be loud there on Sunday, and not being in the huddle to get the play call?
THOMAS: Communication is very important. We've got to do a good job. We have a lot of terms, a lot of motions, different things to get some guys open. It's important up front to get to the ball fast, make sure we're aligned. Some of the responsibility falls on us up front. We know the calls, especially in the run game, we're making the mic points, (center) John Michael (Schmitz) makes the calls. As long as we know what we're doing, we can help (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) out as well.
Q: How are you seeing Jaxson handle that?
THOMAS: He's doing great with it. He's making sure he's communicating. He's asking us how the communication is, things he can do to improve, and we're all just working together to get on the same page.
Q: You probably didn't practice with Jaxson at all until last week, I assume, right? How much different was the offense, just the way you structured it, the way you guys ran it, with him than what you're used to?
THOMAS: The calls were pretty much the same. There was a little more window dressing on certain things, but the only difference was just being on the ball. We've had the plays in before.
Q: Do you think the five-man offensive line unit played their best game of the year last week?
THOMAS: I guess you could say it's the best because we won. Like I said after the game, selfishly, we've got to score more in the red zone. We've got to do a little bit better in the run game and try to protect Jaxson better.
Q: Did you go into the game expecting to play as much as you did, or was it kind of as the game went on?
THOMAS: In my mind, I was going the whole game unless something else happened, but my mindset was to play the whole game.
Q: What do the Saints do up front? What challenges do they pose?
THOMAS: They play a lot of different five-man fronts. Going back to that communication that you talked about, identifying the front. It's a veteran group. A lot of those guys have played a long time together. The linebackers are really good, really instinctive, so we've got to make sure we're reading our keys and making our blocks.
Q: Is (Saints defensive end Cameron) Jordan mostly on the right tackle?
THOMAS: They switch a little bit, but most of the time he's on the right tackle.
