The 2022 Saints defense is well aware it hasn't lived up to its billing through seven games. Team-leader Demario Davis will be the first to admit it.
But it isn't about soul-searching over a long weekend. That happened a long time ago. Davis also asked, "do you want me to preach?" before diving into 67 seconds of what could only be described as professional motivation.
"You're going to have stuff that happened to you that you did not expect. Matter of fact, you expected the exact opposite," Davis said. "And what are you gonna do when that moment happens? And you have to do your soul searching before that moment happens. Because if you're not prepared when the rain comes, it's too late.
"And it's certain people that's built for moments like this, and certain people that get excited for moments like this. Because when it's dark outside, somebody has to be to hope to remind people that the sun will come back up."
It was a speech that certainly felt like it was intended more for his teammates' ears than the media's. Regardless, for this 2-5 team to take advantage of the unlikely opportunity that still remains in front of them, it's a message that'd better take hold, particularly on the defensive side of the ball -- and fast.
Through seven games this group sits No. 31 in the NFL in average points allowed per game (28.6) and No. 22 in rushing yards allowed. Shutting down the opponents' run game and keeping them out of the end zone have been paramount to this group's success the past several years and it simply hasn't happened in 2022. It's an issue that's persisted since long before the team was without its top three cornerbacks in Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo and Bradley Roby on Thursday Night Football. The team also hasn't forced turnovers, with just one interception on the season and a league-worst minus-10 turnover differential.
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Davis isn't alone in sharing that message. Alvin Kamara, typically a lead-by-example personality, stood up in the locker room after the loss to the Cardinals and made an impassioned speech to the team. The key part of AK's message was "we got to get back to our swagger." Those words stuck in Davis' ear, because he wholeheartedly agrees.
"There is no true statement," Davis said. "The rub is, how we get back to our swagger. And ... it's not a new recipe, because you're going back to what you've done. And what we've done is always been one of the hardest-working teams in the NFL, and one of the most focused teams in the NFL. And I'm not talking about just focus on Sunday, but our focus during the week. And we understand that the nucleus of this team begins and ends with the defense. And so we accept that challenge."
It also hasn't been lost on anyone from head coach Dennis Allen down how much potential remains in the season. No one in the NFC South has a record better than 3-4. It sure feels like the first team that can string 3 or more wins together is going to win the whole thing. The Saints have just as much hope to be that team as any of the others.
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The next opportunity to become that team comes at home against a Raiders, the same squad that Allen led in his first head coaching stint.
"All those things that we started the season wanting to accomplish, they're still right out there in front of us," Allen said Monday on the WWL Radio Coaches Show. "That gives you the hope to continue to improve and so, yeah, I think I think getting our swag back I think is important. And how you do that as you go out and play well."