Jameis Winston enjoys working closely with Sean Payton with sidelined assistants

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A COVID-19 outbreak among the New Orleans Saints has led six assistant coaches to be removed this week from their collection of positive cases.

The circumstance caused head coach Sean Payton to take more time this week as the Saints prepare to face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

For quarterback Jameis Winston, the need for Payton to be more active this week presented a unique opportunity and a ray of hope for him and the team.

“We had the opportunity to experience one of the best attacking spirit head coaches of all time in the game, as a reunion of the staff who run the team,” said Winston, via Schuyler Dixon from Associated press. “I’ve never been in this room watching tapes with Sean, going through situations with Sean and expressing how he would like something to be done.

“I care about the health of our coaches and I want them to recover. But if they just want to let him run the meetings, I would really like that.

Without naming specific coaches, Payton said a running back coach, wide catcher, offensive line coach and two tight end coaches were among the six absent. With so many offensive coaches absent and having to contribute from a distance until they cleared protocol, Payton had to run most of the offensive show this week.

Just as the Saints had to move to Dallas and play their home opener in Jacksonville due to Hurricane Ida, the Saints had to adapt and Winston praised Payton for the way he led the team. in such circumstances.

“I think that was in line with how we’ve adjusted here in Dallas,” Winston said. “One thing I admire about our head coach is that he doesn’t blink. He really embraces these situations. He tells us how we should embrace him. We team up with him and we ride with him.