Cameron Jordan used to be the young guy in the room. Looking up to proven pros like Will Smith and Jonathan Vilma, and just hoping to make a name for himself, proving why the New Orleans Saints drafted him. But it’s been a long time since then. He’s going into Year 14 with the black and gold, and these days he’s being asked to step into the role of a mentor. There isn’t much that he hasn’t seen or done through 209 games with the Saints, and his younger teammates know it.
Jordan was busy between drills at Wednesday’s first training camp practice of the summer, offering words and examples to those around him. Not just the young draft picks lined up behind him at defensive end, but the offensive linemen opposing him like Trevor Penning.
“This is Year 3 for him. It’s time to figure it out,” Jordan said of Penning after practice. He was seen taking time between reps to give the right tackle pointers, and he said that opportunity to help Penning is important to him. “I don’t know what anybody else is seeing on the outside in, but right now in between those lines, it’s whatever I can do to help us win a Super Bowl. So if I can talk to him, ‘Hey, calm down,’ ‘Don’t worry about it,’ ‘Throw hands, anchor,’ whatever it is, let’s get him right now. Because I don’t want to get to the season and be like, ‘We should’ve (done this),’ because I don’t have time for should’ve, I have right now.”
Still, it’s not like Jordan is neglecting his fellow defensive linemen. He’s excited to see what they can do after putting in the work to prepare for what may be a pivotal training camp for some of them.
“Payton Turner is probably in the best shape of his life right now. He’s in Year 4, he’s got more than a chip (on his shoulder), he’s got everything to prove this year,” Jordan said while rattling off the list of teammates competing around him. He continued, “I just think as we grow right now, it’s the time to grow right now. It’s the time to figure out what we’re good at it, what we want to run. How we can effect the quarterback. How can we implement Chase Young in our defense as a guy we know who can be explosive?”
Not many guys can say they’ve been there, done that in the NFL like Jordan. All he has left is winning a Super Bowl. It’s the last thing he can achieve, and he’s desperate to add a championship to his trophy case. And he knows he won’t get it done alone. Improving those around him and making the team better is his priority. He just needs to keep it up.
