Payton: Tre'Quan Smith "is tough, in shape, and important"

New Orleans Saints HC Sean Payton spoke on Tre'Quan Smith's third NFL training camp to the media Friday.

More than a week into training camp and a lot of attention at Saints camp goes to the wide receivers. The newly acquired Emmanuel Sanders and Ty Montgomery have been the talk of the town along with All-Pro return man Deonte Harris. But what about Tre'Quan Smith? The former third-round pick has endured a roller coaster start to his NFL career, hitting the highest of peaks and disappearing into the lowest valleys.

Smith introduced himself to the NFL with a monster game against Washington on Monday Night Football in 2018. Along with catching a 62-yard TD pass from Drew Brees that broke the NFL's All-Time Passing Record, Smith finished with 3 receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns. However, in the 26 games that Smith has appeared in, he has left without a reception eight times and finished the game with under 20 receiving yards sixteen times.

Despite the frustration with his play and nagging injuries last season, Sean Payton spoke highly about Smith's performance during his third Saints training camp.  

“Look, some of the things that he's asked to do occasionally is more physical in nature, but I think he's come (here) in great shape. He's strong. He's an important part of what we're doing offensively. He is one of those players that will make a catch in traffic that a lot of guys may necessarily not have the same appetite for. But he's tough player, and he's doing well.”

-Saints Head Coach Sean Payton on WR Tre'quan Smith

Earlier in the offseason, Smith received praise from his positional coach Ronald Curry. The Saints WR coach called him a “unique player” that “he loves” and said he feels Smith just “needs more opportunities.” Saints Offensive Assistant Curtis Johnson added that Smith's improvement will be “drastic” in 2020.

"The one thing I would say about Tre'Quan also (is) we took him from an outside receiver and moved him to an inside receiver by necessity. He's been outstanding doing those things. We've just got to continue to work with him on some of the things that he never did in college and didn't do very much of in the first year that he was here. I think his improvement is going to be drastic and I think he's going to have a breakout year. Y'all can write that down!"

Saints Offensive Assistant Coach - Curtis Johnson

In two NFL seasons, Smith has dressed in 26 games making 13 starts. Smith has collected 46 receptions for 661 yards and 10 TD. His 10 TD grabs over his freshman and sophomore seasons are the second-most by a Saints WR since 2018. The UCF product is fighting for the Saints #3 WR role during training camp.

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