METAIRIE
Michael Thomas Jersey White , La. (AP) — Dez Bryant wasn’t about to declare himself a changed man just because he’d changed teams.At age 30, the ninth-year NFL veteran receiver said he is comfortable with who he always has been and hopes he’ll fit in with the New Orleans Saints, a team on a seven-game winning streak that looks like it’s all-in to contend for a Super Bowl this season.“I’m always going to be me, you know, who I am. I’m not a bad guy. I’ve always been a good guy,” Bryant said after his first practice with New Orleans on Thursday afternoon. “You can ask my teammates — my ex-teammates — how I am. I love the locker room. It’s like family. Every locker room that I’ve been in — from middle school, high school, college, to the pros — it’s always been like a family.”Bryant was reticent when asked to go into detail about interest shown in him by other clubs. He is known to have met with Cleveland and Baltimore before his workout with New Orleans this week earned him a spot on a Saints offense that currently ranks seventh in the NFL and is led by the NFL’s all-time leader in completions and yards passing.“Who wouldn’t want to play with Drew Brees,” said Bryant, who caught passes from Brees at practice on Thursday. “Not taking away from nobody else, but you got a guy like Drew Brees, like I said, you got a guy like Michael Thomas, (Ben) Watson, Alvin Kamara
https://www.thesaintslockerroom.com/authentic-tre_quan-smith-jersey , Mark Ingram. You got those types of guys.”Bryant spent his first eight NFL seasons with Dallas and in 2017 caught 69 passes for 838 yards and six touchdowns, including a 50-yard scoring play, for the Cowboys.However, his professional reputation has been marred at times by public confrontations with coaches and teammates during games and practices.Last season was Bryant’s best since he caught 88 passes for 1,320 yards and 16 TDs in 2014, which at the time was his third consecutive season with at least 1,200 yards receiving. He signed his last Cowboys contract right after that, but has not approached that level of production since — a central reason Dallas released him in April with two years left on his five-year, $70 million contract.Saints players sounded eager to see how Bryant might help.Thomas, who is New Orleans’ leading receiver, said he has been following Bryant’s career.“He’s definitely one of those guys you have to watch if you’re playing the receiver position,” Thomas said. “He’s a guy who’s done some great things at the position, so you just have to respect it and pick his brain. I asked him a lot of questions, and it’s just cool to play with a guy like that.”Saints coach Sean Payton said Thursday that Bryant would be taking the spot on the active roster vacated by receiver Cameron Meredith, a free-agent signing last offseason who is coming back from a major knee injury, and who went on injured reserve after he and the club agreed he’d benefit from undergoing an arthroscopic cleanup on that same knee.“He kept having the swelling week in and week out and he really was pushing through it
Drew Brees Jersey White ,” Payton said.Receiver Ted Ginn Jr. also is on injured reserve and cannot come back until the final few weeks of the regular season, if he’s ready by then.It’s not clear how soon Bryant will have a regular role in New Orleans’ offense. Payton said Bryant is perhaps five pounds heavier than his ideal playing weight, which would be common among players who did not go through a training camp.But Payton added, “we felt like he did a number of things that we liked in the workout.”The signing sets the stage for Bryant to play in Dallas when the Saints visit the Cowboys for a Thursday night game on Nov. 29.“I am going to be excited. I’ll get to see all the Cowboys fans. You know I still love those guys. I love my ex-teammates. They’re my family,” Bryant said. “But I’m here on a new chapter. It’s going to be fun, but I’m the opponent now.”Bryant said he is “not at all” bitter about his departure from the Cowboys, adding, “That chapter’s closed. That’s something I had to accept. I accepted that and moved on.” When Drew Brees became the NFL's career leader in yards passing, he wanted to come up with some sort of gift to thank those who coached him, caught the 6,357 completions it took to set the record and blocked while he threw.His solution was an exhaustive process than involved the production of about 175 unique commemorative footballs and the enlisting Saints front office and public relations staff to help track down 99 receivers, 56 offensive linemen, 11 head or assistant coaches from his 18 pro seasons as well as others instrumental in his success.They began receiving their custom-made footballs this week, which pleased Brees because he wanted it done before Christmas."Naturally you start thinking, 'OK, well
