Latest / AFR Saints / Saints-Steelers Injury Report: Kaden Elliss Trending Toward Return in Paris

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Saints-Steelers Injury Report: Kaden Elliss Trending Toward Return in Paris · AFR Saints

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  Speaker 2: Talented offense. Obviously, you know, having a history with Kellen.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, they He's going to challenge us schematically. This
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  Speaker 2: will be a big challenge really across the board. Their
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  Speaker 2: perimeter players are playing well. They're doing a really good
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  Speaker 2: job getting the ball spread around.
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  Speaker 1: Steelers coach Mike McCarthy still sounds weird to say. By
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  Speaker 1: the way, I saw the video earlier today of Mike
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  Speaker 1: McCarthy hobbling around the field in their last game. Had
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  Speaker 1: to go to the medical tent. I didn't realize that
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  Speaker 1: was a thing. I'm not watching a ton of Steelers football,
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  Speaker 1: but apparently he was injured just while standing on the sideline,
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  Speaker 1: had to go to the medical tent, and was just
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  Speaker 1: hobbling around on the sideline. I mean, it's kind of crazy.
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  Speaker 1: It's like, remember when Sean Payton just got waylaid on
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  Speaker 1: the sideline and tore up his knee and then had
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  Speaker 1: to coach from the bench with his leg up on
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  Speaker 1: the bench? Is this going to be that? Are we
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  Speaker 1: going to have injured Mike McCarthy coaching on the sidelines? Look,
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  Speaker 1: he's not on the injury report, so I'm assuming he's
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  Speaker 1: full go. We have Hugh Freeze in the hospital bed.
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  Speaker 1: That's the banner of all of it. It wasn't a
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  Speaker 1: hospital bed. I think it was like a dentist chair.
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  Speaker 1: Whatever it was, it was awesome. Up in the suite
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  Speaker 1: or the press box. The picture of him giving the
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  Speaker 1: thumbs up from it. So good. Way to go, guys.
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  Speaker 1: You look great down there. Were they in, like, the
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  Speaker 1: Alamo Dome?
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  Speaker 2: Where were they?
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  Speaker 1: I don't even know. It was some dome stadium. Where
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  Speaker 1: else would Liberty be playing? I don't know. But in
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  Speaker 1: any event, so one thing worth keeping an eye on.
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  Speaker 1: The injury report is out. We'll get to that in
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  Speaker 1: Injury report is dropped here on Thursday for St. Steelers.
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  Speaker 1: We'll dive into it. It's pretty good news for the
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  Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints. First time we've been able to say that, actually,
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  Speaker 1: in quite a little bit. So maybe most notably is...
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  Speaker 1: Caden Ellis is on the injury report still for the
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  Speaker 1: second consecutive day with a limited designation. Caden Ellis did
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  Speaker 1: meet with reporters on Thursday and talked about being back
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  Speaker 1: with the team. It means a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was tough, tough to not get to play
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  Speaker 2: the game you love with the guys you love for
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  Speaker 2: the city you love. But at the end of the day,
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  Speaker 2: I'm thankful to be back and excited.
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  Speaker 3: So.
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  Speaker 1: It's huge on the field. We'll get to that in
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  Speaker 1: a second. Kellen Moore on Caden Ellis being back?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Caden's obviously an important part to our defense. You know,
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  Speaker 3: he was out there some today, and so that'll be
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  Speaker 3: good to just see him out there and just see
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  Speaker 3: how the rest of this week progresses. And, you know,
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  Speaker 3: obviously he's done a great job at the start of
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  Speaker 3: the season.
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  Speaker 1: He's missed three games. I know I keep mentioning, but
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  Speaker 1: it's notable. I mean... You had Demario Davis from 2018
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  Speaker 1: through 2025. He missed one game.
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  Speaker 3: One game.
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  Speaker 1: And Caden Ellis has missed three of the first six
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  Speaker 1: of his time back in New Orleans. So the best ability, availability,
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  Speaker 1: Caden Ellis has not been available. Still, in those first
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  Speaker 1: three games of the season, 24 tackles in those first
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  Speaker 1: three games. With that average, had he played, he would
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  Speaker 1: have been the leading tackler on the team at this point.
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  Speaker 1: But a productive guy that you need out there, that
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  Speaker 1: you invested in, the reason you let Demario Davis walk
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  Speaker 1: in free agency was to get younger at that position.
