Ross Jackson | New Orleans Saints Insider, Locked On Saints Podcast

Our friend Ross Jackson of Locked On Saints safely back in New Orleans after covering the joint practices between the two during the week and going through training camp with this new look in New Orleans offense specifically.

We're pleased to welcome him to the show now. Well Ross, how surprised were you? They actually decided to go on with the game in LA. Well to be honest, I actually wasn't that surprised that they decided to go on with the game because it just felt like that's what the NFL would do, that sweet sweet preseason ad revenue. Especially with it being, you know, an NFL network game and stuff like that, I 100% expected them to play this game. However, I don't agree with the choice of doing it.

I lived for over a decade in Los Angeles, the area of Los Angeles, Orange County. Not super well equipped for hurricanes, believe it or not, because they don't happen very often. So not the call that I would have made, but not one that I'm surprised the NFL did. What did you hear from Dennis Allen, from any of the players about getting ready to play a game with this hurricane coming on, bearing down, but also there's an earthquake. Just kind of crazy that the baseball teams canceled their games or postponed their games, but not the Saints and Chargers. Yeah, I think the MLS also rescheduled some games as well over in the soccer leagues or the football leagues, but not football.

No, no, no. NFL said, no, thank you. It was a weird thing for them. I mean, you know, look, the Saints had joint practices with the Chargers on the Thursday and Friday leading up to this game. The starters for both teams played like five different team drill periods. They got a lot of great work in. I think that maybe if it was up to the two teams, the two teams would have said, hey, we got good work in. We're Gucci. We're good. Let's always just go home and get out of here. But the NFL didn't want to go that route. So then you had them getting ready to play this game, making the travel up to Los Angeles. Then you have a 5.1 magnitude earthquake look in earthquake in California.

That's a 5.1 magnitude is like, just kind of like brushing dirt off your shoulder. You move on. You know what I mean?

Like it happens, you happen, and then you move on and that's it. So I wasn't surprised that that didn't interfere, but then the really interesting one that Dennis Allen highlighted at the end of the game is that technically because of the glass ceiling of SoFi, it's considered technically an outdoor stadium. And so they were waiting to potentially experience a lightning delay of all things. So it just was a weird wild night for the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Chargers. But thankfully they got the game done. The New Orleans Saints just expected back in New Orleans around 3 a.m. Now it was just the travel getting back. Why did we not see most of the Saints starters?

I think a good reason why is because of what I was just talking about with the joint practices of getting like five team reps for each of the first and second team over and over and over again. They worked two-minute drills. They did goal line. They did red zone. They did down and distance work.

I mean, they went through everything for two days. So really they played 10 drives worth. The two team starters played 10 drives worth of game simulation during these practices.

So I imagine that had a little something to do with it. It's where they felt that the starters got a lot of work. A guy like Jake Hayner who played the entire second half with the exception of having to leave for a concussion protocol check for the New Orleans Saints at quarterback, he saw zero snaps in either of those joint practices. So this was really an opportunity for them to get a better look at their second unit, get a better look at their third unit led by Jake Hayner, get a better look at him, and get a better look at the guys that are buying for roster spots as opposed to those that are still bitified in roster spots. Since we didn't see the first team offense in this particular game, but we know that Derek Carr has played in the first preseason game.

He's been talking a lot about the work that he's getting. What stands out to you so far about the integration of him as the new Saints QB? I think one of the biggest differences you see from him over the course of what you've seen at quarterback for the Saints for the past two years is his ability pre-snap.

His ability to diagnose what a defense is about to do, it fits hand in hand with what it is that New Orleans Saints like to do. The Saints have these lengthy play calls, these Falcon, Wright, X, Post, Z split, wide, West Coast play calls, but that doesn't stop them from doing this thing that they realize you would actually call two of those plays in the huddle. So what they'll do is they'll come in, they'll send the quarterback in, and then they'll give them a call, and then they'll give him a kill call, and they call that next call a kill call, which means that we're killing the first play and we're going to the second play. And so you'll see them go up to a line of scrimmage and you'll see Derek Carr check and look over the defense. If the look that the defense is giving him is best for the second play call than the first play call, you'll hear him change the play at the line of scrimmage. Those types of moments as well as his ability to adjust protection calls, adjust the play flow of the offensive line, all those things, those are the things that make for a winning football team and things that specifically with the New Orleans style brand of football that the offense needs in order to operate at its highest level. So I think he brings what the Saints need to be able to operate at their highest level over on the offensive side.

