Quick Update (1 Viewer)

[TCUDan]

Hey guys, just dropping in with a quick update.

I have a lot of thoughts on the Saints draft class, FA signings, etc. But unfortunately my season out here has been quite an adventure, to put it mildly. We currently have 21 players (most of whom were starters) not participating due to injury, a good chunk of those being season-ending. The injury bug has absolutely ravaged us, and I've been swamped week to week trying to figure out how to field a competitive team.

We had a big 50-14 win last week (finally got our QB back after he missed 7 weeks with a knee), but the playoffs look out of reach. We need to win out these last 3 games and have a couple of teams lose out. It's football, anything can happen, but it looks like for the first time in my HC career my team will be missing the playoffs.

I'm proud of the guys for the way they've fought. This has been a challenging season, and the Saints getting back into action is definitely providing me with some light at the end of the tunnel .

 

[Big_L]

Good luck the rest of the way. As we all know, anything can happen.

 

[SweetT]

“Out with a Knee”…….sounds like SP

Thanks for the update and be sure to not be a stranger when you get a chance

 

[dutar76]

Good luck coach. Handle what you can control. Win out and let the chips fall where they fall.

 

[gboudx]

Does your team have a message board where fans are questioning the trainers and coaches for all of the injuries?

 

[Stalwart385]

Oof sounds like the Saints' last 2 seasons. Best of luck to you.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Good luck the rest of the way. As we all know, anything can happen.

Well……….if they don’t have luck, I think that would free up coach to post on SSF more, so…….,,

 

[Big_L]

Well……….if they don’t have luck, I think that would free up coach to post on SSF more, so…….,,

Fact...

 

[woohoosaint]

“Out with a Knee”…….sounds like SP

Thanks for the update and be sure to not be a stranger when you get a chance

"He's got a groin"

 

[ndcc]

All the best to you and your team, Coach Dan. Knowing you, they will be very competitive.

 

[VPCajun]

Does your team have a message board where fans are questioning the trainers and coaches for all of the injuries?

The ire is being directed at Öshnir (That's with a hard guttural "h".)

 

[Optimus Prime]

Hey guys, just dropping in with a quick update.

I have a lot of thoughts on the Saints draft class, FA signings, etc. But unfortunately my season out here has been quite an adventure, to put it mildly. We currently have 21 players (most of whom were starters) not participating due to injury, a good chunk of those being season-ending. The injury bug has absolutely ravaged us, and I've been swamped week to week trying to figure out how to field a competitive team.

We had a big 50-14 win last week (finally got our QB back after he missed 7 weeks with a knee), but the playoffs look out of reach. We need to win out these last 3 games and have a couple of teams lose out. It's football, anything can happen, but it looks like for the first time in my HC career my team will be missing the playoffs.

I'm proud of the guys for the way they've fought. This has been a challenging season, and the Saints getting back into action is definitely providing me with some light at the end of the tunnel .

If I can get in an early ask @TCUDan

How do you navigate that situation?

I know no coach likes to blame injuries and preaches next man up

But the coach knows the team isn't at full strength, it may not even be at half strength

How do you keep the players motivated when the team's been dealt a bad hand?

Hope you get into the playoffs! Good luck!

 

[TCUDan]

If I can get in an early ask @TCUDan

How do you navigate that situation?

I know no coach likes to blame injuries and preaches next man up

But the coach knows the team isn't at full strength, it may not even be at half strength

How do you keep the players motivated when the team's been dealt a bad hand?

Hope you get into the playoffs! Good luck!

It sounds cliche, but as a coach you focus on what you can control. So while gameplanning and scheme and all that is important, developing depth is as well.

Problem is injuries tend to cascade, especially when we don't have a free agent wire per se where we can sign guys off the street. So as your roster shrinks, more guys are taking more reps on O D and ST. That means they're more fatigued late in games, and that's more opportunities to be injured. Hence the cascade.

Then there's just circus crap. I lost 4 players in the last game, despite us dominating. 3 knees and a torn bicep. One of the knees happened to an offensive lineman celebrating his teammates TD (like i said, circus crap).

Also, a Young lb I'd been mentoring all season and was really a stepping up, injured himself on his moped on the way home from practice. Hit a pothole and broke his ankle.

I'm not superstitious, but never in my career have i see this level of an injury plague.

What's helped me this season, honestly, is turning to stoicism. Daily meditations.

But all that to say, you can weather a certain amount of injuries if you're developing your depth. But when the injuries cascade and reach critical mass, there really isn't much you can do. It affects everything, from your depth and substitutions to the quality of practices.

 

[TCUDan]

If I can get in an early ask @TCUDan

How do you navigate that situation?

I know no coach likes to blame injuries and preaches next man up

But the coach knows the team isn't at full strength, it may not even be at half strength

How do you keep the players motivated when the team's been dealt a bad hand?

Hope you get into the playoffs! Good luck!

Not a fun interview, but I think this kind of answers your questions better maybe. I was leaving the post game press conference to get on the bus when this reporter came up to me, kinda impromptu, and he was the first one that asked some actual thoughtful questions.

Needless to say there is a complicating decision amid all this that has compounded our struggles. And it was made by management before i even got here.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

Hey guys, just dropping in with a quick update.

I have a lot of thoughts on the Saints draft class, FA signings, etc. But unfortunately my season out here has been quite an adventure, to put it mildly. We currently have 21 players (most of whom were starters) not participating due to injury, a good chunk of those being season-ending. The injury bug has absolutely ravaged us, and I've been swamped week to week trying to figure out how to field a competitive team.

We had a big 50-14 win last week (finally got our QB back after he missed 7 weeks with a knee), but the playoffs look out of reach. We need to win out these last 3 games and have a couple of teams lose out. It's football, anything can happen, but it looks like for the first time in my HC career my team will be missing the playoffs.

I'm proud of the guys for the way they've fought. This has been a challenging season, and the Saints getting back into action is definitely providing me with some light at the end of the tunnel .

Congrats Dan!