The New Orleans Saints have seen a lot change since the last time Pro Bowl center Erik McCoy suited up for a game.
There's a new head coach. There's was a seven-game skid the team finally snapped this week. The positivity that's come with that will also likely be buoyed by McCoy's like return in Week 12, which interim head coach Darren Rizzi explained on WWL Radio this week.
"I think Erik is certainly trending, right now, in the right direction," Rizzi told Mike Hoss and Bobby Hebert.
Listen to the full, exclusive interview with Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
The Saints center hasn't played since suffering a groin injury early in a Week 3 loss to the Eagles that required surgery to repair. The Saints officially opened his 21-day return to practice window on Thursday ahead of Week 10, with McCoy listed as limited on both days, but he was still held out against the Falcons.
"We wanted to get his legs underneath him, you know, that old coach saying of get a few practices in first, Rizzi continued, "so listen, everything is pointing right now to him coming back, you know, minus any setbacks, so we’ll see what his practice week looks like and hopefully we’re heading in the right direction there."
While the head coach wouldn't say definitively that McCoy would be playing, the team's actions spoke pretty clearly. The team waived veteran center Connor McGovern, who was signed off the Jets practice squad ahead of Week 5 and as the team dealt with a host of injuries on the interior offensive line. He's started the past five games and held up well. If he clears waivers on Monday, McGovern could be brought back on the practice squad.
McCoy's return would be a clear upgrade to a group that has had its struggles but seems to be trending in the right direction and would have at least four of the five starters with whom it went into the season.
"Erik’s the best center in the NFL, so I mean, obviously when you get somebody like that back, it makes a big difference," said RG Cesar Ruiz. "I mean, it’s just great, it just adds to it, but yea, whenever he comes back we’ll be rolling."
In order to keep rolling the Saints will need to take down the Browns and the player McCoy used to snap the ball to in Jameis Winston in Week 11, followed by a bye.
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MORE FROM RIZZI
On players stepping up in bigger roles
"One of my biggest takeaways from the game is we had a number of guys that just really, really played their butt off that didn’t start the season either on our 53-man roster or maybe even on our practice squad. You look through the game and Ugo [Amadi] stuck out to me, and listen, he wasn’t perfect on every play, but man, he was flying around the field and that’s what we talked about all week. You know, I look at Shemar Jean-Charles … another guy that, was he perfect on everything, no, but his overall effort, passion, all that just jumped off, you know, Scantling and Kevin Austin and Dante Pettis, Jermaine Jackson, I mean, these are all guys that weren't even on our 53 or our practice squad at the start of the year, I mean, Connor McGovern is another guy who’s obviously been playing a lot since Erik’s been down, another guy that wasn’t on our team.
"I mean, so really just a lot of guys and when you look back and watch the film today, that’s one of the things that stuck out to me, but you’re right, Ugo made some big plays in the game, no only in the pass but in the run, a couple of tackles for loss, like you said, and that huge play there at the end, not only to stop them on a 4th down but to keep him inbounds. So kudos to Ugo, great job.”
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On Payton Turner, staying healthy
“We definitely have a good relationship, Payton and I, we have a really good back and forth all the time, joking around and, you know, the end of the game, I thought some people thought we were getting into it, it was all love. You know, that was all good stuff. Listen, you know, there’s no doubt ... Payton Turner has a great skillset and I’m over here knocking on wood while you’re talking, we’ve got to keep him healthy because he can make those flash plays and you know, we’ve been getting a lot out of Payton this year on special teams. He’s been mixing more into the defense, but he’s kind of gotten bitten by that health bug a few times and we’ve got to, you know, it’s no secret that when he’s playing and gets more reps and he’s healthy and all that, you know, his play improves, and so that’s really for everybody and so listen, Payton is the first guy that would tell you he wants to stay healthy, and listen, he’s battled through a couple things this year, too. He’s played through a couple things, to his credit, and hopefully we can keep him healthy, because he can make some of those plays.
"As far as the end of the game goes, yea, I mean, come on … I appreciate the love, but man, he gave me a nice little jack there in the back and aggravated my old stinger, so yea, I’ve been a little bit sore today, I’m not gonna lie, but no, man, we’ve got to keep him rolling and keep the momentum going, because again, you saw some of those plays that he’s capable of making yesterday.”
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On facing the Browns, Jameis WInston at QB
“The No. 1 thing is they’re coming off a bye week, so they’re gonna be rested, healed up. It seems like they’re a pretty healthy team right now and they’ve got a couple guys playing really, really well. ... Obviously, it’ll be a big game for him, you know, Jameis, it's not a surprise that he comes in there and creates a spark right away. We all know that Jameis’ personalty and what he’s gonna bring to the game, his potential for big plays and so, you know, Myles freaking Garrett, he’s playing his tail off right now so it’s going to be important to have a plan. He can certainly disrupt the game and has disrupted a lot of games and so you know, their receivers are creating separation. They’re running the ball, their offensive line has actually played pretty well, so hey, we’ve got to get back and get on our stuff again. I mentioned the reasons we won the game this week was we kind of took care of our business and that’s gonna be the most important thing. We’re back at home again this week, hopefully we have another great showing by the fans in the dome and our guys will certainly, certainly be ready to roll.”