Have you ever been around a guy who's so exuberant and he just wears his heart on his sleeve and he'll put it all out there? The closest that I have to that, and now we have both of them, is that, you know, I started covering the team back in about 2017. So I've always had Cam Jordan, right? And Cam is 100% that guy too. He'll talk about anything.

He will be very transparent, all the other stuff. So having both him and Derek Carr on the same team, as well as a couple of other personalities, like Demario Davis is an open book, as well as a couple of these other guys, you know, that do a lot of stuff away from football. You know, Derek does a lot of stuff in ministry.

Cam as well as Demario do a lot in terms of social work and social justice work and everything like that. So all three of these guys kind of have those personalities, but it is a lot of fun getting it from the quarterback position. You know, sometimes a lot of quarterbacks are very like plain and just very like to the point and then we're out of here. Like, I don't want to give away too much, but Derek is very conversational in that way.

He definitely is. We're spending a few minutes with Ross Jackson in the wake of the Saints' second preseason game. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. This is off the football field, but some scary moments and reports about Jimmy Graham did hear Dennis Allen say after the game that he was with the team.

What do you know, Ross? Yeah, scary situation. He was kind of found wandering, disoriented by, I guess it was Orange County Police on Friday night. It was around 740, 730 p.m. Pacific time and he was arrested. And the initial reports that came out were that, you know, there was a controlled substance thing and stuff like that.

And this is why it's very, very important to be thorough as opposed to first when it comes to news, because we're talking about human beings and their lives out here. What actually happened, as we learned more, is that he was indeed arrested. However, he was experiencing what the Saints called, to quote, a medical episode, I would call it medical emergency, that is believed to be a seizure. Now, Amy, I'm somebody that has been battling seizures since I was 15 years old. I have epilepsy and I understand sort of the situation to where when you're disoriented and you don't have anyone around you that knows what you're experiencing or, you know, especially if it's your first time ever experiencing it and things like that, it can be really dangerous.

And so it was a great thing that Jimmy was able to get, well, first of all, out of police custody, because come on. But then also the help that he needed in terms of the medical help. And so they're going to continue to do medical tests to figure out sort of the cause of what he experienced, if it indeed was a seizure. The good thing to know, though, is that sometimes seizures are complete one-offs.

They can be complete one-offs as opposed to somebody like me who has a lifelong condition and will be battling them forever. And that's sort of what you hope for, Jimmy, is that it was a one-off situation that he'll be able to return to the football field. But until they know that, I wouldn't expect to see him anywhere near a football field for a little bit. I could imagine your heart went out to him knowing what you have to deal with and the challenges in your own life. Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's one of those things where, like, I can't wait to get back to the facility to kind of talk to him about it and everything and all, because it is such a unique sort of experience to have that it's very hard to explain to somebody that hasn't experienced it, but it's also very hard to openly find people who have experienced it. So I'm hoping to be able to kind of connect and be able to show a little bit of support around all that. Because again, I know that, you know, we work in this sort of like media disconnection and all these other things, but at the end of the day, we're all human beings. And so we're all hoping well for Jimmy.

Well, thank you so much for sharing your personal perspective on that. Ross Jackson is with us from Locked On Saints. It's After Hours on CBS Sports Radio. I think the last time we spoke to you, we had talked about the division and now knowing there's still a quarterback battle for the Buccaneers. The Panthers have gone to the number one overall pick rookie.

Atlanta is making changes yet again. It seems like the entire division is in flux. So what stands out? Yeah, I think the thing that stands out is that quarterback conversation for sure. I mean, Derek Carr, regardless of who wins with Desmond Ritter and Bryce Young, the starters in Atlanta and Carolina respectively, no matter who gets the starting role in Tampa, Derek Carr will have more years of experience than all three other quarterbacks put together, right?

