New Orleans Saints Head Coach Kellen Moore Expresses Hope and Confidence Ahead of Week 1, Saints Sign Quarterback Tyler Shough to Practice Squad, and Lions Face a Tough Test in Week 1 Against the Saints

The New Orleans Saints are coming off a 6-11 season and are looking to break their playoff drought. Head coach Kellen Moore expressed hope and confidence ahead of Week 1, and the team has signed quarterback Tyler Shough to their practice squad. The Saints will face a tough test in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions, who have a lot of talent and are well-coached. The Lions have created a challenging environment for opposing teams at Ford Field, and the Saints will be excited to play there. Aug 22, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore] reacts against the Los Angeles Rams in the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectThe Saints are coming off of a 6-11 season that saw them miss the playoffs for the fifth season in a row, the longest playoff drought in franchise history since the Saints did so from to 2001 to 2005. However, there is plenty of hope around the Crescent City as the Saints won four of its final four games thanks toAug 28, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore looks on during the game between the Cowboys and the Saints at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Good morning, guys. Start by expressing our sadness at the passing of Mike Detillier. He was such a nice and kind person, very welcoming to me and our family as we came into New Orleans. Certainly, my short time getting to know him, his passion for football in this entire state at all levels was pretty awesome. And he'll certainly, definitely be missed as we go through all this. As far as the football aspect of this thing, our guys are back in the building today. We're going through a lift as we speak, medical, all that good stuff. They'll have like a phase-two-type practice this afternoon where we just kind of get our guys back rolling. Puts us in position to have a really good week. So they'll have some football out on the field this afternoon, some meetings, and then our guys will vote on captains today. So we'll announce that shortly here once we go through that process. They'll have a fun captains' dinner tonight, always a fun tradition. So it should be good.just signed back to our practice squad. We had Jonah last year, so fired up to get him back. And then we'll be ready to go for a normal week. You've had an entire offseason now with Tyler Shough. What have you seen on and off the field that gives you confidence that he is now one of the leaders of this team going into Week 1? Aug 28, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough warms up before the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect I think just his consistency through the entire offseason. Obviously, he does a great job. Like so many of our guys, our guys are really well connected. But I think his work that he's put into this thing has been awesome. These seasons are going to be a lot of fun. There's going to be some ups and downs, but I think he's wired the right way to be able to handle that week in and week out, play after play, game after game. That's what you need. Q: Was it important for Tyler to be as visible as he was this offseason in terms of a leader? I know guys lead different ways. Aug 20, 2026; Woodland Hills, CA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough throws the ball against Los Angeles Rams linebacker Josaiah Stewart during a joint practice at Rams Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Yeah, I don't know. I think that's a good question for Tyler. I think he's done a great job this offseason of applying himself with this football team, with the work that he needs to put into this thing. Obviously, being naturally a fairly visible person in our community, I think he's done an awesome job of that. And so we got a lot of guys like that. I think our guys are really connected with this community, which is really, really cool. And you see it throughout the offseason, just the different things guys are at, whether Mardi Gras, jazz, basketball games, all the different activities. Our guys are just really well connected here. Aug 29, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell greets wide receiver Malik Cunningham after a play against the Indianapolis Colts during the second half at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Lions, good football team. I think they got a ton of talent. They've obviously played some really high-level football for a number of years now, really well coached. That's going to be a fun environment. That place, what they've done in Detroit, they've created a really, really challenging environment for everyone to come into that place at Ford Field to play. And it'll be a lot of fun for our guys. Our guys will be excited about it. Q: Is Amon-Ra St. Brown as good of a test for Jonas and getting used to a new position as you could have in Week 1? Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown practices during training camp at Meijer Performance Center in Allen Park on Monday, August 10, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect Well, I'd say he's one of the premier receivers in our league. He obviously plays a lot of times in slot. He can play all over the field. His versatility, his route detail, his ability to catch the football in contested situations, his run blocking is as good as anyone in this league. I think a lot of receivers in our league can learn from him. A lot of players can learn from him. And so it'll be a fun test. Q: When they have injuries like they do, like at safety, is that kind of like you go in, test, and then adjust as you get information? How do you approach that when it's kind of a little bit of a blind spot? Aug 28, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore reacts during the first half against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect I would just say Week 1, there's going to be an element of unknown for every team. It's about playing really good football, really sound, clean, fundamental football. We've had a whole offseason, they've had a whole offseason. They're going to look a little different. We're going to look a little different. There's some personnel things that they've known for a while that we're going to have these guys or we're not going to have these guys. Again, these guys have had a lot of success as a football team. And so they know the type of formula that it needs to be successful in this league. And so it's going to be a really fun game. A New Orleans native, Grant covers the New Orleans Saints for On SI. He returned to the Big Easy after serving as the lead beat reporter for North Carolina Tar Heels On SI. After graduating from LSU in 2023, he covered the local prep sports scene for Crescent City Sports and wrote columns on the Saints on the site as well. He began his sports reporting career with WGNO in 2022, serving as a stringer for its award-winning high school football show, Friday Night Lights, while attending LSU. When he is not writing about the Black and Gold, he also contributes LSU coverage to TigerBait and FanSided's Death Valley Voice.