Demario Davis made a few things very clear when he spoke to the media in the first week of Saints training camp. One of those things is that his had coach Dennis Allen and quarterback Derek Carr need no defense from him that they're the right people for the job. The other is that he's got a pretty strong one anyway.
Responding to the bevy of criticism that Davis admits to not following particularly closely, the star Saints linebacker had this to say.
"I’ve been in the trenches with both of these guys, and when I tell you that Derek is the right quarterback, he’s the right quarterback," Davis said. "When I tell you, DA is the right head coach, he’s the right head coach. I’ve been here to see the good times and the bad times, so I know that they’re the right men for the job, and that’s what my belief is."
Davis, typically quiet on social media, made it a point to support both Carr and Allen on his personal Instagram and Twitter, which has been the case for a handful of veteran players. And if that alone isn't enough, he threw his own high level of personal credibility behind them last week.
"I think that there may be a series of doubt around them," Davis said. "I don’t think there’s a series of doubt around me, and if there ain’t no series of doubt around me and I’m telling you they’re the right people, you just got to believe that and we’ve got to roll with that, because as a city we’ve got to get united in trying to get where we’re trying to go. We can’t be divided.”
The doubt and frustration became clear throughout last season, with boos raining down at the Caesars Superdome in multiple games. It was particularly clear in one game that they were directed at Carr, because those boos turned to cheers when Taysom Hill ran onto the field for QB reps, and vice versa.
Frustration is understandable, Davis said, and the team knows it's underperformed. But he also feels like some of that sentiment has been driven by expectations for a new regime not reflecting new realities. In back-to-back seasons the Saints moved on from Drew Brees, then Sean Payton. In Year 3 they added Carr as the QB, the results 9-8, 7-10, 9-8 and two playoff misses in frustrating tiebreaker scenarios that went down to the final minutes of the season.
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A record of 25-26, essentially .500 with one of those seasons coached by Payton, isn't going to send most Saints fans happy.
"I can understand the desire to win from our fanbase, and I mean, we were the most winning team in the regular season for like 3-4 years … but at the same time, that was the back-end tenure of Sean Payton and Drew Brees, and so that was at the height of our organization, so I can understand continuing to want that even though there’s been a shift and so, who is that gonna fall on?" Davis continued. "It’s gonna fall on the quarterback, it’s gonna fall on the head coach, because those are the positions that are changed. So, I don’t know what kind of criticism was there, but it’s to be expected, especially when a desire is there, but winning changes everything. ... It is not an individual position, it’s we’re not winning, and when we can get back to winning it’ll take care of business, and there’s only one way in this business to get back to winning and that’s to put the work in.”
But can this team get back to winning? They're hoping that a trip out to California and a new offense can help lock things in, and the term "chip on their shoulder" has come up often. That's particularly true for the veteran players like Davis, Tyrann Mathieu and Cam Jordan, all of whom have won at a high level.
Davis is looking to defy the idea that his own age means a downturn in ability. He still strives to improve every season and if there's been a dropoff, you can't find it in the numbers. The starting mike linebacker's 121 tackles were his most since he joined the Saints in 2018, and his 6.5 sacks matched a career high that he also hit in the 2022 season. He also hasn't missed a game due to injury since joining the Saints, the only absence coming in 2021 due to COVID, that included playing through a significant knee injury a year ago that coaches and doctors didn't expect him to manage on short week.
"For me it’s how do I get faster, how do I get better, how do I get sharper, so it’s like I’m not paying attention to areas where I’m not doing it as good as I was doing it before," Davis said. "I don’t have the luxury to do things worse, I have to do them better. So if you look at the numbers I had in 2022 vs the numbers I had in 2023, I hope you look at the stat line and they’re better. That’s how I measure my growth.”
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Another veteran in Carr has admitted that while it took him longer than he expected to acclimate a year ago, he feels he's where he needs to be now. The vibe around this team would seem to match, while Carr and Davis have become close both as team leaders on the field as well as community leaders off of it. The pair hosted a night of worship together earlier this offseason, and they've been doing recorded segments on the field during training camp to further that message.
Regardless, Carr's play at the end of the 2023 season gives reason for optimism. The team won four of its final five games to give itself a chance at the postseason, with Carr completion 96-128 passes (75%) for 998 yards and 12 TDs against just one interception.
"If we can … start how we finished, we’re gonna be all right," Davis said. "I mean, if anybody judged us by our last 6, 7 games of the season, just look at it, you know what I mean? If we can start like that, we’re gonna be OK.”