Womens Marcus Davenport Jersey , a lot of people have caught those balls," Brees said. "So let's get a list of all the pass catchers and the number of catches and the number of yards and let's put together a game ball for them and put those statistics on there for them, so they know that they have a piece of this and they were an important part of it.'"That's how the effort started. But Brees soon realized he couldn't just limit it to receivers."It's not just about the receivers. It's about the guys blocking.' So it's like, 'All right, let's find every offensive lineman that's ever started a game.' So we did that," Brees said. "Then I started thinking about coaches. Then I started thinking about other people as well. So it was actually a long list. But I just wanted to do that for them."Even current Saints players, such as veteran tight end Ben Watson, received the balls at their homes 鈥?not the mail room or locker room at Saints headquarters."It's him. It's surprising but it's not surprising at the same time that he would give a special thanks to the guys that helped him along the way," Watson said. "Obviously, this is his accomplishment. But him being the leader that he is, he loves to defer praise to other people."Watson said he was "Just thankful to be able to play with him and be able to contribute to the greatness that he's achieved."Recipients included rookie receiver Tre'Quan Smith, who caught the 62-yard touchdown pass in Week 5 against Washington on which Brees surpassed the 71,940 yards passing of previous record-holder Peyton Manning.Smith said Brees' gesture "shows what kind of guy he is, and you want to be around somebody like that, who shows appreciation."The package with ball included a typed letter signed by Brees. Receivers, linemen
Tre'Quan Smith Jersey White , coaches and other "contributors" each got different variations of the letter, depending on the nature of their roles in the record.The balls sent to retired players included the number of passes they caught from Brees and the total yardage of those catches. For example, the ball sent to Saints career receiving leader Marques Colston specifically recognized his 705 receptions for 9,709 yards.For current players, Brees didn't include such stats, which grown since Manning's old mark was eclipsed in October.Brees said he was gratified by text messages he'd received. Brandin Cooks sent him a video from the locker room at the headquarters of the former Saints receiver's current team, the Los Angeles Rams.Former Chargers fullback Fred McCrary sent a video of himself holding his ball in a barber shop, boisterously bragging that he's "famous today."Brees said he'd also received a text Friday from former Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson.Recipients that Brees considered "contributors" included Dr. James Andrews, the surgeon who repaired the quarterback's heavily damaged throwing shoulder in 2006, as well as independent throwing coach Tom House, Saints owner Gayle Benson and Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.
METAIRIE [b][url=https://www.thesaintslockerroom.com/authentic-michael-thomas-jersey]Michael Thomas Jersey White[/url][/b] , La. (AP) — Dez Bryant wasn’t about to declare himself a changed man just because he’d changed teams.At age 30, the ninth-year NFL veteran receiver said he is comfortable with who he always has been and hopes he’ll fit in with the New Orleans Saints, a team on a seven-game winning streak that looks like it’s all-in to contend for a Super Bowl this season.“I’m always going to be me, you know, who I am. I’m not a bad guy. I’ve always been a good guy,” Bryant said after his first practice with New Orleans on Thursday afternoon. “You can ask my teammates — my ex-teammates — how I am. I love the locker room. It’s like family. Every locker room that I’ve been in — from middle school, high school, college, to the pros — it’s always been like a family.”Bryant was reticent when asked to go into detail about interest shown in him by other clubs. He is known to have met with Cleveland and Baltimore before his workout with New Orleans this week earned him a spot on a Saints offense that currently ranks seventh in the NFL and is led by the NFL’s all-time leader in completions and yards passing.“Who wouldn’t want to play with Drew Brees,” said Bryant, who caught passes from Brees at practice on Thursday. “Not taking away from nobody else, but you got a guy like Drew Brees, like I said, you got a guy like Michael Thomas, (Ben) Watson, Alvin Kamara [b][url=https://www.thesaintslockerroom.com/authentic-tre_quan-smith-jersey]https://www.thesaintslockerroom.com/authentic-tre_quan-smith-jersey[/url][/b] , Mark Ingram. You got those types of guys.”Bryant spent his first eight NFL seasons with Dallas and in 2017 caught 69 passes for 838 yards and six touchdowns, including a 50-yard scoring play, for the Cowboys.However, his professional reputation has been marred at times by public confrontations with coaches and teammates during games and practices.Last season was Bryant’s best since he caught 88 passes for 1,320 yards and 16 TDs in 2014, which at the time was his third consecutive season with at least 1,200 yards receiving. He signed his last Cowboys contract right after that, but has not approached that level of production since — a central reason Dallas released him in April with two years left on his five-year, $70 million contract.Saints players sounded eager to see how Bryant might help.Thomas, who is New Orleans’ leading receiver, said he has been following Bryant’s career.“He’s definitely one of those guys you have to watch if you’re playing the receiver position,” Thomas said. “He’s a guy who’s done some great things at the position, so you just have to respect it and pick his brain. I asked him a lot of questions, and it’s just cool to play with a guy like that.”Saints coach Sean Payton said Thursday that Bryant would be taking the spot on the active roster vacated by receiver Cameron Meredith, a free-agent signing last offseason who is coming back from a major knee injury, and who went on injured reserve after he and the club agreed he’d benefit from undergoing an arthroscopic cleanup on that same knee.