Jon Gruden out at Saints practice today pic.twitter.com/TY4zVHbGOc
Buy Saints Tickets— NOF (@nofnetwork) August 4, 2023
There’s been plenty of talk about former NFL coach Jon Gruden visiting New Orleans Saints practice, with some wondering if he will take things further with the team at some point. That does not seem to be the case, though, as head coach Dennis Allen made clear when he met with the media Friday.
“He’s gonna be here for the next couple of days, he’s really just observing,” Allen said. “There’s not a role we have for him. He loves football, he loves being around it. He comes out here, he watches practices a little bit, if there’s things we can visit with him about, that he can provide some insight for us, we’ll utilize it.”
There won’t be anything beyond that, Allen says, and having spent time with the team’s current starting quarterback seems to be the most obvious reason he’s being used as a resource by the Saints.
“I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Allen continued. “He’s out here observing, much like we had some other guys out here observing, Brett Maxie was out here today observing practice. He’s got a lot of experience with Derek (Carr), so there’s probably some things we can glean from that.”
This is happening less than two years after the Raiders parted ways with Gruden after emails he sent to former Washington Commanders executive Bruce Allen leaked while he was working for ESPN.
Gruden sued NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league under the notion the emails were weaponized against him. The case is currently pending on appeal of whether or not it will unfold in arbitration or court.
