Saints quarterback Taysom Hill had a pretty good idea on Monday night that he’d get his biggest test in the NFL on Sunday.
After registering his first career win in his first career start, I asked Hill what grade he’d give himself.
“I don’t know,” Hill said initially. “I haven’t seen the film yet. At first glance, honestly, I was happy with the game. Disappointed of the fumble and I feel like that was my biggest indicator going into the game was make sure we take care of the ball. Overall, we did that and again I was disappointed of the fumble I had. So maybe a B, B-plus with that.”
I then asked Hill who gave him the best advice he received this week.
“I spent so much time with Drew [Brees] preparing for the game,” Hill said. “And he was so great. I would say maybe the best advice I received was being patient, letting the game come to you, not feeling that I need to press in any way and make the plays when they come your way.”
At times in the first half, it looked like he may have been pressing. Hill said it didn’t feel that way.
“Obviously there were some drives that we didn’t take advantage of that we were disappointed in,” Hill said. “I felt like overall we kind of did that to ourselves and so I wasn’t all really worried about it. I felt like we were gonna get things situated and fixed and we could put some great drivers together later.”
And they did. Hill said he physically feels great after playing a full game for the first time in a long time, a game in which he ran the ball 10 times for 51 yards and two touchdowns and threw 23 passes.
“I didn’t take a ton of big hits,” Hill said. “Feel like we were able to get the ball out and avoid anything crazy. I feel good.”
Assuming he’ll get the start next weekend at Denver, where and how does he need to improve (beyond ball security)?
“I think a couple of throws I was a little disappointed in,” Hill said. “Ones that just kind of slipped out of my hands. . . . I think those things are easy to clean up. . . . I think that drives that went really well we were in and out of the huddle, and I think that’s one of the things that makes us so difficult to defend. . . Our tempo when we’re at our best is really good. I would just say making sure that I run and manage everything inside our offense at a really efficient level so we can play with speed and great tempo.”
Hall was solid on Sunday, and it helped that the defense was suffocating. It bodes well for the Saints for as long as Brees is out -- and into 2021, if Brees retires.