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  Speaker 1: You brought Caden Ellis back after his seasons in Atlanta,
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  Speaker 1: and you need Caden Ellis back, especially against this team
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  Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh that can really run the football, and it's
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  Speaker 1: going to be key to getting stops, is being effective
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  Speaker 1: in run defense, and Caden Ellis will be a big
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  Speaker 1: part of that. So more on that in just a
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  Speaker 1: quick second. We'll run through the rest of this injury report.
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  Speaker 1: The notables are the DNPs. Daniel Carlson is still not
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  Speaker 1: with the team. He and his wife are expecting a child.
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  Speaker 1: Kellen did say that they're expecting Carlson to be there
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  Speaker 1: for the game on Sunday morning, but is not with
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  Speaker 1: the team right now. The other DNPs, Devon Gottschall, it
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  Speaker 1: was his rest day. Cesar Ruiz, back-to-back DNPs. So if
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  Speaker 1: Ruiz is not good to go, you would assume Jeremiah Wright,
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  Speaker 1: the fourth-round draft pick out of Auburn. would step in there.
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  Speaker 1: The limited participants, Cade Nellis, who we mentioned, Anthony Jennings,
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  Speaker 1: Alvin Kamara, limited with the back injury there, and the
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  Speaker 1: full participants who were listed, C.J. Donaldson, upgraded from limited
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  Speaker 1: to full with a shoulder injury. Kool-Aid was out with
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  Speaker 1: a head injury, but has been a full participant this week.
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  Speaker 1: And then Spencer Rattler, a full participant, listed with a
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  Speaker 1: knee designation that must have happened and practice on Wednesday
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  Speaker 1: because this is the first time he's popped up on
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  Speaker 1: the injury report. Nathan Shepard and Tyler Shuck also. Shepard
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  Speaker 1: with an illness. Shuck continues to be listed with the
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  Speaker 1: broken bones in his left hand. So a few of
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  Speaker 1: the injury reports that are notable there. But as we
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  Speaker 1: look at the Steelers, the story that's probably the biggest
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  Speaker 1: with respect to Pittsburgh is the fact that they've had
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  Speaker 1: a player before they took off for– for Harris go
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  Speaker 1: on IR. So veteran defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph Day has
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  Speaker 1: gone to IR. So he didn't practice on Wednesday, listed
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  Speaker 1: with a triceps injury, and now apparently it's something he's
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  Speaker 1: been dealing with that he suffered in Sunday's game and
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  Speaker 1: didn't exit the game against Tampa, but then I guess
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  Speaker 1: it progressively got worse this week, and now he's has
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  Speaker 1: gone to IR and out, presumably, for the season, unless
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  Speaker 1: if they have a to-return designation. I don't really care
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  Speaker 1: if he returns or not. The Saints won't see him
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  Speaker 1: again unless it's in the Super Bowl, which, I mean, ha.
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  Speaker 1: In six games this season, Joseph Day posted 10 tackles,
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  Speaker 1: one TFL, a quarterback hit, had a fumble recovery. Obviously
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  Speaker 1: notable and noteworthy because New Orleans is one of the
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  Speaker 1: worst running teams in the NFL. The Saints... are 21st
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  Speaker 1: running the football at just 97 yards per game. It
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  Speaker 1: looked like last week they finally started the game, gained
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  Speaker 1: a little traction against one of the worst run defenses
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  Speaker 1: in the NFL and the New York Giants. Giants, the
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  Speaker 1: third worst rush defense in the NFL, and the Saints
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  Speaker 1: finally got moving on the ground, which was great to see.
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  Speaker 1: So now, look, Cam Hayward is still there and formidable.
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  Speaker 1: Watt is still there as one of the edges there.
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  Speaker 1: We talked a day ago with our friend from Pittsburgh,
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  Speaker 1: Jeff Hathorn, who talked about Patrick Queen just not really
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  Speaker 1: fitting in this defense. So that's a defensive front seven
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  Speaker 1: that in name at Pittsburgh, in name, has a lot
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  Speaker 1: of familiarity in household names. But in production, this is
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  Speaker 1: a Pittsburgh defense that hasn't been awesome like you would expect.
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  Speaker 1: They're 12th in scoring at 21 points per game, but
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  Speaker 1: they have been at times susceptible.
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  Speaker 2: They.
