Latest / AFR Saints / Can Travis Etienne Fix the Saints Running Game? Alvin Kamara, Kellen Moore & 2026 Expectations

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Can Travis Etienne Fix the Saints Running Game? Alvin Kamara, Kellen Moore & 2026 Expectations · AFR Saints

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  Speaker 1: AFR on Demand is brought to you by Breck Golf.
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  Speaker 1: dot org. Golf dot Breck dot org. Saints rapobotas here
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: this week in New Orleans. Next week they'll have mandatory
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  Speaker 1: mini camp. They'll be the last time they're on the
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  Speaker 1: field together before they sort of break for the rest
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  Speaker 1: of June and then and then of course camp will
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  Speaker 1: start at the end of July and then it's full
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  Speaker 1: bark toward the season. One of the players we're all
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  Speaker 1: gonna be keeping a keen eye on is Travis h In, which,
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  Speaker 1: by the way, it's cool he did talk about this Ravers,
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  Speaker 1: this guy from jennings Man and he's playing for his hometown,
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  Speaker 1: his home state team. He's we're in the Florida Lee
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  Speaker 1: on his helmet. It's something he was asked about when
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  Speaker 1: he met with reporters.
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  Speaker 2: I feel like it hasn't really uh hit me yet.
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  Speaker 2: They probably would hit me till like like the week three,
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  Speaker 2: you know, uh well we get that first home game,
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  Speaker 2: I feel like it doesn't. My most is probably just
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  Speaker 2: start running hide, but uh definite. Whenever my mom house, alright,
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  Speaker 2: I just go back to my hometown. I feel like
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  Speaker 2: hit everybody else, you know. I feel like they kind
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  Speaker 2: of see me as a different guy now because I
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  Speaker 2: were to say his logo, which I'm probably which I'm
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  Speaker 2: probably to where, you know. So I feel like for me,
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  Speaker 2: it's just just just been the best player I could
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  Speaker 2: be each and every day to come in here ground
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  Speaker 2: with our budgets.
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  Speaker 1: You know, Jacksonville is not exactly far. Clemson, South Carolina
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  Speaker 1: is far. It's drivable, but it's like a day's it's
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  Speaker 1: a full day, right, Jacksonville is closer. I mean, Jennings
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  Speaker 1: is like you wake up in the morning, hop in
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  Speaker 1: the car, and you having lunch with your mom and them,
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  Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Like that's pretty cool for
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  Speaker 1: agent be able to represent his home state and be
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  Speaker 1: near his family, which is really cool. But the thing
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  Speaker 1: specifically and sometimes as you go through the offseason, the
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  Speaker 1: further removed, you get from the season specifics become a
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  Speaker 1: little hairy, and so one of the things I like
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  Speaker 1: to do a lot is sort of remind as we
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  Speaker 1: look forward to seasons, remind you all the storylines, the
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  Speaker 1: talking ports. We all know what happened, right Tyler Schuck
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  Speaker 1: started the last nine games of the season. He went
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  Speaker 1: five and four. I don't even really want to count
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  Speaker 1: the Rams game because they weren't winning in LA regardless
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  Speaker 1: who play quarterback. But point is they really improved at
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  Speaker 1: the end of the season. You Chris Olave was a
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  Speaker 1: high volume player a year ago but had sort of
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  Speaker 1: a career year. One of the things that I think
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  Speaker 1: might be lost is just how bad New Orleans was
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  Speaker 1: at running the football, and it's why in large part
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  Speaker 1: they went and spent fifty four million dollars on Echin
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  Speaker 1: and when got David Edwards at left guard to sort
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  Speaker 1: of help fortify that offensive line. Like, in case you
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  Speaker 1: don't remember the New Orleans Saints last season, we're twenty
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  Speaker 1: eighth in rush offense. The worst team in the league
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  Speaker 1: was the Raiders. Yeah, the team, by the way that
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  Speaker 1: used the top five pick on a running back. Because
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  Speaker 1: that helps, right, that's what you do when you're that bad, right,
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  Speaker 1: use a top five pick on a running back. Y'all
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  Speaker 1: know how I feel about that. Raiders, Cardinal from the bottom. Raiders, Cardinals, Titans, Bengals, Saints.
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  Speaker 1: Saints were twenty eighth in the NFL and rushing offense
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  Speaker 1: at just ninety four yards per game. They were choses.
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  Speaker 1: Offensive line stunk, Camara was old, you had audric estimate,
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  Speaker 1: Kendra Miller got hurt. I mean, it was just it
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  Speaker 1: was a mess. So you threw money at the problem.
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  Speaker 1: And in this instance, I think it was a wise
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  Speaker 1: decision to go get a young, talented, thousand yard rusher.
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  Speaker 1: And you're bringing an agent from j Jacksonville, where they
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  Speaker 1: weren't awesome running the ball, but they were way better
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  Speaker 1: than you. And he was a thousand yard rusher. And
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  Speaker 1: Jacksonville was twentieth in the NFL and rushing offense, so
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  Speaker 1: they were they were in the bottom half, but just
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  Speaker 1: below that that mid tier line. So they averaged one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifteen rush yards a game. You had averaged
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  Speaker 1: ninety fours. They averaged twenty one rush yards per game
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  Speaker 1: more than you did. And what was interesting is Ehen
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  Speaker 1: was asked about Kellen Moore and Liam Cohen and sort
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  Speaker 1: of like the similarities between the two offenses.
