Drew Brees Previews Saints Road Opener Against Lions

Drew Brees Previews Saints Road Opener Against Lions

Drew Brees had a monster year in 2008 from an individual statistical standpoint. Almost breaking Dan Marino’s single season passing yardage record is quite the feat, but Brees has said himself that he would gladly trade up the individual accolades he gathered last year for a better season for his New Orleans Saints. The Saints missed the playoffs for the second year in a row despite winning 9 games and sporting the league’s most explosive offense. Part of that had to do with Brees’ play late in several critical games. Even more had to do with the Saints porous defense. Regardless, should be an exciting year for the Saints and their fans and it has a very good chance of commencing with a victory. New Orleans travels to Detroit to play the Detroit Lions. When the two teams met last year, Brees torched Detroit to the tune of 351 yards on 75% passing in a 42-7 New Orleans victory. Brees joined WWL in New Orleans to talk about this Sunday’s game against the Lions, the Saints revamped defense, and how he personally can improve after last year’s monster season.

On if the Saints would like to get the running game going against a Lions team that was awful stopping the run:

“Yeah, yeah. We want to be balanced obviously, but we’re going to go with the flow and look to mix it up. Obviously we’d love to run the ball effectively just like we want to every game. I feel like when you run the ball effectively, it sets up the pass. And I’d like to think if we’re throwing the ball well, that will help set up the run too. But in the end, it’s just kind of going with the flow of the game and playing the situations. I’d love to come out of this game with 30+ rushing attempts and an even number of passing attempts.”

On what he’s looking to improve upon personally heading in to this season and this opener against the Lions:

“Well, I’m looking to be as sharp as possible, take care of the football, get the ball in the playmakers’ hands and let them go to work. I think anytime you go in to the first game of the season, obviously there’s a lot of excitement, there’s a lot of expectations. And all those things, I think for me, it’s all about staying poised and composed and trying to manage the situations, manage the huddle, the guys on offense and the team, be a leader, and just make the plays when I’m called on to make them, and hopefully we’ll have a lot of fun out there.”

On if there’s anything New Orleans will look to from last years 42-7 drubbing over Detroit as they set to square off against them this coming Sunday:

“For the most part, it’s a new season, new game. They do have a lot of new players, new coach, new defensive coordinator, so from our perspective just about everything is different. You know, there’s a few of the same players, but obviously it being the first game of the season too, you just don’t know what to expect. And obviously, there are expectations on both sides too with the new season and what you’re trying to accomplish so there’s not a whole lot we can grab from last year’s game other than hoping we can get the same result.”