OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR GRANT UDINSKI
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
AUGUST 18, 2026
(On who could receive more third-down opportunities in RB LeQuint Allen Jr.’s absence)
“Really all the backs. I think those backs have progressed really well especially these past
couple weeks in the protection game and even the pass game. I think you look at that room,
they’ve kind of been by committee in the run game. It’s the same thing in the pass game
whether it’s third down or it’s two minutes, second and long. I think all of them have ability
and value to add.”
(On the opportunity for RB J’Mari Taylor) “I would think it gives all the backs, like I said… It’s
great to see J’Mari’s progression in the run game. I think you really saw it highlighted in the
game. But even out here at practice, you see him picking up the protection system. He’s a
sharp guy who works hard and studies at it, as does C-Rod [RB Chris Rodriguez Jr.] and
Tuten [RB Bhayshul Tuten] and Ameer [RB Ameer Abdullah]. They all really have embraced
all the roles of playing running back, which is a unique aspect of that room because we
know that the protection aspect is a little less glorious than going out there and running for
a touchdown. So, it’s exciting to have that group of guys who are hard-nosed and willing to
go in there and block a linebacker or a defensive end if they have to in the pass-pro game.”
(On QB Carter Bradley) “It was great to see Carter get out there and get some live action,
especially because you can try to simulate as much as you want in training camp, but until
you’re really going to get hit by a defensive end or a defensive tackle or a linebacker, it’s not
the real thing. It’s not truly full speed until you get there in that preseason game. So, it was
great to see him go out there with the guys, have some moments where we struggled as an
offense collectively in the first half, but he responded, came out well and played in the
second half.”
(On if the status of the offensive line impacts him as a play caller) “Yeah, certainly
something you want to keep in mind. Ideally, we would not have to throw a rookie out there
at right tackle on the second play of a preseason game. So that certainly impacts your plan,
for sure. But I love the way those guys embrace it. Even at practice, you see the guys moving
around to different spots. Everybody’s playing inside, they’re playing outside, they’re
playing left, they’re playing right. So, I’ve probably said this a hundred times, and I’m
fortunate that we have guys that can play those different spots, but you certainly keep it in
mind to try to give guys maybe a little bit less challenging downs than had they gone out
there and you’re just running the plays blindly.”
(On OL Emmanuel Pregnon’s progression) “That’s a great question. I think that you see the
physicality, you see the strength, you see the athleticism, you see the speed. And he’s able
to showcase that stuff now because he has a better understanding of the system, a better
understanding of his rules. When there are shifts and adjustments and movement by the
defense when we’re making communication and calls out there, the processing of that is
just that much quicker. And it’s a credit to his study and effort. It’s all the extra work that he
does with Coach Mendelson [Assistant Offensive Line Coach Trevor Mendelson] after
practice or at the end of the day, Coach Picucci [Run Game Coordinator Brian Picucci],
Coach Sarrett [Offensive Line Coach Shaun Sarrett] do a great job preparing him, and he
puts in a lot of extra work on his own time. I see him in here at the facility. I’ll take a stroll
downstairs and it’s 10 o’clock at night and I’m expecting it’s only the cleaning crews around,
but it’s Emmanuel rolling around through the locker room, just finishing up his recovery
work. So, I probably don’t have enough good things to say about a guy like that.”
(On what he is looking for in joint practice with the Panthers) “It’s really a similar evaluation
process for whether it’s the Panthers, whether it’s the Bucs or the Saints, or just us working
good on good, because we are still so focused on finding out who we are as an offense. So,
it’s a great opportunity to go against another opponent and try to see a different defense, try
to see how different matchups play out, but it’s really still about the evaluation of what our
guys do well, what do we need to improve on? How do we want to execute our system?
What things do we want to change within the system or evolve and grow? So, we’re still in
that time of year where we’re focused on our offense more so than game planning another
defense.”
(On how RB Chris Rodriguez Jr.’s increased usage in practice impacts the practice plan)
“Well, I don’t know that it’s necessarily changed the plan a whole lot because we’ve had
plans for C-Rod since the moment he’s gotten here, but I think it’s just allowed us to
practice some of those things that we know we want to highlight him in a little bit more that
maybe we had held back on earlier because you are focused on your personnel. You’re
running certain plays or pass concepts to certain guys and if Tuten or another back gets 10
of one run scheme, well, we might take a break on it for a while until C-Rod gets back and
he gets 10 reps of that run scheme. So, you try to balance out the load between the running
backs. Same thing with the wide receivers. So, everybody gets practice at certain things.
You do the same thing with the O-line. Left side gets a couple reps at a certain scheme or a
certain look, then the right side does. So, it kind of just changed our timing a little bit, but I
don’t know that necessarily changed the plan, if that makes sense.”
(On the team’s response in New Orleans) “Yeah. I think first of all, you got to have a shout-
out to the defense because they played their hearts out. I mean, they were playing so hard,
and that’s infectious for the offense. To see them, the defense, the special teams, the way
those guys played impacts not just our field position where we’re getting great field position
in the first half or the second half, but it gives the offense life and hope and allows us to put
together sustained drives and lets the guys cut it loose knowing we got faith that the
defense is going to go back, go out there and get us the ball back. But it’s a lot of fun
anytime you get to see the guys have success out there because you see all the hard work
they put in out here in the heat or in there in the meeting rooms. And they don’t always get a
lot of reps, especially the guys who are with the threes and with the twos. So, it’s exciting to
see them go out there and play, but then to see them actually have success and respond
like that is really encouraging. That’s kind of one of those things that coaching is all about.
You get to see those guys continue to grow and develop and then see the fruits of their
labor come to life.”
