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METAIRIE, La. Iago Aspas Jersey . - The Saints defence has made takeaways its top priority after forcing an NFC-low 19 turnovers in 2013. Near the start of a workout in late May, New Orleans rookie cornerback Stanley Jean-Baptiste stripped wide receiver Andy Tanner after he made a short reception. That play set the tone. Defenders have continued to punch and slap at the ball in the first two practices of minicamp. Although New Orleans finished fourth in the NFL in yards allowed under new co-ordinator Rob Ryan last season — a dramatic improvement after yielding the most yards in NFL history a year earlier — Ryan wont be happy until he sees more turnovers. Seven fumble recoveries and 12 interceptions were not enough. "That was a glaring weakness last year," he says. "We did pretty decent as a unit, but we want to be great, and to be great, you have to take the ball away." They did more than just talk about it. They signed free agent Jairus Byrd, whose 22 interceptions since his rookie season in 2009 are the most for any NFL safety, and also picked up veteran Champ Bailey, whose 52 career interceptions are the most for any active cornerback. In film sessions, Ryan has repeatedly shown cutups of Chicago safety Charles Tillman punching out the ball. In 2012, Tillman forced 10 fumbles, which is three more than the Saints managed as a whole in 2013. "Great players can be imitated, and were trying to do that here," Ryan said. "Imitation is the biggest form of flattery. We know we have to improve on that." Linebacker Curtis Loftons statistics were a perfect illustration of the Saints strengths and weaknesses last year. He made a team-high 125 tackles for the resurgent defence but had a hand in only turnover, forcing a fumble against Miami. He did not recover a fumble or pick off a pass all season. "We didnt create enough turnovers, so thats definitely an emphasis for us," he said. "Weve been working on it, and its showing up in practice. Then we are going to take what we do in practice and do it in games." After winning the Super Bowl in 2009, New Orleans has returned to the playoffs in three of the last four years but has come up short of the NFC Championship Game each time. Seattle was the roadblock last year, hammering the Saints 34-7 in the regular season and beating them again 23-15 in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Saints werent that far behind the Seahawks in yards allowed per game (273.6 to 305.7) and registered 49 sacks to the Seahawks 44, but Seattle had more than twice as many takeaways with 39. "If you look at all the past great defences, they forced a lot of turnovers," Bailey said. "Theres a reason Seattle won the Super Bowl. They forced a lot of turnovers. If we dont get them, we wont go very far." Ryan expects the presence of Byrd and Bailey to help close that gap. Bailey deflected a pass that turned into an interception in the Saints first open practice of the summer. Byrd is out for the summer after undergoing back surgery, but coach Sean Payton said he was on schedule to return for the beginning of training camp. In addition to his interceptions, he forced 11 fumbles in his five years with Buffalo. Thats not Tillman territory, but it beats what the Saints did last year. "You can see guys attempting to punch through the ball, almost over-exaggerating it," said linebacker Junior Galette, who had 12 sacks last year but forced only one fumble. "Charles Tillman is a beast at it, and we are motivated to make the extra effort to knock it out." NOTES: During one 11-on-11 session in Wednesdays practice, a machine on the side of the field cranked up crowd noise as the offence approached the line of scrimmage on each play. Coach Sean Payton said it was the first time he has piped in noise during minicamp. The Saints went 3-5 on the road in the regular season last year — their first losing record away from home under Payton since 2008. .Minicamp ends with another practice on Thursday. ___ AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Pepe Reina Spain Jersey .ca contributor Grant McCagg provides a look at some risers and fallers on the prospect watch. David de Gea Jersey . The club says Fridays surgery was successful. Holiday, a former Eastern Conference All-Star acquired from Philadelphia last summer, has not played because of the shin injury since Jan. http://www.soccerspainfansshop.com/Sergio-Ramos-UEFA-European-Germany-Jersey/ . Hes just beginning to get similar results. The right-hander struggled after winning the honour in 2008 and 2009, but a retooling of his game has begun to pay off and has the San Francisco Giants thinking about the Lincecum of old.ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Blues needed something to get them going after a two-game losing streak. A visit from the rival Chicago Blackhawks seemed to help.Jaden Schwartz, Ryan Reaves and Dmitrij Jaskin all scored, and the Blues snapped their skid with a 3-2 win against the Blackhawks on Saturday night.We had to win one game to get things going back in the right direction, said Blues defenceman Alex Pietrangelo, who had two assists. Theres nothing better than playing against an opponent like this, division rival, big game for us.We know what theyve done, and coming in after losing to them in the playoffs last year certainly gives it a little bit of an extra edge. I thought we all stepped up to the plate.The Blues (3-3-1), who lost in six games to the Blackhawks in the first round of the playoffs last spring, had scored just once in losing back-to-back games to Anaheim and Vancouver. They had dropped three of four games, including a shootout defeat in Los Angeles.We hit a bit of a lull the last two games and we needed a great performance, and who better than our biggest rivals to bring it out of us, Blues captain David Backes said. Guys put together a heck of a 60-minute effort.Brian Elliott made 22 saves for St. Louis, including nine in the third period. Antti Raanta made 28 saves for the Blackhawks.The Blackhawks (4-2-1) have dropped two straight in regulation, falling again after being beaten in Nashville on Thursday.The Blues committed two penalties within the first minute, and the Blackhawks took advantage with Patrick Sharps 5-on-3 power-play goal, assisted by Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa, just 1:02 into the game.The first five minutes were a little bit of a whirlwind, and everybody kind of calmed things down, and we got our game going, Elliott said. Thats the way we need to play, just that even-keeled mentality. In a high-intensity game against a good opponent like that we responded from our last couple games, not really burying and not really putting away teams when we had the chance.The Blues tied it when Schwartz scored his team-high fifth goal of the season. Scchwartz beat Raanta between the pads with 7:45 left in the first period. Sergio Busquets Jersey. St. Louis scored twice in the final two minutes of the second period.Reaves netted his first of the season with 1:51 left in the period following a video review that showed he knocked in a rebound of Maxim Lapierres shot.I dont know how the rules are but I made a save, and the guy came and pushed me into the net, and then the puck came over the line, Raanta said. I think that was a little bit like goalie interference or something.You cant say anything, but of course that was a little bit like a bad call by the refs, but its hard to say what they were seeing. It felt a little bit like a bad goal, but I dont know what else I should say.Jaskin, recalled from Chicago of the AHL on Friday, then put in a rebound of a shot by Pietrangelo with 6 seconds remaining for his second career goal.That was huge for us, Jaskin said. Even that second goal just got us going, and that was really important. We really started playing better.Kris Versteeg took a nice crossing pass from Sharp and beat Elliott with a high wrister over the goalies stick-side shoulder to make it 3-2 at 2:37 of the third period.We scored a goal and had some momentum back but didnt get the equalizer, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.NOTES: The Blues have won four straight regular-season home games against the Blackhawks, the first such streak in the series since March 3, 1998-Jan. 7, 1999. ... Chicago G Corey Crawford missed his third consecutive game due to an upper-body injury. ... St. Louis forward Paul Stastny, placed on the injured list on Friday, missed his third straight game. ... Quenneville and St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock are the active leaders in victories. Quenneville has 710, and Hitchcock has 660. ... Both of Jaskins goals have come against the Blackhawks. ... Quenneville said LW Daniel Carcillo could be out multiple weeks after hurting his right knee on a hit from T.J. Oshie early in the third period. ... The attendance of 19,434 was the second sellout for the Blues in four home games this season. Jerseys NFL China Wholesale Jerseys Cheap NFL Hoodies Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Gear Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Wholesale NFL White Jerseys ' ' '