In his final game with the Kansas City Chiefs, safety Tyrann Mathieu was on the losing end of the AFC Championship Game.
Since joining the New Orleans Saints the ensuing offseason, the Honey Badger hasn’t been back to the postseason.
He’s hungry. And so’s the rest of the team, coaches and all.
“Oh, we’re gonna have way more attitude,” Mathieu told NFL Network’s Bridget Condon and Gregg Rosenthal Friday on Inside Training Camp Live. “We’re gonna have way more attitude this season. I think it’s personal, not just for us, I think for our coaches, as well. We want to put a good product out there. We gonna get back to that old nasty, just playing with an attitude.”
The 32-year-old Mathieu, a three-time All-Pro and Pro Bowler, continues to produce. In 2023, he posted four interceptions, nine pass breakups and 75 tackles during 17 starts for a Saints defense that was eighth in points allowed.
Still, New Orleans struggled and finished 9-8. It was an improvement from the 7-10 showing in 2022, but the past two years under head coach Dennis Allen have been underwhelming for the team and its fanbase.
In total, the Saints have gone without a playoff berth for three years in a row after four straight trips and four consecutive NFC South titles.
Something needs to change and Mathieu believes the team's outlook could be the catalyst. Thus, attitude was the word Mathieu used to describe the 2024 squad.
That’s not necessarily new for Mathieu, a Super Bowl champion with the Chiefs who was named to the Hall of Fame’s All-2010s Team. Evidence of that came a few days prior, when Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson tweeted about Mathieu garnering a top-10 Madden ’25 rating, while CJGJ dropped out of the top 10. Mathieu responded in kind. Consequently, Mathieu also replaced Gardner-Johnson on the on the Saints in 2022.
“When guys like that chirp, it doesn’t really bother me,” Mathieu said Friday. “But every now and then I gotta take that low road and kinda remind them who I am.”
There really should be no reason for Mathieu to remind anyone who he is. He remains one of the better safeties in the game. He’s hoping with some added fire, the Saints can return to being one of the better teams in the league, and certainly their division.
“I’m highly motivated,” he said, “it doesn’t really take a bunch for me to get going.”