Saints' Moore on Protests, Injury Updates, Kicker in Parks

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In his final appearance before the media in Paris before Sunday's game, New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore shared his thoughts on how the protests in France have affected his team, the injury list getting shorter, and the veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Bonjour. We got two questionable guys (for Sunday). Cesar Ruiz, he was limited with the knee today. And then Nathan Shepherd would be questionable. He did not practice today. Illness rest today (a continuation of the same illness). So other than that, everyone's available and ready to go. And so really good day today, really good work week overall. I thought it's been awesome. It's been a really good setup for us.

Has (kicker) Daniel (Carlson) made it to Paris?

Daniel is here, full participant today.

So we just talked to Aaron Rodgers, and he was very upset that they didn't come on Tuesday or a Monday like you guys. What do you have to say about that?

We've had a great experience. Obviously, we're very appreciative of Mrs. Benson, our organization, our leadership, to allow us to have this entire week here. I think it's been great for our players and for our group to be experiencing this opportunity to be in France, but also to have a normal work week, which has been great. And so I think our guys have really enjoyed it. The energy and juice at practice has been a lot of fun. We've had a couple of rain days, a couple little windy moments. Our guys have had a ton of fun with it.

What kind of hurdles will you have to see for Cesar (Ruiz) over the next few days? How did you look today?

He was limited today. He was able to get some work in there, and so we'll just see how he responds, and then we'll go from there.

Now that you've had a full week here, is this something you can imagine doing every year? Like, have you liked this experience? And what are your thoughts about maybe coming back every year, if that's how it plays out?

On a personal level, I've loved it. I think it's been great for our team to spend time together. Again, our setup's been as good as I've ever seen from an international game perspective. The people that have been hosting us and, you know, the hospitality's been amazing, and it's allowed us to have a really good normal work week. I think that's the biggest thing is, you know, there's a lot of moving pieces with an international game. We understand that, but our guys have had a really good normal week. You know, our guys have been able to benefit from getting here early to kind of get acclimated and put their self in a position for Sunday.

It's a huge game for you guys. You are 2-4 right now. Every game, you've been starting slow, slow, slow. You never led, actually, in the first half. So what did you need to change, what do you feel you need to change for this game?

It's something that, you know, we've been trying to navigate, and we've got to do a better job there. You know, maybe the time zone will help us, and we'll start fast.

Talk about the French connection with New Orleans and France.

Yes, it's a special connection. It's what makes this such a unique opportunity for us. The French influence throughout New Orleans and Louisiana, and, you know, it's a special opportunity for us. We certainly recognize it, and we certainly know that there'll be a lot of people from New Orleans, Louisiana, you know, the Gulf Coast. There'll be a lot of people up here experiencing this entire event, and I think it's going to be a special day for us.

The Steelers arrived in France this morning. They just landed, which is a bit unusual to prepare a game. Do you think arriving early in the week could be a real advantage for the Saints?

Everyone's done these games differently. We've all experienced them differently. At the end of the day, every organization has a different, you know, sequence, obviously, with who you play the following week or who you play the previous week. This one's worked well for us, you know, and so, you know, certainly we're appreciative of it. Again, it goes a lot to our organization and Mrs. B, and everyone providing us that opportunity, so it's been great, but, you know, I've done it the other way, and totally understand that, too.

You said you had a normal week of work, but I guess it was a bit special there, though. What was your favorite moment of the week?

That's a great question. Coaching-wise, we haven't done a whole lot. We've been here, and we've been working the whole week, and so we'll have a little bit of opportunity probably tonight to, you know, just have a meal and spend a little bit of time to just explore this area. I know our players had a little bit of an opportunity Monday night and Tuesday to experience, you know, the surrounding areas, and I think that's been great for them, and, you know, so I think it's been really beneficial for everyone.

About the time zone difference, how do you feel your players are, and do you still feel impact on the time zone on your players, and about you?

I feel like we've adapted pretty well. Again, we've kind of done a staggered schedule where we've kind of slowly built into this time zone, so to speak, you know, over the course of the last few days with just the way we've done our schedule, and I feel like guys are in a great place. This morning, everyone's up, everyone's ready, everyone's eating breakfast, everyone's ready to go. I think we've adapted well.

I know you wanted to make this as New Orleans-y as possible. Was it easy to strike a balance between the pleasure of the trip and the business of the trip?

Ultimately, there's one goal and one objective in this whole entire trip, and that's to win a football game. Our guys have been very focused on that, and they recognize that. Just like when you're at home, sometimes you have a little bit of time to spend, you know, at home with family, whatever it may be, and obviously our guys are using that opportunity to spend time as teammates, and so I think it's been great.

The topic of the week in the NFL was the (Eagles quarterback) Jalen Hurts situation (blood clots forcing him to miss the rest of the season). Obviously, you know him well. You were his offensive coordinator at the Eagles, so what's your take on what's happening, and did you reach out to him?

