Fumbling the kickoff to open the second half and set up a go-ahead touchdown for the Minnesota Vikings offense didn't mean much to New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore. The player responsible for that blunder, defensive back Jayden Price, was waived just days later but Moore clarified that it wasn't related to his performance -- this was just a roster management decision, and hopefully no other team wants Price badly enough to keep the Saints from keeping him in New Orleans. At least that's the line Moore is taking publicly.
Cornerback Decamerion Richardson re-signed with the Saints on Oct. 13, just three days after being waived ahead of that Vikings game. He played on special teams in two games for New Orleans before that, having been
claimed off of waivers from the Las Vegas Raiders at the end of the preseason. At first, the move to bring him back and waive Price looked like a moment of taking accountability for a game-changing mistake. Moore assured everyone that isn't the case.
"No. No, again, that was, you know, you're managing a roster," Moore began during his Wednesday press conference. "We had to lose Decam kind of for the weekend, just to get our roster where it was for the game, and got Decam back, obviously had to make a decision there and, uh, release J.P. Obviously J.P.'s still a part of this. Um, you know, again when you talk about practice squad versus 53 (man roster), there's activations. Uh, he's still got to be ready to play, if we have that opportunity once he kind of goes through the waiver process, and hopefully we get him back."
It's possible Moore is lying through his teeth and trying to save face; Price is just a third-year pro who has had to compete on NFL practice squads, CFL teams, and the spring-league UFL, he knows he made a mistake, and his coach doesn't want to punch him when he's down. As a former undrafted free agent himself, Moore has been there. You could disagree with that decision but you could understand it, if that's his logic.
At the same time, guys on the edge of a depth chart like Price can't afford to make these mistakes. And Moore is sitting on a hot seat after Saints owner Gayle Benson used a high school coaches' luncheon to outline just how unacceptable her team's performance has been this season. If Moore was going to use this roster move as an example for an undisciplined team, he'd be understood for it. That Price returned to the Vikings game after that fumble said a lot (and none of it good).
The Saints are tied with the Indianapolis Colts for the worst turnover differential in the NFL (-6), and New Orleans has three more takeaways than Indy. Moore's offense is tied for ninth-worst in pre-snap penalties on offense (13 in five games), and twelfth in fouls on special teams (six, with half of them happening before the snap. Only three teams have more pre-snap penalties in the kicking game). He doesn't need to be a fire-and-brimstone disciplinarian, but he does need his team to know that turnovers and penalties aren't acceptable. Right now neither of those thing are happening, and the Saints have a 1-4 record to show for it.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Kellen Moore made a mistake choosing not to practice accountability
