Khalen Saunders Interview - Saints Training Camp, Day 12
Khalen Saunders talks about the young defensive line and more after Day 12 of Saints training camp.
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00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:03 >> How you doing?
00:05 >> Good morning, how y'all doing?
00:10 >> Good morning.
00:11 >> Dennis said like two minutes ago that he's been really happy with the interior
00:16 D line and the D line on a whole.
00:18 How do you feel about the group?
00:19 What do you like about the group?
00:22 >> I think the biggest thing that I like is that we got a lot of unproven guys.
00:27 I mean, obviously everybody knows Cam, but behind that,
00:31 you can't really name too many people who's established in this league.
00:35 So I think that hunger is what's gonna be our driving force.
00:39 I mean, everybody in the NFL is athletic and everybody's fast and strong.
00:43 But I mean, yeah, guys say, I got a second contract, but
00:47 I don't even look at it like that.
00:48 I look at it as like, I want two, three more contracts and
00:52 I wanna play as long as my body will allow me to.
00:56 And I think that everybody on this D line, including Cam, I mean,
01:00 you see he just resigned and that just shows you he has no signs of slowing down.
01:05 He's a great leader to follow behind as far as all of that.
01:10 So man, I think that I love how this group's coming together.
01:14 We got a bunch of hungry guys that have the talent to do it.
01:17 And I mean, there's no reason that we can't have four all pros,
01:21 all pro bowl guys out of that room.
01:24 So I'm excited for this year.
01:27 >> Colin, how pleased are you that you're being allowed to do things that you
01:31 probably felt like you could do, but weren't necessarily asked to do?
01:35 >> Yeah, I mean, it's amazing.
01:37 Obviously, you wanna be able to help the team in ways that they want you to.
01:43 But like you said, when you know kind of your abilities and stuff like that,
01:47 I wouldn't say frustrating because I've always been a team first guy.
01:50 And I'm always gonna do whatever the team needs me to do in order to win a game.
01:55 But definitely just having those abilities and
01:59 being able to actually showcase and use them more here.
02:02 It's definitely beneficial for me.
02:05 I've been having a lot of fun playing the game, just being able to get out there and
02:09 use the athleticism that got me to this point, got me in the NFL in the first place.
02:14 And yeah, it's definitely a different role, definitely a different experience.
02:19 But I've been enjoying it.
02:21 >> Can you speak on just the athleticism and that defensive interior as a whole?
02:25 That's like Subrazee, pretty quick off the ball today.
02:29 >> Yeah, I don't think we have, I mean, I'm the biggest guy on the D line.
02:35 And I know I'm an athlete.
02:37 So if that just goes to show all of our guys, man,
02:41 we got a bunch of dancing pandas in there.
02:44 And a lot of guys, quick nimble on their feet.
02:48 Subrazee is, I always call him a big kid, man.
02:50 He's just a big Gerber baby out there, man.
02:53 Just 6'5" Gerber baby, man.
02:56 But he can move really well off that ball.
02:59 Got a great get off, man.
03:01 I've been with a guy, Chris Jones,
03:03 who it's rare to have that type of get off in that frame.
03:08 And then, like you said, to speak to all the other guys, I mean,
03:11 start with me and Nate.
03:13 Nate is, I mean, he is a go, go, go guy.
03:16 He's gonna get north and south.
03:18 He's gonna throw his moves.
03:19 I love playing with an aggressive three tech like that,
03:22 because it makes my job that much easier, being able to wrap and all of that.
03:26 Then you got Roach.
03:28 Roach is, man, the ultimate swing guy.
03:30 He can play one, he can play three.
03:32 He gonna do them both effectively, powerful, but super quick, can get out of there.
03:37 He came over to my house a couple nights ago, and
03:39 we was watching this linebacker film coming out of college.
03:44 And so I was like, man, I can see why.
03:46 And then going down to Brzee, obviously, like I said, just huge,
03:51 nimble, can bend really well for that size.
03:55 And then Prince, I mean, Prince, I don't think he lost a one on one today.
04:00 He's quick off his feet, even though he's smaller like me, but
04:04 still can generate power for moving fast.
04:07 Hef, man, super strong hands, gonna move you out of the way,
04:12 whether you want to or not.
04:13 He got those hands that just keep going.
04:17 And then Cage, Cage is putting it together, and I'm happy to see him.
04:21 That's one of my young prodigies, man, I took under the wing as soon as we came in.
04:25 And I think that he's showing a lot of promise too.
04:28 So I mean, like I said, every guy in there has been showing nothing but promise.
04:32 And I mean, one thing I preach when I come in is that there should be no drop
04:37 off between the ones, the twos, and threes, and I think we're seeing that.
04:41 I mean, you can put those three guys in there against the ones and
04:45 it won't be too much of a drop off.