(On Head Coach Liam Coen saying starters could be potentially playing on Friday) “We’ll
see how things shake out. I’ll let Liam make those decisions, whether it’s who’s calling
plays or who’s playing in the game. That’s up to him. So, I’m excited for the game either way.
I know I’ll be there and we’ll figure it out whatever Liam says.”
(On his favorite play call from Saturday) “I don’t know that I had a favorite play call. That’s a
great question. I could tell you which ones aren’t my favorite. That’s probably an easier
question for sure. Honestly, one of the things, it wasn’t a great play call, but the guys kind of
figured out one of the red zone runs that J’Mari kind of plunged in there at the end, and the
play was a little jacked up. I mean, we weren’t exactly lined up the right way and didn’t
exactly have the motion the right way, but those guys got up there and figured it out. And we
might have had somebody unblocked right at the point of attack, but the way J’Mari ran the
ball and the way the offensive line came off the ball, those are the most exciting plays for
me. So, I wish I had some genius play call that was unbelievably schemed up, but it was a
little bit more about their play style and determination and grit than a genius play call.”
(On if anything didn’t go according to plan with play calling and how he reacted) “I think
what was highlighted about the injury situation is something that you can’t perfectly
prepare for. You try to do a lot of conditionals on, if this receiver goes down, then this is our
next receiver group. And if this tight end goes down, this is our next tight end group. And
how are we going to change our plays and change our formations based on the receivers
and tight ends and the skill guys we have out there? Because you only have so many reps to
practice. For example, if you’re throwing a go ball to a certain receiver, you can’t get Joey
[QB Joey Aguilar] a go-ball rep with every single receiver on the roster. So, you need to tailor
those plays to the guys he’s gotten reps with and has chemistry with. So, you build a bunch
of different plans for if certain guys are injured, we’re going to move guys around in those
spots. Well, it’s a little bit harder on the O-line because you don’t know which group is this
going to be now in preseason, the first quarter, the second quarter, third quarter, the fourth
quarter, where we may say this guy was going to go in a backup tackle, but now it’s the
fourth quarter and he’s not going to go in, he’s not going to play the full game. So, you would
end up, I think, if you did all the combinations, you would have 500 combinations of call
sheets and I’d run out there with 15 papers. So, that’s a little bit difficult to plan for, but
thankfully, like I talk about our guys, their flexibility at the offensive line, their flexibility in
knowing different positions, even in the skill room, made it a little bit easier on me.”
(On if he loses track of who is playing offensive line with the injuries) “No, thankfully I didn’t
go that crazy. Now our assistant coaches, Coach Bennett [Wide Receivers Coach Edgar
Bennett], Coach Morton [Running Backs Coach Chad Morton], those guys do a great job of
communicating who’s in the game, who’s not in the game. There were certain times, if you
watch closely where they’re probably holding guys on the sideline, getting ready to sub guys
in and I’m yelling at them over the headset to make sure this guy’s at a certain spot because
we want to run a certain route. Like, for example, the double move that we hit Trebor [WR
Trebor Peña] on down on their sideline later in the game, the one that Joey threw to him, he
ran a little out and up route and almost scored, and kind of the ball fell loose. Well, right
before that play, another receiver’s about to go in, and he starts running on the field, and
I’m screaming on the headset, ‘Get him back out,’ because I know Trebor’s the guy who’s
got to run this route. So those guys did a great job getting that thing executed. When you ask
about the operation, I would say all 11 guys on the field, but it takes all 11 plus everyone on
the sideline and all the coaches to get that thing rolling.”
RUNNING BACK BHAYSHUL TUTEN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
AUGUST 18, 2026
(On year two of training camp) “Yeah, like you said, year two of camp. It’s always fun, you’re
back playing football, back grinding with the gang but year two is easier. You know the
playbook so you can come out here and harp on the details more than your actual
assignment, so I think this year is going pretty well for us.”
(On Saints RB Travis Etienne Jr.’s departure) “Yeah, it’s a little different. More of a workload
on us. We’re getting a lot of reps now that he was taking last year, but I think we’re all ready
and available to step up and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
(On offensive line shuffling) “I don’t think it’s a difference. We’re all capable and the next
guy up, we know that they’re going to go in and do their job the same and give it their best
and that’s what we grind for. It’s always the next man up mentality. So, no matter who’s
down or who’s up, I still have faith and trust that we’ll still execute as best as we can.”
(On what he enjoys about joint practices) “I think you go against a different defense.
Different players. During camp, when you go against yourself a lot, spring ball, go against
yourself a lot, you learn your teammates tendencies and stuff like that. But studying and
working off of someone else that you’re not really familiar with gives you a true week-to-
week NFL season look and I think that’s the best thing that I take from it.”
(On the live reps that joint practices provide) “Yeah, I think it definitely is important,
because you could try to simulate whatever you want or you could think of in a practice, but
I think, like you said, live bullets flying, we have to react fast. It’s not a walkthrough
anymore. You have to go and I think that’s the best thing that we need coming into
Sundays.”
(On the offense’s scheme) “They draw it up pretty simple, but it’s very complex at the same
time. For a running back, it’s pretty simple. We only got X amount of routes, X amount of
runs but I think the biggest thing is just harping on the details of it. We have to be on point
with everything, and that’s the way they coach us, and we harp on it during practice. So, the
running back role for us is pretty minimized, but at the same time, it’s big expectations.”
(On what he hopes to prove this season) “Really just who I am. I’ve always been, a player
growing up since young, college, now to the pros. Just keep building on who I am, my brand
and the way I play. It’s the biggest thing for me.”
(On RB Chris Rodriguez Jr.) “It’s been amazing. He came in, we welcomed him with open
arms, and he’s hitting the ground running, learning as much as he can and he’s a great
character overall. Coach Liam [Head Coach Liam Coen] does a good job of bringing the
right guys in and I think we definitely did with him.”
