New Orleans Saints Offensive Tackle Zach Strief - Post-practice Media Q&A - Tuesday, August 14, 2012

How do you guys feel through two weeks of Training Camp?

“I think we have work to do. We are still kind of in the middle of the preseason. We have work to do. I think that there is some continuity and there are some understandings. We are trying to fine tune things but at the same time that is the difference between being a good offense and being a great offense and that is our goal.”

Are you happy with where you are as a player?

“There is constant growth. I don’t think that I will ever be a guy that everyone says is done improving. There is always stuff to be worked on. Training Camp is a time to get your feet back under you and remember all of the things you did the year before. There is a lot of nuances on the offensive line and I feel that I still have a lot of work to do. There is time for that and I am willing to do that.”

Who do you lean on as a teammate?

“I think we are fortunate in the O-line room to have a relationship with our coach, with coach Kromer. We can work through things, we can figure out techniques together. He is not a guy that says this is the only way to do it and that is how you are doing it. I think Jahri (Evans) too. We kind of lean on each other and figure things out. We are the ones who have to do it. I think I am trying to be more like (what) Stinch (Jon Stinchcomb) was for me at this point. I am trying to help Marcel (Jones) and help Charles (Brown). It is kind of weird, but (I) essentially train my replacements.”

Who has impressed you pass-rushing other than Will Smith?

“I think there are a couple of guys you look at. I think Cam Jordan has made a lot of strides this year in the pass-rush game. I say Cam not because I block him, Cam has been playing end and (defensive) tackle in one-on-one pass rush and has been very successful at both of them which is easy to do. It is a completely different type of rush. He has made huge strides and I think he is going to have a good year. I think you look at someone like Martez (Wilson), a young guy that is still kind of feeling his way through it but has all of the physical tools to be a nightmare, especially in one-on-one pass rush. He is kind of the guy that you don’t necessarily want to play against in that drill and that is good because he is on our team.”

How difficult is it going against a Steve Spagnuolo defense?

“We are fortunate here I think. I think if we had had any other defensive coordinator before him it might have been harder. Last year, we got every defense known to man in training camp. I will tell you this, his pressure packages create tons of problems. There is a lot of unique stuff and a lot of things that change our techniques a lot. Some of those, you have to lose to him to figure it out. Again, we are glad that he is here and we are glad that we don’t have to play him because he has been tough for us in the past.”

Is there an upgrade in the pressure brought by the defensive line?

“I think coach (Bill) Johnson and coach Travis (Jones) have done a good job with those guys. I think the d-line is playing with a lot more technique. I know Gregg (Williams) was a lot more of just get off the ball, get up-field kind of guy and that is a little bit easier to pass-block on because we usually know where they are going. These guys have been a lot better in terms of their rush patterns, playing under and over the quarterback, kind of dictating more into our protections rather than letting us dictate their rushes and that is difficult as an offensive lineman to deal with.”

On gameday, is Aaron Kromer showing you pictures every time you sit down?

“Yeah, he is. Kromer comes to bench and talks to us obviously. There has been talk of him maybe being the interim coach and do you lose that? We are fortunate, I think, we have an offensive line that before Kromer ever gets to us, we’ve got the two or three things that we weren’t sure about, we can look at the pictures, and we don’t need him there for five minutes we need him there for thirty seconds to say ‘hey, we are getting this, they are playing this a little differently, we are going to switch to a B-block instead of combo-ing. We are lucky to have continuity here to be able to do that. He is with us on every…”

… but you could get along without him if he had more extensive duties put on him?

“I don’t want to say we would get along without him, I am just saying we don’t need him there for eight minutes. He could stop by and answer a question, we can run up to him and say ‘here is what we are thinking’ and we can work through those things, fortunately. Also, having Frank (Smith), who I assume will move down, who has been in our offensive line room for three years now and is a tremendous coaching talent. I know that is a guy that CJ (Curtis Johnson) tried to bring with him to Tulane and we ended up keeping him. We talked him into staying. We have a lot of talent behind Kromer too, and it will be next man up with the staff just like it is for the players.”