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Saints' Cam Jordan Talks Defense, Seahawks on MNF

Saints' Cam Jordan joined Saints News Network to talk about the season so far, what the bye week looked like, what things could look like when the defensive line gets back to full strength, and the upcoming game against the Seahawks.

John Hendrix

Cam Jordan joined us on Tuesday night for an interview on Saints News Network to talk about his work in the community with BODYARMOR, but also talked a bit about the bye week, the New Orleans defense, and the upcoming game against the Seahawks. Be sure to check out the video on top for the full interview, or go here.

"We want to be the best defense, but we've had some explosive plays happen that we have to be able to tighten that up," Jordan said. 

"This bye week we're able to break down the film. We're able to talk. We're able to open up the path of what we want to do, and we want to be better in each and every aspect you know we want to be again a top defense. We want to be something the team that can rely on each and every time we touch the field, and I think we've had opportunities. Now it's just all about capitalizing on each of those opportunities at hand."

The Saints are expected to get back several of their key pass-rushing specialists, with David Onyemata being one of the main ones. His return is slated for Week 8 against the Buccaneers due to the six-game suspension. But, he's not the only one coming back.

"Man, I can't wait to have a fully bolstered interior D-line pocket presence with the return of David Onyemata, whenever that is. You know, when you see when you see guys leave from previous years, you look and your D-line room, it's like dang, the room has changed."

Jordan added, "But I do think we are talented in our edges. I think we have plenty of depth in our edges. I think that we have some surprising play from our interior. You know, you talk about the interior D-line and how we're able to still be one of the top running defenses in the league with guys like Shy Tuttle, Malcolm Roach. We have a plethora of guys on the interior D-line that may not be named named-branded, recognizable, but they do enough of that nitty gritty, dirty work in the middle that you have to be able to praise them. From Albert Huggins to our entire D-line that is focused on trying to stop this run, I think that we can tighten up during this next stretch and be special."

Jordan hasn't had any sacks this year, and the Saints are one of the league's lowest in team sacks. Tied for 30th in the league with the Jaguars, there's tons of room for improvement. The 8 sacks is definitely not on par with how the team has performed since Ryan Nielsen joined. However, they do rank in the Top 5 in the NFL in takeaways with 10, resulting in a +5 turnover margin.

In particular, we've seen Cam Jordan draw a ton of double-teams and even triple-teams. We talked about what teams might be doing differently to guard against him, and what things might look like once David Onyemata and Marcus Davenport return to the lineup.

"You know, last year it sort of started happening last year and then you saw the surging of Trey Hendrickson, and that's when you started seeing back to the one-on-ones. If I'm getting doubled or tripled, that means we have to start winning our one-on-ones at at a higher rate. And I think we're doing that, just not necessarily at the alarming rate that we had last year when Trey surged for 13.5 half sacks. That's the Godsend is when we have somebody who's bringing pressure. And at the same time again, we get David Onyemata back and we get Marcus Davenport back healthy, this is something that you know that will bolster our defensive line just a little bit more."

Getting David Onyemata back will be a huge boost to the team's pass rush.
Getting David Onyemata back will be a huge boost to the team's pass rush / Aug 23, 2021; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon (90), defensive tackle David Onyemata (93) and defensive tackle Shy Tuttle (99) walk to the locker room after the game against Jacksonville Jaguars during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

"I think we've had great flashes from Tanoh (Kpassagnon), and I think he's even shown his versatility when we were in our 3-4 front going down to the nose position, but it's going to be even more interesting, again, when you get a guy like David (Onyemata) back, when you get a Marcus (Davenport) back. We possibly get a four-man front going on where guys can't get doubled or triple-teamed, and we're able to get that pressure to be able to get the quarterback off the spot and make these errant throws that turns into an interception for us."

Jordan is 5.5 sacks away from getting to 100, and there’s only 36 players in the NFL who’ve gotten there. Justin Houston is a half sack away, and he's one behind Ryan Kerrigan. However, Jordan is not worried about individual accolades until after the season. It's all about the focus of getting better each and every play. The Saints simply have to focus on limited the missed opportunities.

"We've missed a couple opportunities. There was you know an Aaron Rodgers sack where he jumped into us and sort of got the ball off just being a special player to Aaron Rodgers is. There was a strip attempt on Sam Darnold that had jarred the ball, but he was able to re-clasp if, if you will, re-grip the ball and throw for a completion," Jordan said. 

Jordan added, "These are things that you wish you could have back but you can't, you got to keep on pushing forward. You look at that film and break it down and push towards the next one. You know, you talk about playing against The Washington Football Team and you're able to see where you're winning at and see if you can be in that corner just a little bit faster, how and where we can close it on the sacks, and again at the same time we're still playing great run defense. These are things that you have to hone in on. When we get ourselves in the 3rd-and-longs and the 3rd-and-favorables, this is where we are really gonna start hitting home. And honestly, you know, to be sitting at whatever the team sack is, probably the lowest in the last four years, at this point, I think we're at like 8 or 9 sacks team wise, we can do more."

Cam Jordan faces off against a familiar foe in the Seahawks.
Cam Jordan faces off against a familiar foe in the Seahawks / Sep 22, 2019; Seattle, WA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) throws his wristbands to fans after defeating the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

On Preparing for the Seahawks

"Man, I mean you're talking into you're going into Seattle, which you know is probably the second or third loudest stadium in the NFL. Of course, the Saints are number one, so we should be used to it, especially after this last home game reminded me of how loud we can get."

"We're going into a team that knows how to win. Whenever you're going against Pete Carroll, you know, he's one of the top coaches. We talked about Geno (Smith), who is a, is a savvy vet who's been part of the game for a long time and at one point was a starter. And I mean, I think he did a pretty decent job against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is something that we have to be aware of and of course the running back by committee has been, has been a point of attack and I think they're running the ball well. So this is again something that we have to tune in on and be able to lock in."

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John Hendrix
JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net