Remember that song performed by Tony Bennett, "I Left my Heart in San Francisco?"
Yeah, you could say that applies to the Saints. They still haven't gotten over the divisional playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers to end their 2011 season.
"There's no doubt. I don't know that we've got that taste out of our mouths yet from that San Francisco loss. That was heartbreaking. It's carried over a little bit to the offseason. We've talked about it a lot," Interim Head Coach Joe Vitt said.
The Saints were undone by five turnovers... falling to the Niners 36-32 after a near brilliant come back win.
The Saints are getting ready to take the field again next week for organized team activities (OTA), and Vitt says the offseason conditioning program has been outstanding. "The weight work has been good. Our players' weights are good. Our film sessions have been outstanding. To this point right now in this offseason, it really couldn't have been better. Our guys are working hard. Our leadership has really done a good job within the locker room. I think with the new acquisitions of our players, they are everything that we thought they would be up to this point. They've meshed very well with the existing players that we have on our team. It's been a great offseason, it really has."
For the most part, the Saints should be healthy when they hit the field next Wednesday.
"There are going to be a couple of guys we'll back off of. Obviously (Jonathan) Vilma, we're going to back off on. Jahri Evans, we've got to back off on a little bit. That's been an ongoing process with the rehab this offseason. There are no surprises," Vitt explained.
Evans did not have offseason surgery, but Vitt said that he's a little sore right now. The players that I have spoken with during this crazy wild offseason insist they'll use the bounty saga and the way last season ended as motivation for 2012. We're about to find out just how motivating those things will be.
