FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It seems “Who Dat?” has been replaced by “Bounty What?”
Judging from their demeanor here the past two days, the rest of the NFL — or, more specifically, the commissioner’s office — is a lot more worked up than the Saints about any potential fallout from Bountygate.
Their head coach and middle linebacker are suspended for the season, they were hit hard in free agency and even their interim coach and general manager are headed for shorter bans, but Drew Brees and Co. are acting, sounding and playing like the relentless cash-for-injuries drama in the offseason never happened.
“[Bountygate] is something you just put in the back of your mind,” tight end Jimmy Graham said after the second of two joint workouts with the Patriots yesterday. “You don’t make it a focal point. We’re just focused on the positives and the things we do right.”
The Saints certainly did that during the two intense practices with the defending AFC champions. Even some Patriots admitted what appeared obvious to observers, that New Orleans handled them in the team drills both days in advance of tonight’s exhibition matchup at Gillette Stadium.
What made the Saints’ showing even more impressive is that they had played a game Sunday night (a 17-10 win over the Cardinals in the Hall of Fame Game), then flown to New England for practices less than 48 hours later.
But New Orleans hardly looks weary. If anything, the Saints appear to be getting “us-against-the-world” motivation from the unprecedented penalties NFL commissioner Roger Goodell handed down to both the team and four players.
Head coach Sean Payton is suspended for the year, as is ex-Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma (at least for now), and interim coach Joe Vitt will miss the first six games because of Bountygate while former Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo fills in, but the Saints are practically whistling while they work.
That might be because an even bigger cloud hanging over the franchise — the record-setting Brees’ future as a Saint — was resolved last month with team owner Tom Benson making the Super Bowl-winning quarterback the highest-paid player in the league with a five-year, $100 million deal.
Brees smashed the NFL’s all-time passing mark with 5,476 yards last season while tossing 46 touchdowns and completing an impossible 71 percent of his passes. Though New Orleans lost some important offensive pieces and won’t have Payton calling the plays, Brees isn’t ruling out a repeat.
“Is our expectation level still very high? Yes,” Brees said yesterday. “Every time we touch the ball, we’re thinking about scoring a touchdown.”
That might seem implausible, considering the Saints rolled up almost 7,500 yards while averaging 34 points a game in 2011, but they still have the ridiculously talented Graham, a deep backfield and a fleet of dangerous receivers.
The offensive line is a question mark, and it’s difficult to see how New Orleans is going to rush the passer with a front seven that doesn’t scare anyone. But the Saints’ secondary is a strength, and the entire team appears to have a chip on its shoulder thanks to Goodell.
“People say [Bountygate] is a black cloud hanging over us, but I like to look at it as a silver lining,” veteran safety Roman Harper said. “Everybody’s remained calm, and it’s OK. If it is a cloud, I really can’t tell because it hasn’t been raining so far. We’re going to be just fine.”