Konsolen Treiber » Even as Ted Ginn Jr. enters his 13th NFL season

METAIRIE Ugo Amadi Jersey , La. (AP) — the 34-year-old Saints receiver still considers his foot speed his most distinguishing asset.New Orleans hopes the former Ohio State football and track star can live up to the hype he himself has promulgated this offseason — namely by publicly inviting anyone to race him for $10,000 and by entering the “40 Yards of Gold” competition that purportedly will determine the NFL’s fastest player.“When you think about speed, and you come to the New Orleans Saints, you think about one guy,” Ginn said. “We’ve all got our labels of who we are. We’ve all just got to go out and man up to it.”Whether Ginn’s outward confidence is genuine or a means of self-motivation is difficult to discern.He is less than a year removed from arthroscopic knee surgery that wiped out most of his 2018 season. He said the experience caused him at one point to view retirement as a “50-50” proposition.“Going through the different things I went through and seeing the different doctors made me a little scared,” Ginn said.The Saints designated Ginn to return from injured reserve late last season and the move quickly paid dividends when he caught a late, 25-yard pass that helped the Saints defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16. He added six receptions for 102 yards in two playoff games, including a 43-yarder in the NFC title game.Ginn said he has not been formally timed in a 40-yard dash in “a long time” but suggests that he can still sprint that distance in 4.38 seconds or faster.He said his training and diet regimens have evolved as he has gotten older. He is less focused on weight training now and spent part of this offseason on what he calls the “Alvin Kamara plan,” working in Miami with the Saints’ third-year star running back on drills designed to optimize agility, balance and explosiveness. He has given up eating meat, opting for more of a fish-focused, “pescatarian” diet.“I’m just taking different precautions to try and stick in this league,” Ginn said. “When you get to an older age, I pay attention to the young guys around me and their different little things. Weights are great, but they’re kind of going out of style right now. When I was young Dwayne Haskins Jersey , I’d do weights a lot.“Certain stuff works for certain people; that’s what I’ve figured out in this league,” Ginn continued. “You just try to go out and figure out what’s good for your body. Once you do that, you try to maintain that.”Ginn played in only five regular season games last season, catching 17 passed for 209 yards and two touchdowns.His first season with the Saints — in 2017 — was among the best of his career: 53 catches, 787 yards and four TDs in 15 regular season games, followed by 12 catches for 187 yards and one TD in two playoff games.The Saints will be hoping Ginn rediscovers his 2017 form this season. While New Orleans added receiving tight end Jared Cook in free agency, the club stood pat with its receiver corps headlined by Michael Thomas and Ginn.“They believe in us,” Ginn said. “They believe in what they have.”Ginn’s enduring speed was evident in a 20-yard end around for a touchdown during 11-on-11 drills this week in one of the Saints’ last voluntary, unpadded practices of the offseason.The pads go back on during minicamp next week. The tournament-style, 40-yard competition featuring Ginn among two dozen NFL players is scheduled June 29. Competitors include Kamara, although Ginn suspects he’d outrun his teammate as easily as Kamara outperforms him during balance beam drills.“That’s what he’s good at,” Ginn said with a laugh. “Let’s let people stick to what they’re good at.”Ginn said he has not scheduled any one-on-one races for $10,000. He said his mention of doing so was more of a light-hearted, off-the-cuff public relations ploy to bring attention to his Pop Warner football program in his native Cleveland called Ginn Elite.