So I think that that is the biggest thing that stands out. You also see a lot of coaching changes around too, or at least coordinator changes. So a coordinator shift over the defensive side of the football for Atlanta, you saw, you know, an entire staff change over in Carolina that kind of moved on from the collegiate coaching staff that they kind of started to build, you know, like as in implementing collegiate style football and some of these other things they were trying to do.

You saw them move on from that, and then go to guys like Frank Reich and, you know, McCown and all these other guys. And, you know, you see offensive and defensive coordinator, or really you see an offensive coordinator change over in Tampa. So along with the quarterbacks being in flux, you've seen a lot of coaching staff in flux as well. And the Saints have kind of been the most consistent there because, yes, they changed defensive coordinators because Ryan Nielsen, who is one of the co-defense coordinators, is now the D.C. in Atlanta, but Dennis Allen is the architect of the defense, so you don't really have much of a change there in terms of who is calling the plays, who's architecting, who's doing all those things, and they didn't make a change in offensive coordinator. And so really you just see them make the quarterback change. And what we've seen from the quarterback change so far is that the New Orleans Saints offense looks like the New Orleans Saints offense wants to look. The same can't necessarily be said about Carolina, who's dealing with massive pressure issues with their offensive line right now. Atlanta is consistently in flux, and then, you know, Tampa is doing whatever Tampa is going to do at quarterback.

So I think that that's something that stands out, is that even with the changes, it seems to be a little bit more consistent than the other teams in the division. Before we talk about the defense, I just realized that I didn't ask you yet about Michael Thomas. It's a lot of anticipation for him being back on the field. How is he doing? He's doing well so far. He's still working his way back. I think that he has some days where you can really, really see that he's almost there and that he's working his way back and things like that. And there are other days where he looks like he's already there. And that's good. That's what you want to see from him, especially right now, where there's still so much time before the regular season begins. And the thing about it, too, is that I've had a lot of people who have asked me, will Michael Thomas get back to 2019, 2018 Michael Thomas?

And I'm really pretty honest about that opinion. And my opinion on that is no, he won't. But it's not because he necessarily can't, which is worth arguing that he can't. They also don't need him to. I mean, you've got guys like Chris Alave and Rashid Shahid. You've got this young wide receiver in A.T. Perry who's really coming along, some veterans like Keith Kirkwood who are coming along, Shaq Davis, the undrafted free agent out of South Carolina State, the HBCU grad.

He just had a great night. And so the things have a lot of skillful wide receivers. And the ones that are going to really set the pace for the team aren't just going to be Michael Thomas by himself.

It's not going to be Michael Thomas, Chris Alave and Rashid Shahid. And so I think that goes a long way for New Orleans. And it goes a long way for Michael Thomas that he can have a 90 catch season as opposed to a 149 catch season. It still really contributes to this team winning three or four more games than they won last year if he's able to do that.

So I think that's what you're looking for from him. And we're seeing steps in terms of his ability to get there. And it doesn't hurt at all that he gets to go up against Marshawn Lattimore every single practice. You know, those two are just making each other better left and right. Ross Jackson is with us from New Orleans talking Saints here in the preseason after their second game.

Yes, they got out of L.A. safely. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio, Cam Jordan, DeMario Davis, some of the others. There are some guys who have a lot of experience. It can be leaders on that side of the ball. How important will that group be considering what you said about the division? Yeah, it's massive.

It's massive, right? I mean, you've got at every major position group for the New Orleans Saints, you have a bona fide leader. Like even if you split up, you know, defensive ends and defensive tackles, the defensive end, you've got Cam Jordan, a defensive tackle. They just brought in Colin Saunders, who has taken on a big time leadership role in that room.

You look at the second level. Of course, you got the Mario Davis. You go back to safeties. You got Tyron Matthews.

