NFL Media's Oklahoma Drill series presents exclusive, quick-hitting one-on-one interviews with players and coaches from around the league. No nonsense -- just football experiences directly from the source.
Drew Brees
Quarterback, New Orleans Saints
Born: Jan. 15, 1979
Experience: 15 NFL seasons
Interview by Gennaro Filice | Aug. 23, 2016
This has been as competitive an offseason as I've been a part of in a while. I'm excited about our young players and the veteran guys we've brought in, as well.
Definitely, I think there are areas for improvement, and that's part of what preseason is for: to work your way through some of the kinks.
We played against [Jadeveon Clowney] last year, too. He's a big, physical guy who can definitely wreak some havoc.
At the end of the day, our goal is to score points -- so however we can do that. I've been part of teams where we've had a top-five rushing attack, and there are other times when you have to throw the ball to win. I think, in every case, you want to be very efficient at both and have the ability to win football games with both.
We're pretty young at the skill positions right now -- and that's been extremely fun for me, to be able to work with these guys. It's somewhat of a new era for the guys at the skill positions. For the longest time, we had kind of a mainstay of receivers -- it was Marques Colston, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson and Lance Moore. Now it's a whole new cast, and I love these guys. I love their work ethic. I love their competitive drive and I love everything about them.
Brandin Cooks -- here's a guy who I love to come to work with every day. He works extremely hard, is so focused, loves football and wants to be great -- and he's absolutely willing to work for it. Our communication, really throughout the offseason, and the time that we've been able to spend together, work together, and into training camp -- I just see a guy who's very focused on getting better each and every day.
Michael Thomas has made all kinds of plays this offseason. Throughout practice, I've watched him just get better and better. His attention to detail and wanting to do everything right, his competitive nature and ... man, I mean, there are so many things about Mike that I love.
Coby [Fleener] was a free agent, so he's played at a high level in this league for four years. We're getting him from Indianapolis, where he obviously played with a great quarterback in Andrew Luck and a good system. He's been around now -- it's just kind of getting him familiarized with what we do.
Nothing new [with contract negotiations]. Still ongoing. Honestly, I'm not thinking about that at this point. I'm just thinking about the strides I want to make during the preseason. If something is able to get done prior to the season, then great. If not, then it won't be the first time I've played the last year of my contract.
I would love to play five more years. But honestly, I'm just taking it one year at a time, because you gotta prove it every year. Regardless of the length of your contract or whatever else, we're all on one-year deals. We've got to do it each and every year.
I'm 37 years old right now, but I don't feel like there's anything I can't do now that I could do 15 years ago.
Your No. 1 job as a quarterback is to always be available. This is a rough sport, so there are things you've got to do to take care of your body and to put yourself in the best position to play at a high level week in and week out.
I think there was a little bit of [talk about my arm strength] a couple years ago, as I was kind of battling through some injuries, but I haven't heard much of that recently. Arm feels great.
I try to go to bed early, 'cause I get up really early. If I had it my way, I would go to bed around 9 o'clock and get up around 4 or 4:30, so about seven, seven-and-a-half hours sleep. I've slept on a Tempur-Pedic bed for over 10 years now, and I absolutely love it. This year, I actually got the Tempur-Breeze, and it's been a total game changer. I loved it so much that I actually got all my O-linemen new Tempur-Breeze beds. The big guys sleep hot, so anything that'll keep 'em cool and give them a good night's rest -- I gotta make sure I take care of the guys who take care of me.
[The Saints front office folks] know how I feel about Sean [Payton]. I love Sean. I think he is the perfect person for this job. I figured things would get worked out. I always thought they would. I don't think there was any doubt that they wouldn't.
Jameis Winston, especially as the season progressed last year, he was very impressive. ... I did sit down and have a dinner with Jameis last offseason -- we have mutual friends. He asked me a lot of questions -- it seemed like he was very prepared with a lot of questions, just about everything. A lot of questions about preparation, about work habits, transition from college to pro. I was actually very impressed with the questions he asked me.
My favorite spot to eat in New Orleans is Ye Olde College Inn. I'll change up my order, but there's always a fish special that's usually like a black drum, just like a really light white fish that's got some type of sweet potato hash that they put it on top of, some really good sauce. All the good stuff that only New Orleans can do.
You definitely feel a sense of responsibility of wanting to help out those who are going through tough times. Obviously, these floods have been tragic in Baton Rouge. This is an opportunity for all of us -- our team, our owner, our organization always does a lot for the community. Unfortunately, we were in West Virginia when all this was happening, so it's not like we were right here and able to kind of jump out there and lend a helping hand. We're still in training camp right now, but we link up with organizations that are on the ground there and really help the people.
I loved Ted Williams growing up, so that's why I wear No. 9. I was a baseball player growing up -- my brother and I, we always dreamed of playing professional baseball.
Watching Michael Phelps potentially swim for the last time in the Olympics was totally remarkable, what he's been able to accomplish. Unbelievable. A lot of the U.S. swimmers -- just so impressed with Katie Ledecky, especially in that 800 meter freestyle. Unbelievable. Allyson Felix, I'm a big fan of. Kerri Walsh Jennings -- she came into this Olympics trying to win a fourth gold medal in a row in beach volleyball, and they ended up getting the bronze.
Usain Bolt -- oh yeah, you wanna watch him run, yeah. It'd all be good [for him as a field-stretcher in the NFL] until he had to get hit.