“It came to be a huge deal, and now the whole world is all over it,” Ginn said. “But everything you try to do in life D.K. Metcalf Jersey , you try to win. You try to do your best at all times. Just go out and do your deal, and whatever happens, happens.” LOS ANGELES RAMS (14-3) at NEW ORLEANS (14-3)Sunday, 3:05 p.m. ET, FoxOPENING LINE — Saints by 3½Article continues below ...RECORD VS. SPREAD — Los Angeles 8-7-2, New Orleans 10-7SERIES RECORD — Rams lead 41-34LAST MEETING — Saints beat Rams 45-35, Nov. 4, 2018LAST WEEK — Rams beat Cowboys 30-22; Saints beat Eagles 20-14RAMS OFFENSE — OVERALL (2), RUSH (3), PASS (5)RAMS DEFENSE — OVERALL (19), RUSH (23), PASS (14)SAINTS OFFENSE — OVERALL (8), RUSH (6), PASS (12)SAINTS DEFENSE — OVERALL (14), RUSH (2), PASS (29)STREAKS http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-cody-barton-jersey , STATS AND NOTES — Saints have won two of past three overall and only previous playoff meeting in Superdome in wild-card round of 2000 season. … Both teams have won their divisions two straight times. … Rams’ 421.1 yards and 32.9 points per game led NFC. … Rams had four players voted to Pro Bowl: QB Jared Goff, LB Cory Littleton, and two AP All-Pros, DT Aaron Donald, RB Todd Gurley. Donald was only unanimous All-Pro. … Goff’s 4,688 yards passing in regular season ranked fourth in NFL. He completed 28 of 40for 391 yards, three TDs and INT in Week 9 loss at New Orleans. Goff completed 15 of 28 for 186 yards in playoff win over Cowboys. … Gurley led NFL with 21 scrimmage TDs. ranked fourth with 1,831 scrimmage yards in regular season. He rushed for 115 yards, TD last week, and has 100-plus yards rushing in each of previous two playoff games. … RB C.J. Anderson rushed for 123 yards, two TDs last week. He has four TDs rushing in past four playoff games. … Rams WR Brandin Cooks was Saints’ 2014 first-round draft choice. Cooks played first three NFL seasons with Saints, catching 215 passes for 2,861 yards and 20 TDs. He advanced to Super Bowl with Patriots last season. Cooks had 80 catches for 1,204 yards with Rams in 2018, his fourth season with at least 1,000 yards receiving. … He had six catches for 114 yards Gary Jennings Jr. Jersey , TD in Week 9 meeting. … WR Robert Woods led Rams with career highs of 86 receptions for 1,219 yards. He had six catches for 69 yards last week. … Donald led NFL with 20 ½ sacks and became 11th player since 1982 with 20-plus sacks in single season. Donald ranked first in NFL with 25 tackles for loss. … Littleton led Rams with career-high 125 tackles. … CB Aqib Talib had seven tackles, forced fumble last week. He did not play in previous meeting. … Saints have won last seven home playoff games, starting with win over Rams under previous coach Jim Haslett. They are 6-0 in home playoff games since coach Sean Payton and QB Drew Brees joined Saints in 2006. … Payton has 8-5 playoff record, including 2010 Super Bowl win. … Saints had five players voted to 2019 Pro Bowl: T Terron Armstead, Brees, DE Cam Jordan, WR Michael Thomas, an All-Pro, and C Max Unger. … Saints’ 31.5 points per game ranked third in NFL, one of three teams to average 30-plus points. … Brees had NFL single-season record 74.4 completion percentage (364 of 489) and led league with 115.7 rating in 2018. Brees, who turned 40 on Tuesday, completed 28 of 38 (73.7 percent) for 301 yards, two TDs, INT in divisional playoff win over Eagles. He’s averaged 322.1 yards passing in 14 career postseason games with 31 TDs, 10 INTs. …RB Alvin Kamara ranked second in NFL with 18 scrimmage TDs (14 rushing http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-phil-haynes-jersey , 4 receiving) and ranked seventh with 1,592 scrimmage yards in 2018. He had 106 scrimmage yards (71 rushing, 35 receiving) last week. … Thomas led NFL with 125 catches and had franchise single-season record 1,405 yards receiving, surpassing Joe Horn’s 1,399 yards in 2004. Thomas had 12 receptions for 171 yards, TD last week, and had 12 catches for 211 yards, 72-yard TD in last meeting with Rams. … Saints’ defense ranked second against run, allowing 80.2 yards per game in 2018, but lost top DT Sheldon Rankins to Achilles tendon injury last week. Rankins also was second on team with eight sacks. … Jordan had 12 sacks in 2018, his fourth season with 10-plus sacks since Saints drafted him in 2011. He has 3½sacks, three batted passes in his past five postseason games. … LB Demario Davis led Saints with 110 tackles in first season with club, his second consecutive season with 100-plus tackles. Davis led Saints with eight tackles last week. … CB Marshon Lattimore had two INTs last week, his firstcareer playoff INTs.