Saints’ Cam Jordan: Drew Brees’ ‘efficiency just unmatched right now’

Cam Jordan can’t help but marvel at what he has the pleasure of watching during each practice with the New Orleans Saints.

And as a defensive end, he takes even greater pleasure in the fact the quarterback on the other side of the ball, Drew Brees, is his teammate.

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cam Jordan. (SiriusXM NFL Radio Photo)

‘Just the ability for him to sit in that pocket and know that he’s going to take a hit and release that deep ball’

“You talk about just how accurate Drew’s been, just how accurate he’s been for intermediate routes, for deep routes,” Jordan told Lance Medow and Adam Caplan on Late Hits Postgame after the Saints’ 31-17 victory against the Atlanta Falcons Thursday night. “Just the ability for him to sit in that pocket and know that he’s going to take a hit and release that deep ball, that’s what’s separating him from anybody else. His efficiency is just unmatched right now.”

That showed up against the Falcons, as Brees threw for only 171 yards but had four touchdown passes. Besides his immense talent, Brees also has incredible work ethic and attention to detail, both of which Jordan can’t help but admire on a regular basis during workouts.

‘(Brees will) stop mid-play, like, ‘Hey, scoot over two more inches because this is going to give you a little more space’’

“When you talk about just Drew’s prowess of always wanting the right things done, the way his route is going to be run (is something he emphasizes with receivers),” Jordan said. “You talk about how anal (coach) Sean (Payton) is about how the wide receivers need to line up. (Brees will) stop mid-play, like, ‘Hey, scoot over two more inches because this is going to give you a little more space.’ He’s like, ‘Hey, just kick over and you’re going to even free yourself up a little bit more, be able to read the zone.’

“Between Drew and Sean, they always have their offensive weapons ready.”

‘At the end of the day, it was about us trying to be the bully on the block’

The Saints’ defense has also played a major role in the team’s 10-1 record. It has made huge strides against the run, as evidenced by the Falcons being held to only 26 yards on the ground and a mere 1.6 yards per rush.

“Honestly, we just got more aggressive,” Jordan said. “At the end of the day, it was about us trying to be the bully on the block when it comes to this (run defense). You come in early on and you face (Cincinnati’s) Joe Mixon, you face (the New York Giants’) Saquon Barkley, you face (the Los Angeles Rams’) Todd Gurley and you try and limit that capacity, it’s only going to bode well for our confidence in our defense about what we can do. So, going into this game, we knew we had to emphasize shutting down the run and making them a one-dimensional team.”

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