I know a lot of those guys in Philadelphia just because I was with them in '24. It's a special group. It's a bunch of really, really good people, and so, you know, unfortunately, challenges like this sometimes happen in our league and in sports in general, and you have to navigate them the best you can, and obviously I don't know all the context to which it went on, and I just know those are all really, really good people up there, and I know all those guys are doing, trying to do the right thing and trying to put their team and the players in the best position to be successful, and so, you know, I know sometimes, unfortunately, challenges like this happen, and, you know, I think, you know, they got the right kind of people there to navigate it. I haven't talked to Jalen yet.

You know, with the conditions expected for Sunday, has that been helpful this week, just to be able to get out and kind of replicate some of that with, like, wet ball drills and anything like that?

Just probably natural. Yeah, we've had wind. We've had rain in practice. It's been great. Our guys have enjoyed it in a somewhat humorous way, and so, you know, I think that'll be great. If Sunday's similar to any of these days, we've done it, and we'll be fine.

Do you have, like, a plan A, plan B, like, for play calling when there is weather? Like, if a contingency plan or if it, like, changes, you just go back to something normal?

I think weather's real. Weather, you have to have awareness. These games come in many fashions through seasons, rain, snow, you know, sunshine, wind, every little bit, and so you got to understand sometimes the elements can play a role in it, and you got to kind of make adjustments throughout the game.

You worked alongside with Mike McCarthy in Dallas. Does that make Sunday's game a little bit more special for you?

I think it'll be fun just because certainly both of our staffs have some overlap, a lot of guys that we've spent a lot of time with over the years, and so, you know, I certainly appreciate everything that Mike did for me. I had a great time with him for a few years in Dallas, and so, you know, he's doing a great job in Pittsburgh. They're playing some good football, and it'll be a fun challenge for us.

Have you noticed a difference between the way fans support you in the U.S. and here in Europe?

It's a great question. I think we're going to find out as this week goes. I think, again, our guys have had great experiences. I think a number of our guys went to the other version of football, the football game on Tuesday night, and I think had a great experience, and so I think our players have been able to experience that a little bit more early this week, and I think for us, we'll get to see it on the back end. I've done a few of these international games at various places. I think they're always special. They're fun. It's a unique opportunity that you get to have.

The game has much more emotional and marketing significance. How do you approach this kind of matchup? From France's perspective, it feels like a must-win game.

I'd just say this is the NFL. Every game is a must-win game in the NFL. These are, you know, these games are tight. They're small margins, and, you know, I think this will be a fun one. It'll take four quarters at least to decide this game, and so it'll be a fun one.

What type of challenge Steelers defense gonna be for you?

Steelers always historically played really good defense. They're continuing that trend. You know, they have, obviously, some impactful players. Their edge rushers are really talented. They got guys throughout that defense who can make plays, and, you know, certainly I think they're playing really good football right now. You can see it with what their games have looked like the last few weeks. They've played really sound football.

There were some new developments in the city (Paris). Some fan activities are canceled due to security concerns. How much is this on your mind?

We've had a great experience. Obviously, you know, the league and our organization has done an awesome job creating an environment for us that's been really smooth. It's been awesome. We've had no issues, no complaints whatsoever. Really excited about Sunday's opportunity to play in a historic stadium, and I think it'll be great.

You've spoken about some of the benefits of the last few days, team bonding, for example. Can you speak about some of the difficulties that have come over the last few days with it being an international game?

I really don't think there's a ton. Obviously, it's just getting used to a different setting. You know, meetings are obviously still in a hotel ballroom, and, you know, there's just some logistical things that are obviously a little bit different, but we do these throughout the year, whether it be training camp or different road games where you do an extra day or two there, and so I think our guys are used to it.

Tomorrow (Saturday) there will be some protests (in Paris), but what are the players going to do? Are they going to stay in the hotel? Like, maybe they have special requirements not to go to the city?

No, I think our guys, obviously, Saturday's the day before the game, and so usually our guys are, you know, relaxing a little bit, but they're not going to be traveling too far away, so obviously our guys will still have an opportunity to spend a little bit of time, maybe some families in town or spend some time with some teammates, and so, you know, it'll be great. It'll be just like kind of a typical Saturday that we have at home, you know, obviously, and so I feel good about it.

With Aaron (Rodgers, Pittsburgh quarterback), something that always comes up is the hard counts, the cadence. From a quarterback's perspective, what does he do so well that he's been so effective at that, and how much of a focus is that throughout the week?

I think it's real. Aaron's mastered it. He's probably at the top of all time as far as using his cadence to gather information, to get free plays, to get guys to jump off sides. Your substitution patterns have to be dialed because of what he can do at the line of scrimmage, you know, and I think that's one of his biggest assets is his ability to stress the defense the entire game, you know, even within play-to-play, and so he does a great job of it. Obviously, he's got kind of an old-school, really strong cadence that he's got a lot of different variables that he can get guys to jump, and then, you know, then when he gets that free play, that's a challenge.

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