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  Speaker 1: They lost 27-24 to the Browns. They gave up 27
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  Speaker 1: points to the Bengals in a game that Joe Burrow
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  Speaker 1: and the Bengals just really let get away from them.
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  Speaker 1: But in any event, it's a Pittsburgh defense that hasn't
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  Speaker 1: been awesome, has been susceptible, and now is down an
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  Speaker 1: interior defensive lineman, which may very well serve New Orleans
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  Speaker 1: in this game. As we know, the poorest position group
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  Speaker 1: on the field for the Saints so far through this season.
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  Speaker 1: I think, inarguably, is that offensive line. Their inability to
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  Speaker 1: protect Tyler Shuck, their inability to develop anything in the
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  Speaker 1: running game. It has just been a massive disappointment considering
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  Speaker 1: the investment in that offensive line. I'll take any type
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  Speaker 1: of break you can get. It seems like they're going
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  Speaker 1: to get one here. Now, Mike McCarthy and Kellen Moore
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  Speaker 1: have a lot of familiarity with each other. Remember, Kellen
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  Speaker 1: Moore not only played for the Cowboys, but also coached
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  Speaker 1: under McCarthy in Dallas. And that's something that McCarthy was
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  Speaker 1: asked about, that familiarity. Does that impact the game in
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  Speaker 1: any way?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's all part of the game. I
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  Speaker 2: think it's the fun part of the game. It's part
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  Speaker 2: of the competition. But, you know, he's coaching a different
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  Speaker 2: group of men, and the same goes for me here. But,
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  Speaker 2: you know, he's got some... Outstanding coaches on the staff.
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  Speaker 2: They're young in their program, so I think they're off
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  Speaker 2: to a good start. You've got to be happy with
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  Speaker 2: the roster. Some of the players, in my opinion, they
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  Speaker 2: fit the way he wants to play on offense, so
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  Speaker 2: they'll definitely be part of the challenge.
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  Speaker 1: Respectfully, Mike, I'll disagree. You don't have to be happy
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  Speaker 1: with the results of the roster so far. The Saints
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  Speaker 1: are 2-4, and it's not been very good, candidly, but
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  Speaker 1: they're trying to improve, and a win over Pittsburgh to
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  Speaker 1: get to 3-4 would certainly help. For what it's worth,
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  Speaker 1: as we were talking about the running game, Kellen Moore
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  Speaker 1: was asked about that in particular and how they need
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  Speaker 1: to continue improving.
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  Speaker 3: I think putting yourself in more favorable situations do allow it. Penalties,
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  Speaker 3: negative plays, when you're in second and long or third
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  Speaker 3: and long, you don't get as many opportunities. When you
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  Speaker 3: don't convert third downs, you don't get to extend those drives.
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  Speaker 3: And so we just got to play efficient football. And
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  Speaker 3: if we play efficient football, move the ball downfield, stay
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  Speaker 3: in sequence, it's going to allow us to get more
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  Speaker 3: rush attempts.
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  Speaker 1: The point he made there about penalties is actually a
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  Speaker 1: really good one. This is a team that... early on
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  Speaker 1: in the season, just through the first three weeks, had
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  Speaker 1: 31 penalties. They were averaging 10 penalties a game. So, yes,
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  Speaker 1: down and distance matters. It helps you have the opportunity
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  Speaker 1: to run. I mean, you know this. I'm not telling
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  Speaker 1: you anything you don't know. But in sequencing, if you're
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  Speaker 1: consistently in third and long, then you don't have the
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to run the football. Then you're throwing, you don't
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  Speaker 1: have balance. So, yes. Catching the football, giving yourself the
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to run in short yardage situations will help. Alvin
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  Speaker 1: Kamara had a nice game on Sunday.
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  Speaker 2: C.J.
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  Speaker 1: Donaldson needs to hold on to the football. We'll see
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  Speaker 1: if Kendra Miller gets the shoulder of the load again.
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  Speaker 1: But Saints' running game, I think, is going to be
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  Speaker 1: critical this week. We're going to see if they can
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  Speaker 1: get going against Pittsburgh there at Stade de France in Paris. 8.30 a.m.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Central Time kickoff for Saints and Steelers. We'll keep an
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: eye on the injury report, the final injury report, on Friday.
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  Speaker 1: before we know how it's going to look Sunday morning
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  Speaker 1: for Saints and Steelers.