Justin Reid is impressed by Kellen Moore’s first months on the job
The New Orleans Saints didn’t make a ton of high-profile additions in free agency, but their biggest pickup was veteran safety Justin Reid. Reid spoke with local media after the team’s second open practice at organized team activities, and he expressed confidence that first-year head coach Kellen Moore is running things the right way.
“First and foremost, it’s culture over everything,” Reid said, as transcribed by Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith. “The culture that’s built here and Coach Kellen, they just won the Super Bowl last year with Philly. He brought his strength staff over and a lot of those guys are familiar with winning. We have a lot of guys here who are familiar with winning. But the great thing, because I’ve been on mediocre teams, I’ve been on bad teams, I’ve been on great teams. And the culture in this locker room is right right now. We’ve got guys that believe in the system, that buy in. We don’t have bad character guys. And that’s the first step that you need in order to build a real team to go out and win.”
Described as a “world class tone-setter,” Reid signed a three-year deal with the Saints this offseason just months after Moore and the Philadelphia Eagles beat Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. So he knows what Moore is capable of as a play caller. Seeing the first-time head coach running practice every day has won him over.
Reid also likened his experience at OTA’s as more like what he’s seen at the college level than on some other teams he’s played for — coaches are preaching fundamentals, attention to detail, and emphasizing the importance of their strength and conditioning program. The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement limits what teams can do at this time of the year, but from where Reid stands, his team is focusing on the right things.
After a series of years where the Saints were dysfunctional on the field, led by an unpopular quarterback and with so many younger players making mistakes and not lining up at the right spots, it makes sense that Moore is working to right the ship. We’ve seen too many players sidelined by injuries in recent years, too, and he’s taken action to better prepare his guys for Sundays. Let’s hope it makes a difference and the positive culture Reid sees building in front of him results in plenty of wins this season.