“He kept having the swelling week in and week out and he really was pushing through it [b][url=https://www.thesaintslockerroom.com/authentic-drew-brees-jersey]Drew Brees Jersey White[/url][/b] ,” Payton said.Receiver Ted Ginn Jr. also is on injured reserve and cannot come back until the final few weeks of the regular season, if he’s ready by then.It’s not clear how soon Bryant will have a regular role in New Orleans’ offense. Payton said Bryant is perhaps five pounds heavier than his ideal playing weight, which would be common among players who did not go through a training camp.But Payton added, “we felt like he did a number of things that we liked in the workout.”The signing sets the stage for Bryant to play in Dallas when the Saints visit the Cowboys for a Thursday night game on Nov. 29.“I am going to be excited. I’ll get to see all the Cowboys fans. You know I still love those guys. I love my ex-teammates. They’re my family,” Bryant said. “But I’m here on a new chapter. It’s going to be fun, but I’m the opponent now.”Bryant said he is “not at all” bitter about his departure from the Cowboys, adding, “That chapter’s closed. That’s something I had to accept. I accepted that and moved on.” When Drew Brees became the NFL's career leader in yards passing, he wanted to come up with some sort of gift to thank those who coached him, caught the 6,357 completions it took to set the record and blocked while he threw.His solution was an exhaustive process than involved the production of about 175 unique commemorative footballs and the enlisting Saints front office and public relations staff to help track down 99 receivers, 56 offensive linemen, 11 head or assistant coaches from his 18 pro seasons as well as others instrumental in his success.They began receiving their custom-made footballs this week, which pleased Brees because he wanted it done before Christmas."Naturally you start thinking, 'OK, well [b][url=https://www.thesaintslockerroom.com/authentic-marcus-davenport-jersey]Womens Marcus Davenport Jersey[/url][/b] , a lot of people have caught those balls," Brees said. "So let's get a list of all the pass catchers and the number of catches and the number of yards and let's put together a game ball for them and put those statistics on there for them, so they know that they have a piece of this and they were an important part of it.'"That's how the effort started. But Brees soon realized he couldn't just limit it to receivers."It's not just about the receivers. It's about the guys blocking.' So it's like, 'All right, let's find every offensive lineman that's ever started a game.' So we did that," Brees said. "Then I started thinking about coaches. Then I started thinking about other people as well. So it was actually a long list. But I just wanted to do that for them."Even current Saints players, such as veteran tight end Ben Watson, received the balls at their homes 鈥?not the mail room or locker room at Saints headquarters."It's him. It's surprising but it's not surprising at the same time that he would give a special thanks to the guys that helped him along the way," Watson said. "Obviously, this is his accomplishment. But him being the leader that he is, he loves to defer praise to other people."Watson said he was "Just thankful to be able to play with him and be able to contribute to the greatness that he's achieved."Recipients included rookie receiver Tre'Quan Smith, who caught the 62-yard touchdown pass in Week 5 against Washington on which Brees surpassed the 71,940 yards passing of previous record-holder Peyton Manning.Smith said Brees' gesture "shows what kind of guy he is, and you want to be around somebody like that, who shows appreciation."The package with ball included a typed letter signed by Brees. Receivers, linemen [b][url=https://www.thesaintslockerroom.com/authentic-tre_quan-smith-jersey]Tre'Quan Smith Jersey White[/url][/b] , coaches and other "contributors" each got different variations of the letter, depending on the nature of their roles in the record.The balls sent to retired players included the number of passes they caught from Brees and the total yardage of those catches. For example, the ball sent to Saints career receiving leader Marques Colston specifically recognized his 705 receptions for 9,709 yards.For current players, Brees didn't include such stats, which grown since Manning's old mark was eclipsed in October.Brees said he was gratified by text messages he'd received. Brandin Cooks sent him a video from the locker room at the headquarters of the former Saints receiver's current team, the Los Angeles Rams.Former Chargers fullback Fred McCrary sent a video of himself holding his ball in a barber shop, boisterously bragging that he's "famous today."Brees said he'd also received a text Friday from former Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson.Recipients that Brees considered "contributors" included Dr. James Andrews, the surgeon who repaired the quarterback's heavily damaged throwing shoulder in 2006, as well as independent throwing coach Tom House, Saints owner Gayle Benson and Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.