04:47 >> You obviously showed Malcolm your running back.
04:49 >> Yeah, that's exactly right.
04:51 >> Yeah, me and Roach, we sitting there looking at highlights and stuff.
04:54 Yeah, man, we got a unique interior.
04:58 I know this is everything, but knows this.
05:01 But we can play it though, and that's what makes it good.
05:04 >> Is Sunday gonna be a lot more fun than coming out here to eat every day?
05:08 >> Man, I ain't gonna lie, I've been enjoying the heat.
05:11 This is the best shape that I've ever been in in my life.
05:14 And just for example, I ran after practice voluntarily today.
05:19 Three years ago, Colin Saunders would not have been doing that.
05:23 And so it just goes to show, man, this heat is really, I feel like it's a plus.
05:28 It gets me in shape, man, it got me feeling good.
05:31 I actually have asthma, and my asthma has been non-existent.
05:36 Because I feel like I've been getting adjusted to this warm weather and
05:40 getting this climate and stuff like that.
05:42 And that's one thing I noticed playing in really cold places like Denver,
05:47 for example.
05:48 Denver late in the year is my worst enemy, cuz it's the elevation, it's cold.
05:52 It's hard to get in there, the air is really thin.
05:55 And out here, it's the opposite.
05:57 You breathe in, you get a lot of oxygen cuz it's so hot.
06:00 So I feel really good out here, man.
06:02 Like I said, I ran after practice today.
06:04 Two, three years ago,
06:06 I would have never even thought to do anything extra after practice.
06:09 So, man, I think that this heat is different, but
06:13 it's definitely been effective for me.
06:14 >> But I assume you're looking forward to Sunday.
06:17 >> Absolutely, being in a dome for the first time.
06:21 I got the privilege of coming down here 2020 when we played, but
06:26 I didn't get to play one and two, it was COVID years, so nobody understands.
06:30 So it just sounded like we was playing Madden out there,
06:32 like a bunch of grunting and foot shuffling and stuff.
06:35 But I'm excited to see the energy of the dome and
06:39 just get back to playing some football and the fans and the energy.
06:44 Training camp brings a little bit of that, we're having fans on the sidelines.
06:47 But it's nothing like hearing that touchdown, hearing AK cross that goal line,
06:52 and hearing the whodatnation go crazy, so I'm ready to hear that.
06:56 >> Tyler, when you did your intro press conference with this,
07:00 you talked about yourself as a unifier.
07:02 It kinda sounds like you've taken a leadership role amongst the defensive
07:05 interior.
07:06 >> Yeah. >> How's it been for you?
07:08 >> Yeah, it's been fun, it's been fun, man.
07:11 Definitely am a unifier, I've been that my whole career.
07:15 And obviously, like I just said,
07:19 Roach came over a couple days ago, Cage comes over all the time.
07:23 The other guys, me and Grando hang out a lot outside.
07:26 Soon as I got here, I made that my priority.
07:29 Because one thing I do know is that the best D-lines don't always gotta have
07:35 100% star studded, you know what I'm saying?
07:39 Look at Washington, for example.
07:40 Not saying that they're not a good D-line, but
07:42 they got nothing but first rounders up there, you know what I'm saying?
07:44 And it's like anything less than is a disappointment for them.
07:49 You know what I mean?
07:49 For us, it's like, like I said in the beginning of this,
07:52 we got a lot of unproven guys.
07:53 We got, I just took a leadership role because I'm the oldest.
07:56 You know what I'm saying?
07:57 It's not like I wanna just be in there bossing people around, but
08:00 it's like that's the kind of responsibility you have to take when you
08:03 come into a team with some younger guys.
08:05 And yeah, man, I think that I hold, I often hear Roach say that this D-line
08:11 reminds him of his rookie year when they were top in all the defensive categories
08:16 and stuff like that.
08:17 And this is because the closeness, the relaxation in the room,
08:22 we can kinda, my former coach used to always say,
08:26 let your personality show and I think we really doing that well in the D-line room.
08:30 And it's allowing everybody to play better cuz everybody is starting to
08:34 grow in their power points, like they're growing in what they're good at.
08:38 Like I said, Hef comes to my mind first because you can't teach
08:44 everybody the same things.
08:45 Hef is super strong with his hands.
08:47 He's gonna shock you and throw you out the way, as opposed to Prince, for
08:51 example, might be more quick off his feet.
08:53 So he might use more momentum and things.
08:55 So I think that we're really starting to, and
08:58 that's a testament to Coach Grantham too.
09:00 He's just really allowing us to play our game and
09:04 we have the same assignments and responsibilities in the defense, but
09:07 he allows us to do them differently.
09:08 And that's what you're gonna get the best D-line play from.
09:11 >> Thank you.
09:13 >> Good talk.
09:13 [BLANK_AUDIO]