By Tom James
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — After three days of workouts on the University of Miami campus, New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton decided to scale back Thursday’s practice as the team begins final preparations for their Super Bowl XLIV matchup with the Indianapolis Colts.
Hot weather was one of the reasons given for trimming about 20 minutes from Wednesday’s normal practice routine. Payton cut back on the number of plays run during team drills while throwing in some special teams work.
The Saints removed their shoulder pads for the final 40 minutes of the workout, opting to wear practice shells instead.
“We’re in the second week [of Super Bowl practices] and we can do that,” Payton said afterwards. “It was a little warm [Thursday]. I think you have to be a little careful. Some guys would worry about getting all the plays in. All I was concerned about was getting good work in and we accomplished that.”
For the first five minutes of team drills, the Saints coach had the loudspeakers at the practice facility turned to full volume. Crowd noise and a popular hip-hop song, “Half-time Stand Up and Get Crunk,” provided the background noise.
Wednesday practice
A day earlier, New Orleans was put through a two-and-a-half hour workout. A special emphasis was put on turnover drills.
“I think we’re ahead of schedule with just about everything we’re trying to get done,” Payton said. “We do a lot of [turnover drill work] during the season. But I’d like to have a little of that training camp mentality here.”
Payton wore a University of Miami coaching shirt and visor during the practice.
“I thought our work [Wednesday] was good.,” he said. “The conditions were good. The two fields we’re working on over there are in great shape. The people have been real hospitable to us.
“We’re probably 85 percent in [with the game plan]. There are some things that we’re going to give them [Friday]. Not a lot. I think the extra week really affords you a chance to get their legs back. We were careful not to install too much last week. We got them on the field and off the field, and really gave them a chance to kind of catch their breath, if you will. The routine here is a little different and yet we got good work in with pads.”
Internet publicity
Saints running back Reggie Bush had to answer questions Thursday about reports and photos on various entertainment websites that alluded to a late-night excursion to a nightclub earlier this week.
“It’s funny because that picture was actually of us walking into the club,” he said. “They say that we were [leaving the club] at 3:30 a.m., but the picture they showed was us walking into the club. That’s the way it is. You’re under the microscope. Sometimes things get twisted and stories get twisted. People are going to paint it the way they want to paint it.
“We decided that we were going to go out one night. We were going to have one night of fun and after that we were going to shut it down. That was our game plan for this week. You have to have a game plan when you come out here. Miami is a distraction enough, and then you throw in the Super Bowl and it’s even more of a distraction. We had a game plan. We were going to go out one night, Monday night, early in the week, and then we were going to shut it down after that. You won’t see any guys out. You definitely won’t see me out. I haven’t been out late, past 10 o’clock since that night.”
Payton opted not to institute a curfew policy for his players until tonight and Saturday.
Bush shrugged off questions about the attention that he and his celebrity girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, have been generating in Miami.
“Right now we are used to it,” he said. “Going into this Super Bowl there are over 7,000 different media outlets down here. Somebody’s going to see me, somewhere. [Wednesday] we were at a restaurant and I saw half of the reporters from New Orleans in the restaurant. It is what it is.”
CNHI News Service