You go to the corners. If you want to split up safeties and corners, you've got Marshall Matamore. It's really, really solid for this team to have that amount of veteran leadership and presence while also having young guys like Karl Granderson and Peyton Turner on the edge. You know, Nathan Shepard and Brian Brazee in the middle of the defense or in the middle of the defensive line. Pete Werner in the middle of defense on the second level. These corners and Paul Sedivio and Alante Taylor on the outside. I mean, they have so much talent in terms of the young players, but they also have the veteran leadership that can tie it all together and help focus all of that talent into on-field production.

And I think that that's a big thing. The Saints, when they came into training camp this year, particularly on takeaways, which is a big focus, the Saints have five bona fide takeaways. If we're not including turnover on downs, they've got five takeaways this season or so far during the preseason, they had 14 throughout the entire season last year. So you can see where the focus has gone. And look, the way that the Saints defensive staff focus on it is that they made every single one of those defensive players sit down and watch cutups of the takeaways they almost had. The ones that they should have had last year and sort of said, do this differently.

You know, cut underneath instead of coming over the top. That's an interception. Look at how loose this player is holding the ball. That's an easy ball to punch out.

All those things. They had them sit down and watch through every single missed opportunity last year. And now I promise you that's on the top of that defense's mind when they're out on the field this year.

And so far, it's already showing from one to 90 as opposed to one to 53, right throughout the preseason. What are the expectations for this team though? Internally, the expectation for this team is just like every other team in the NFL, they want to win a Super Bowl, right?

And they've been more and more outspoken about it this year than they have been over the course of the past couple of years. I think that the external sort of expectation for them is to win the division and try to make a deep playoff run. I don't think that there's a lot of us that are looking at the New Orleans A's going, yeah, that's a Super Bowl team. That's a Super Bowl contender because we just haven't seen them play together yet. I mean, we've gotten one drive, right, on the offense.

And then we got about what I would call maybe a drive and a half of the defense because the first one was a four and out basically, turnover and down. And so I think we have to see it before we can start to make those expectations externally. But I know internally, this team very much believes in its ability to be a Super Bowl contender or be a Super Bowl champion.

And that's good. I mean, you want every team to feel that way. The Cardinals should feel that way. The Jets who just landed Aaron Rodgers, they should feel that way. And every team should feel that way.

And so I think that that's where they are. But I think for those of us that are looking at it, we're mostly just looking at like, this is a team that should make the playoffs. This is a team that should win 10 or more games. And this is a team that maybe can win a playoff game. And then if they could do that, then we can start to evaluate where they can go after that.

But that's the first starting place for sure. Wow, it's days away. Are you ready, Ross? I can't wait.

I can't wait. It's a different sense of urgency. It definitely is a ratcheted up intensity around the broadcasting industry, too. It's kind of funny because you can feel it building now, even as they get through the second week of preseason, right? Everything gets more and more meaningful, right? I mean, like we're going into this last week of the preseason, we're talking about people potentially losing their jobs at this point, right? I mean, this is a huge week for players.

And so that steps up their intensity, which sets up our intensity to cover it as best we can and, you know, be clear about what's going on and everything. And I think that joint practices help with that, too. I love the joint practice feel. We had the Green Bay, you know, we went to Green Bay last year for the Saints and Packers joint practices.

This year was in Costa Mesa. Two pretty great places to leave Louisiana in August, not gonna lie. Two great breaks from the heat. And usually a break from the hurricanes, but we see how that worked out this year. Heavens. But yeah, but I do think that it is something to where it kind of just as these days tick on and on and on and there's more context, there's more sort of consequence, there's more on the line for the players.

I think we kind of pick up and feel that intensity as well. Cannot wait. All right. So you can find Ross Jackson on Twitter at Ross Jackson NOLA. And he's really running the gamut here. He writes, he reports, he's an analyst.

He's got the Locked on Saints podcast as well. More great content. We're glad to connect with you again.

Happy football season. Thank you so much for a couple of minutes. Oh my goodness.

Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me on. Always a pleasure. Y'all take care. Stay safe and look forward to talking to you soon.