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  Speaker 2: Just establishing the mizzle, you know, just just how bredd
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  Speaker 2: And but I feel like Coin was a lot of
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  Speaker 2: under centered. I feel like Close more than a lot
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  Speaker 2: more under centered this year. So, uh, just from that standpoint,
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  Speaker 2: and just just I would say the most is just
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  Speaker 2: disguising things of offense, you know, just presenting to the
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  Speaker 2: defense of different look but kind of running the same places,
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  Speaker 2: you know, just making the deepent eyes led to him,
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  Speaker 2: you know. So I feel like Close does a great
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  Speaker 2: job at diskuising things, scheming guys and like I say,
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  Speaker 2: his office of minded post. So I feel like you
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  Speaker 2: love office of value, love that type of person.
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  Speaker 1: It's a bit of a play for It's so like
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  Speaker 1: the New Orleans Saints a year ago when you just
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  Speaker 1: think about comparing the offenses, right, you heard him talk
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  Speaker 1: about the Skys and eye candy in motion and stuff
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  Speaker 1: like that. The Saints were thirteenth in the NFL in
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  Speaker 1: passing offense last year, thirteenth. Jacksonville was twelveth. So these
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  Speaker 1: two teams were I remember Jacksonville has their franchise quarterback,
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  Speaker 1: but maybe the Saints have theirs now, but as far
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  Speaker 1: as their passing offense, they were what and what Jacksonville's
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  Speaker 1: twelfth Saints were thirteenth. The disparity was Jacksonville's ability to
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  Speaker 1: run the football, and obviously Achan was a big part
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  Speaker 1: of that. So I look at the Saints and go, okay,
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  Speaker 1: can the addition of Achient and Edwards, getting McCoy back healthy,
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  Speaker 1: improving your weapons on the outside part of the motion
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  Speaker 1: the eye candies talking about, can that help your offense
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  Speaker 1: more mirror with Jacksonville did a year ago. Because remember
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  Speaker 1: Jacksonville was sixth in the NFL in scoring offense. It
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  Speaker 1: was Rams, pat Seahawks. Two teams have played in Super
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  Speaker 1: Bowl by the way, Bills, Lions, Jacks. Jacksonville was sixth,
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  Speaker 1: sixth in scoring offense. They scored twenty eight points a game.
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  Speaker 1: New Orleans was at the bottom Raiders, Browns, Titans, Jets,
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  Speaker 1: Saints twenty eighth in scoring offense, twenty eighth in rushing offense.
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  Speaker 1: So I kind of look at it and go look
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  Speaker 1: at what Jacksonville was a year ago, and if your
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  Speaker 1: offense can mirror that, if you can be a top,
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  Speaker 1: if you could be maybe right in that spot maybe
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  Speaker 1: closer to the top ten in the NFL in passing,
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  Speaker 1: offense around the middle tier in the NFL and rushing
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  Speaker 1: and right that like what Jacksonville was a zero six
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  Speaker 1: and scoring. If you're average a twenty eight a game
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  Speaker 1: in year two hunder Brandon Staley, you're as good to
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  Speaker 1: improve what you were a year ago, where the Saints
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  Speaker 1: were ninth in the NFL in total defense last year.
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  Speaker 1: Now you can see the roadmap for a team that
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  Speaker 1: Again I'm not saying it's gonna be a contender, but
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  Speaker 1: I think in my very realistic purview, it's can we
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  Speaker 1: talk about a team that can get to nine wins
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  Speaker 1: and win this division, which Carolina won last year at
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  Speaker 1: eight and nine? Like, can New Orleans go nine and eight,
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  Speaker 1: win the division get back in the playoffs for the
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  Speaker 1: first time since COVID. Well, if your offense mirrors Jacksonville
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  Speaker 1: a year ago and your defense is as good or
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  Speaker 1: maybe even a little better as you were a year ago,
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  Speaker 1: then yeah, against the schedule that's the second easiest strength
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  Speaker 1: of schedule based on our opponents win loss percentage a
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  Speaker 1: year ago, then yes, I think that can happen. But
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  Speaker 1: the very clear area where you got to improve is
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  Speaker 1: running the football. Ehan's a huge part of that. Now
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  Speaker 1: we don't don't know if Alvin Kamara will be and
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  Speaker 1: Chen was asked, it's an unfair question to asking him
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  Speaker 1: as he doesn't no, but he was asking if he
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  Speaker 1: thinks Kamara is going to be on the SAME's team
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  Speaker 1: next year.
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  Speaker 2: We have a great play like that. You love to
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  Speaker 2: have him on your side, and I feel like, just
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  Speaker 2: for me being me, I feel like whenever I come
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  Speaker 2: out of the game, he goes in kick defense on
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  Speaker 2: their toes, you know, so that'd be a great one
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  Speaker 2: to two punch. But you know it's a business, so
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  Speaker 2: you love the business side hand of the business side.
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  Speaker 2: So I kind of learned when young, just don't get
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  Speaker 2: my feelings involved, Like I know, I would love to
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  Speaker 2: play with him, but at the end of the day,
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  Speaker 2: I just got to come here and do my jobs
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  Speaker 2: and every day for my teammates.
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  Speaker 1: It's the right answer. He's going to shoulder a big
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  Speaker 1: burden on the Saints offense, but it's why they're paying
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  Speaker 1: him to do it.