Offensive-Minded Saints Hoping to Crank Up the 'D'

METAIRIE, La. -- There's one thing you immediately notice about how the Saints conduct practice here: It's fast. Running backs dash all over the place. Wide receivers scoot past people.

Then you notice the defense.

Let Reggie Bush get within inches of a hole in the line of scrimmage, and five defenders will try and strip him of the ball. Let Pierre Thomas turn the corner, and when he's stopped for a two-yard gain, the entire defense charges in and pushes him back.

It's part of a change in attitude led by new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

We all know how good the Saints' offense is -- tops in the league with head coach Sean Payton, one of the best offensive minds in the game, and quarterback Drew Brees.

The problem has been on the other side of the ball.

Last season, the Saints' defense finished 22nd overall, 23rd against the pass. Opposing offenses had 60 red-zone attempts against the Saints, tied for third-most in the league.

As a result, defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs was fired by Payton. It was painful because Gibbs and Payton are close, but in came Williams to help with the healing.

"It was something we needed," defensive end Will Smith told FanHouse. "He wants us to be a lot more aggressive every play, guys love it and love his intensity and what Gregg brings to it."

The Saints changed their 4-3 scheme some. They will play more man-to-man in the secondary and ask guys like Smith and fellow end Charles Grant to go heads-up with offensive linemen -- expect New Orleans to utilize more bull rushes and blitzing.

The Saints finished 22nd in turnover differential last season at minus-4. Williams wants his defense to produce more turnovers this year.

That focus is apparent during the Saints' camp drills. There are hands all over the ball when Bush carries it -- sometimes the ball pops out; other times, Bush gets shoved to the ground. Defensive backs are constantly eying Brees' pass attempts, even claiming a few coveted interceptions.

Progress.

"We know what type of offense we're facing everyday," Smith said. "We want to compete and even beat our offense. Sometimes we know we can beat some other teams in this league, because we have the best offense in the league we're going up against."

But life in the NFL brings you back to reality sometimes.

Grant and Smith will miss the first four games of the season due to suspension -- both tested positive for a banned diuretic, bumetanide, last summer. The Saints players, along with several others around the league, fought the suspensions, only to have a judge rule against them this spring.

"You're always hungry after the season is over with," Smith said. "You can't get worried about getting going again, but when we came back I figured we would be really hungry. You might not like what happens, but that's something you have to deal with and move on."

The Saints also have lost backup weakside/middle linebacker Mark Simoneau for a while, as he recovers from surgery to repair a torn right triceps. Veterans Derrick Brooks and Derek Smith came in for a tryout this week, but neither has signed yet. Last year, injuries to linebackers limited what Gibbs wanted to do in his scheme.

The wounded linebackers were forced to sit back in pass coverage. Williams wants to attack.

"A lot of people are expecting a wholesale scheme change, but there's only so many changes you can make," linebacker Scott Shanle said. "There's only so many different coverages you can run. It's about coming in and reinventing the culture."

In addition to dialing up the number of turnovers forced, Williams also wants more intensity and pressure on the quarterback. He said the 28 sacks the Saints had last year weren't good enough.

"People forget about the pressures we had," Smith said. "We hit the quarterback a lot of times, but didn't get a lot of sacks. As long as we compete, [Williams'] defensive lines have always had a lot of sacks."

The Saints missed the postseason the last two seasons, and it seems like forever ago (in reality, 2006) when they played in the NFC title game. Much of the blame for those failures falls on the defense.

Williams and his unit want that to change. The team drafted talented cornerback Malcolm Jenkins in the first round and signed safety Darren Sharper in free agency to improve the secondary. The defensive line's depth will be tested with the absences of Grant and Smith.

"I think this will be better," Sharper said. "The guys are focused on what we need to do and not worried about last year. We're going after the ball more, attacking, so we'll see."