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Wednesday afternoon (France time), Saints general manager Mickey Loomis spoke to the media in a wide-ranging set of questions. It was the first time the New Orleans GM has faced the media since owner Gayle Benson spoke about her team's troubles a week ago. Here is what we saw and heard from Loomis.
First of all, I just want to say that we are very excited to be here. We've been looking forward to this trip since it was announced earlier this year and now that we're here I just want to say the facilities, the accommodations, the service, the hospitality has been fantastic and we're looking forward to practicing and preparing today in the next three days and playing the game on Sunday against Pittsburgh Steelers.
What did you take from Gayle Benson's critique of her organization two weeks ago?
I understood where she's coming from and I think every once in a while we all need to be a little uncomfortable. That's okay. So I think, again, this is an outcome-based sport and it's not good enough yet.
Do you feel this is a team that can do well this year?
I do feel (this team is) capable. I like the direction we're going. I think process probably is a little more on the forefront as opposed to the outcome. We have to make sure our processes are right and that our development is correct and then we'll get the outcomes that we want and expect. But we're a young team, young developing team, and we have to recognize that. I recognize that. We've got a young coach, 22 games into his career and yeah, that's where we're at. It's a little more subjective. It's not all objective. Has a lot to do with young players and how they develop, how they perform, how they improve. You know, there's a variety of things, but I'd rather not get into the specifics of that. And look, I'm always really positive. I see a path to a high level of success every year. And so, you know, you're hopeful on some fronts. And look, we had a couple games that we could easily have won. Detroit was a game that we could have easily won, and we had 11-point lead against Las Vegas. So, we didn't get the outcomes that we were expecting or wanted, but they were there ready for us to be to take them. I think one of the things about a young team that they have to learn how to win and we're in that process.
What makes you feel positive about this team?
It all starts with the quarterback, right? And I think we're all excited about him, excited about the way he performs at times, excited about the way he reacts when things don't go well. And, you know, that's the start of it. But there's still a lot of development. He's 13 or 14 games. He hasn't even started a full season yet. And yet, I think the expectations are a lot greater than what his resume is so far.
Are you comfortable where Kellen Moore is in his development as a head coach?
I'm not going to have an evaluation of him that I would share with you at this point. That's for later down the road. He's 23 games into his career and with a rebuilding team. Let's not forget that, you know. But I like what I see.
Why did you come to Paris a week before the game?
I do like it for us. When you have a lot of new players and a lot of young players, it's a chance for them to be together, spend 24 hours a day together, have some shared experiences off the field. And I think that's always good for bonding and chemistry of a team. And so, I like that we're doing that this year. Logistically, look, it's really probably a nightmare for the equipment people, the trainers, the travel coordinator. That's who bears the brunt of these trips. They work tirelessly and do a great job. And we get to kind of reap the benefits of their hard work and the extra work and the extra burden that we put on them.
We just feel like it's better for the players to get acclimated to the time change and the environment that they're going to be playing in. Another part of that is, look, we want this to be a good experience. You know, if we're going to come overseas, come to a great country like this, we want the players to be able to have some experiences that are positive for the week. We want to be ambassadors for our sport, for our organization, and it's hard to do that in a short two or three day period. And we have a much better opportunity to do that over the course of a week. You know, we had a lot of players do make appearances yesterday and do some various activities. I got to go to a soccer game last night, excuse me, a football game last night (smiling). Congratulations to PSG on a great win. It was a fantastic experience. Myself and some of our staff people and some of our players got to go to that, and I want to thank PSG for that opportunity. And it was a really memorable experience and a great game.
Jordyn Tyson made the trip for France, but we didn't see him practice today. Do you have any news about his hamstring and his injury?
Yeah, he's improving. He is not going to practice this week. But he is improving, and we feel like we're getting closer. Now, I don't have a specific timetable for that yet, but we're encouraged. The injury that he has is not the same injury that he had before. So, I mean, those can happen. They can happen to any player. You know, it's unfortunate that it happened at the very beginning of his career, but hopefully this is the one and only injury that he has. And we're really encouraged by what we saw in training camp when he was practicing before he got injured, and we're looking forward to having him back. I would say we're being probably a little more cautious than we would ordinarily, but it's still the timeline is the timeline.
Was it complicated to organize a week like this?
Yes, it is complicated, but our schedule in terms of preparation is no different than it would be if we were in New Orleans. We'll have the same practice schedule, we'll have the same amount of time on the field, same game planning opportunities, and so it won't be a lot different from that aspect.
Why did you choose Versailles for the camp base?
We just had a couple of options, and our football operations person who came over said this was the best site, so this is why we chose it, and I'm glad we did. It's been fantastic.
What are your goals for this team?
Well, I think we start with winning the Super Bowl, right? That'd be a successful year, and then there's a lot of ways to measure that after the fact, but our goal hasn't changed. I mean, we have the same goals that we would have if we were a veteran team, the same goals that we had in 2012 with Drew Brees. We want to win the division, we want to make the playoffs, we want to have a run in the playoffs, so the goals aren't different. Maybe the expectations are different, and the way that we, the process that we use to get there is different, but I wouldn't say that the measuring stick is a lot different in terms of what our goals are.
When we talk about young players and drafted players, you're like "Come talk to me in three or four years." Does that also work from a team aspect when you're looking at a three or four year span, and you look back at as an indicator of like '06 to 10, you know, where people talk about '06 and the '09 Super Bowl, but '07 and '08, different story. Is that kind of the same type of growth situation for a three, four year span?
Well, you know, we want it to be faster. We do want it to be faster, and it can be. It doesn't have to be four years, you know. I would agree that the, our '09 team was the culmination of '06, '07, '08. Hopefully it's faster than that, but you know, I don't want to put a limit, or I don't want to limit it to a four-year span, or three-year span, or two-year span, or even this year. Look, I think we're capable of going on a run and being successful, but I also recognize that we've got a lot of growth.
How has this year helped this team to grow?
I think all these experiences, especially adversity, are growth opportunities and learning experiences, and for a lot of our guys who haven't been in those situations before, they've got to learn from that, and they will learn from that, and I think most often you learn from adversity as opposed to, you know, learning. You gotta learn from success as well, but look, we'll examine and have examined that last, you know, nine and a half minutes of the game, and what happened there, and what did we do? What would we do differently in that same circumstance? I mean, that's what this is, and I know we do that as a staff. Each of our coaches do that individually, and our players certainly do that as well, and it gets discussed, and you we have learned that, or we learn that when we get in that situation, you can't, you know, take your foot off the gas.
For the French Federation we have a lot of flag football here. We would like to know, is the NFL going to help us develop the tackle football and not just the flag football?
I hope so. I don't know of any specific plans, but I know that the NFL as a whole, the league, they develop academies for football, and I know that there's a discussion about that around, not just France, but around the world, and so that's how we will help grow the game in places that don't currently have the game.
Can you just speak to the scenario with the ongoing protests, and has that affected anything the team has planned, or have you been in communication in terms of how things are going to go the rest of the week?
We've had a lot of discussion about that. We just get, it's not really a discussion, we get informed about, you know, how it's viewed. Look, we have a lot of confidence in the security team that's in place, you know, local security, the league, and our own security people, and so far we haven't been affected in any way. Yeah, so hopefully that stays that way.
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