Saints fall in final pre-season game; whittle down team

NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Saints ended their pre-season with a narrow 16-13 loss to the Miami Dolphins Thursday night.
New Orleans, who held out 37 players in the pre-season finale, had a chance to pick up a win, but a fourth-and-five Taysom Hill to Travin Dural pass from the Miami 6-yard line late in the fourth quarter was broken up by the Dolphins’ Maurice Smith to seal the win.
Miami took a 6-0 lead into the second quarter on two field goals off of the leg of Jason Sanders.
The Saints pulled ahead 7-6 with 5:34 left in the half when Teddy Bridgewater threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Butler. The pass from Bridgewater to Butler capped off a 10-play 93-yard drive.
One minute and thirty-four seconds later, Reece Horn hauled in a two-yard pass from Jack Rudock to allow the Dolphins to regain the lead at 13-7.
Sanders nailed a 26-yard field goal mid-way through the third quarter to extend the Miami lead to 16-7.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter before New Orleans could put up any more points. With 6:46 left to go in the game, Jaquizz Rodgers found his way into the end zone for a one-yard run. The Saints went for two, but failed on the pass attempt to cut the Dolphin lead down to 16-13.
Now that the pre-season has come and gone, New Orleans head coach Sean Payton and his staff face the task of trimming down their roster to 53 players. According to NFL rules, all teams must have had their rosters down to that number before 3 p.m. yesterday.
As of Friday night, New Orleans had cut 14 players and placed three on injured reserve. That left 20 more moves before the aforementioned deadline.
Those players that were either released or waived included former LSU wide receivers Travin Dural and Cyril Grayson, Jr. Also gone are running back Jaquizz Rodgers, defensive back Kayvon Webster, and tight end AJ Derby.
Meanwhile linebackers Will Compton, Colton Jumper and Josh Martin were placed on the injured reserve list.
Payton spoke about the cuts after the game against Miami.
“First off, it’s the amount in a short period of time. I think the fit and vision is important. Obviously, the ability has to be there. What’s your role for the player? How do you think he can help the team?” said Payton.
Several players also made reference to the cuts during the post game interviews. Among those speaking about his fall camp experience was Butler.
“I’ve grown up so much. This is such a great program with so many veterans who have been around the league for so long. They have given me a lot of guidance. They helped me focus on a lot of different things that I didn’t use to focus on. I feel like I have matured as a player and as a person.”
“It was a huge learning experience as it is for most rookies. I learned a lot. I got to see the speed of the game on a great team. Overall, I enjoyed it,” stated running back Devine Ozigbo.
New Orleans did make one special move to the roster when they signed former offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod to a one-day contract so that he may retire as a Saint. Bushrod played seven of his 12 years with New Orleans. His decision to retire as a Saint was a no brainer.
“I had a lot of real good years here,” Bushrod said. “We won a Super Bowl here. I had the opportunity to come back here, and this place just means a lot to me.”