joel a. erickson

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Little love was lost between the Saints and Buccaneers last season, and frustration erupted between the New Orleans defensive line and Tampa Bay's offensive line in the third quarter.Nose tackle Tyeler Davison was flagged for unnecessary roughness after...

By Joel A. Erickson | The AdvocateAustin Carr waited patiently for his chance.A preseason star in New England, claimed by the Saints off of waivers at the end of training camp, the undrafted rookie from Northwestern spent his entire rookie season on the 53-man roster but played only 12...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate The flood of optimism surrounding the New Orleans Saints evaporated in the heat coming off of Ryan Fitzpatrick's arm on Sunday.And the Saints opened the season with a sobering reminder that it's hard to carry success over from one year to the next in the...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Five years ago, the running back position felt like an anachronistic afterthought in the NFL, still useful but far from a priority as quarterbacks took over for good as the faces of football.Two first rounds came and went without a running back being...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Drew Brees is feeling good as the start of his 13th season as the starting quarterback of the New Orleans Saints draws near.So good that he sometimes feels like 13 years haven't gone by.While answering a question about whether or not he feels fresher...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Left guard Andrus Peat is battling a quadriceps injury this week and did not practice on Wednesday, according to the official injury report listed by the New Orleans Saints.Peat, who is coming off of a broken fibula and subsequent surgery, suffered the...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate The New Orleans Saints are on the cusp of starting their first regular season without Tom Benson in more than three decades.Reminders of the late owner are everywhere: on the helmets and jerseys, on the practice field, out in front of the Superdome.The...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Alex Okafor has been dealt a lot of tough injury breaks in his career.Every time Okafor is about to establish himself as a playmaker, it seems, he has suffered a setback that kept him from reaching where he wants to be.Okafor's luck has turned in this...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate The New Orleans Saints had a plan in mind when they waived running back Jonathan Williams on Saturday.New Orleans has signed veteran running back Mike Gillislee to a one-year deal, a source confirmed to The Advocate.A five-year veteran of the Buffalo...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Cameron Meredith has spent a long year waiting for a chance to make the kind of impression he made on Thursday night.Meredith, who tore his ACL in the preseason with the Chicago Bears last August and lost an entire season, hadn't been able to make much of...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Only a few of the stars put on a helmet and stepped off the sideline for the Saints in Thursday night's preseason finale against the Rams.No matter.The depth New Orleans has built into its roster the past couple of seasons was on full display. Behind a...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis made a bold move on Wednesday, trading his third-round pick in 2019 to the New York Jets to get Teddy Bridgewater.Loomis, who typically does not do press conferences during the season, offered a few thoughts...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate CARSON, Calif. — When Taysom Hill trotted into the game to take over for Tom Savage in the third quarter of Saturday night's preseason game, Drew Brees leaned over to Mark Ingram with a smile and started listing off all the things the second-year quarterback...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate CARSON, Calif. — If the third preseason game is the NFL's main dress rehearsal for the regular season, the New Orleans Saints had a few forgotten lines and missed cues in the opening act.But once they settled into the performance, the Saints put on a show...

By Joel A. Erickson | The AdvocateCOSTA MESA, Calif. — When the Saints finished joint practices against the Chargers in southern California last August, New Orleans felt it had seen enough of Drew Brees and Cameron Jordan to hold them out of the preseason game between the two teams.This time...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate COSTA MESA, Calif. — A "change of scenery" can be a cliché in the world of sports, a solution offered to soften the blow of a team cutting ties with a failed first-round pick or trading a talented player no longer living up to his potential.For some...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate COSTA MESA, Calif. — For the first time in training camp, the Saints are south of the 90-man roster limit as they practice in California.New Orleans released veterans Terrance West and Josh Huff on Tuesday and placed former LSU safety Rickey Jefferson on...

By Joel A. Erickson - The AdvocateFor the first time in years, the ink, digital screens and airwaves around New Orleans are filled with Super Bowl talk, a legitimate belief that the team the Saints rebuilt around Drew Brees has what it takes to make it back to the mountaintop if everything...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Defensive end has become a headline position for the New Orleans Saints.Cameron Jordan might be better than ever. Alex Okafor's potential is a vaulted ceiling as long as the foundation remains intact. First-round pick Marcus Davenport commands a spotlight...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate The New Orleans Saints have only seen glimpses of their first-round pick in action so far.A pulled groin sidelined Marcus Davenport for weeks, limiting the rookie's full-speed, full-pads exposure to just a few days at the beginning of training camp...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate The New Orleans Saints are about to get their first-round pick back on the field.Marcus Davenport, whom the Saints traded up to the No. 14 pick to select in April's draft, participated in practice for the first time during Saturday's walk-through...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Cameron Meredith's preseason debut in a Saints uniform seemed rather forgettable.A prize free-acquisition in the offseason, Meredith was only targeted once, failed to catch a well-placed ball and saw it intercepted after it bounded up in the air...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Chris Banjo did not plan the gesture.He's not even sure exactly how it happened.While Katie Crist sang the national anthem before Friday night's preseason game between New Orleans and Arizona, Banjo held hands with Saints owner Gayle Benson, a sweet...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate The New Orleans Saints gave a lot of young players a chance to prove their promise in the first half of Friday night's preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.A few rose to the challenge, but a player who had generated his fair share of preseason hype...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Sean Payton said the Saints would be closer to full strength for Friday night's preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.New Orleans ended up being as close to full strength as any team is in the preseason.Only five Saints — defensive ends Marcus...