Head coach Mike SmithOn the first practice of the regular season:
"Well, this is always a practice in which we want to get some good work. It'll really be the last time we can come out and compete against one another. A significant amount of the time we worked against one another, in terms of running our offense against our defense. I thought it went well. It's the first time that we're really going to have an opportunity to run our look teams with a 53-man roster and a 10-man practice squad. That's a little different, in terms of the work load certain players are going to have."
On having Dezmen Southward and Jon Asamoah back at practice:
"Yes, we're going to be in pretty good shape. The injury report will come out on Wednesday, but we had good participation in practice today, I'll say that."
On Nate Stupar:
"We claimed him off of the waiver releases that took place on Sunday. He's an inside linebacker that has a lot of special teams experience. We felt like he was going to give us a better 53-man roster, and give us a little bit more flexibility."
On whether or not Corey Peters is going to play on Sunday:
"We're not set on what we're going to do with Corey. Corey is really going to have only his second padded practice on Wednesday, but he's done everything that we've asked, and we'll make a determination after he's had a really full work load this week."
On how much he thinks the Saints have changed since last year:
"Again, you can't put a whole lot into what you see in the preseason. They're a very good football team. 11-5 last year, they have an outstanding quarterback, they have a tight end that's going to be difficult to defend, and defensively, I think Rob Ryan does a very good job in terms of his game planning. I'm seeing a really good team that will be here on Sunday, and we've got to get our work done and be ready to go out and play a division game."
