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The making of the Saints receiver guru

Good morning, and welcome to the Saturday, June 8 edition of the Saints Insider newsletter. For your weekend reading list, we're going to get into why mentorship from one coach to another could have an impact on this year's Saints team, a couple important young player needing to take a step and ... cats? Yes, cats. 

A coaching bond

Keith Williams was part of the revamped offensive coaching staff for the Saints this year, and though he's a California native, he had a pretty strong connection to the area already. 

Williams considers former Saints receivers coach Curtis Johnson to be a "father figure," and he also spent time on Johnson's staff while Johnson was the head coach at Tulane. Our columnist Rod Walker talked with both Williams and Johnson about the origin of their relationship, and why that has Williams primed to make an impact on the Saints receiver corps this year. 

A step forward? 

A little double-barrel action here from my colleague Matthew Paras on two important youngsters seeking to turn around disappointing starts to their careers. 

First up: Defensive end Isaiah Foskey, who has ambitious goals despite barely seeing the field last year. 

And second: Offensive tackle Trevor Penning, who spent the offseason fixing his confidence problem. 

Make time for both of those this weekend. 

Big cat guy

There's no getting around it, Jamaal Williams had a rough debut season with the Saints. 

Or, at least there would seem to be no getting around it. But Williams said this week that he's not devoting any energy to the negatives from last year. He turned his attention instead toward positive outlets, like praying, reading and ... cats? 

Yes. Two cats. And Williams credited those two cats with making him feel at peace after what happened last year.

That's just (ahem) scratching the surface of what we've got for you over at nola.com right now. Thanks, as always, for reading and supporting. To us, you're purrfect. 

Cheers, 

Luke Johnson

 
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Saints WR coach Keith Williams owes much of his success to 'father figure' Curtis Johnson

 
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