No mercy in the preseason
Saints tired of practicing against themselves
Posted: Friday July 31, 1998 02:17 PM
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While Lamar Smith runs some laps for Ditka, the Saints are ready to pound on someone other than themselves AP |
LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (AP) -- New Orleans coach Mike Ditka calls it
brother-in-lawing.
Receivers coach Harold Jackson refers to it as the union.
Offensive line coach Dick Stanfel says it means being pals.
It is the tendency players have to help each other in training camp when
they face each other and should not be pulling punches.
Whatever the Saints coaches call it, they won't have to deal with it for a
few days.
That is because the Chicago
Bears hit the La Crosse practice fields Thursday for the first of three
days of work with the Saints.
Players in full pads hit each other at full speed.
"It helps a lot," Jackson said. "Now those guys on the other side of the
ball aren't in the same union, they know this is where it's going to show
if you should be on the team or not. There aren't any thoughts of helping a
friend now."
The Saints and Bears scheduled two practices Thursday, two more Friday and
a scrimmage Saturday.
The Saints feel the work against other teams is so valuable, both in
sharpening their players' skills and assessing their progress, they have
scheduled two more sessions.
They will practice against the Minnesota Vikings in
Mankato, Minnesota, August 4 and the Dallas Cowboys in
Shreveport, Louisiana, August 11.
"You get tired of working against your own guys," Ditka said. "Sometimes
you get bad habits. Guys start playing the brother-in-law and taking it
easy.
"You don't want to do that. There'll be none of that when we're working
against the Bears and the Cowboys."
Of particular interest to Ditka during the sessions with Chicago is how his
wide receivers break on the ball and how his offensive line protects.
The Saints hope to improve the receiver position, with Andre Hastings
the only proven returnee since they were unable to come to terms with Randal Hill after
last season.
"This is important work for some of our guys," Jackson said. "They need to
show that they can step up here."
Hastings said the Bears provided a reality check he didn't get from the
Saints secondary.
"Just yesterday in practice, [Saints safety Alex Molden] said
to me, 'I knew you were going to go deep. You always go deep on the first
one.' So now I can work against guys who don't see me often enough to
memorize everything about me," he said.
The offensive line, where All Pro William Roaf is
expected to get help from last year's No. 1 pick, Chris Naeole, who
missed last season with an injury, and this year's top selection Kyle
Turley, is another concern.
"We've got some young guys to bring along and it's good for them to work
against someone besides their pals," Stanfel said.
The Saints are counting on the line to not only open holes for the runners,
but protect the passer and spark the offense. Last year New Orleans ranked
dead last in offense and allowed 50 sacks.
"Work like this really helps us pull the line together," Roaf said. "This
is what makes you a team, going against the other guys and relying on each
other. I think we can learn a lot from these three days."
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