METAIRIE, La. Originals Stan Smith NZ . - 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 NMD Shoes Wholesale . "Uuufff," was all shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria could come up with after Stantons latest mammoth shot. NMD Shoes NZ . Now he has a complete game. Scherzer tossed a three-hitter in his 179th career start for his first complete game and Victor Martinez hit his 16th homer to lead the Detroit Tigers a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. http://www.nmdshoesnz.com/ . The 23-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., defeated Germanys Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday in the fourth round of the Sony Open in just 89 minutes.It seems only fitting, with the ridiculous number of injuries this season, the Majors would be marking an anniversary of some note. This is the 100th season of the disabled list. It was first instituted in the National League in 1915. At that time, it was for 10 days. Now its seven days for a concussion, and 15 or 60 days if its a long term injury. I did a rough count and came up with 64 players currently out with injuries. But that list didnt include some of the players whove been out since Spring Training, including Tampa Bay lefty Matt Moore. It also doesnt include the myriad of banged up players listed as day-to-day. Going with the 64 figure though, that means just less than 10% of the 650 players on Major League rosters on any given day are hurt. Blue Jays fans know this only too well. This is the third straight season that is being scuttled in part because of injuries. In 2012, it was the Jays losing Kyle Drabek, Brandon Morrow, and Drew Hutchison, all in one fateful week in June. Last season it was Jose Reyes, Brett Lawrie, and Jose Bautista, just to name a few. Right now the Jays are dealing with injuries to their 4, 5, and 6 hitters in Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind and Lawrie, with no definitive timetable for their return. With the All-Star break rapidly approaching, you could actually put something close to an All-Star squad for each League made up of players on the DL or just listed as day-to-day. Lets start with the American League: (C) Matt Wieters- Orioles(1B) Edwin Encarnacion - Blue Jays or Joe Mauer- Minnesota(2B) Brett Lawrie- Blue Jays (OK maybe not quite an All-Star yet)(3B) Will Middlebrooks- Red Sox (Ditto)(SS) Yunel Escobar- Rays (defensively at least)(LF) Carlos Beltran- Yankees(CF) Michael Bourn- Indians(RF) Shane Victorino- Boston or Wil Myers- Rays(DH) Adam Lind- Blue Jays (Platoon at least) (SPs) Masahiro Tanaka- Yankees, C.C Sabathia- Yankees, Justin Masterson- Clevleand, C.J Wilson- Angels(Closer) Joel Hanrahan Detroit (not based on this season of couse) The National League squad may be even more impressive (C) Yadier Molina- Cardinals, Evan Gattis- Braves, or Caarlos Ruiz- Phillies(1B) Joey Votto- Reds(2B) Brandon Phillips- Reds(3B) Pablo Sandoval- Giants (not on DL, but cant straighten his arm due to elbow injury and is day-to-day)(SS) Chris Owings- Diamondbacks(LF)) Mark Trumbo- Diamondbacks(CF) A. Superstar NZ Cheap. . Pollock- Diamondbacks(RF) Carlos Gonzalez- Rockies (SPs) Michael Wacha- Cardinals, Cliff Lee- Phillies, Josh Beckett-Dodgers(Closer) Aroldis Chapman- Reds (listed as day-to-day after a stint on the DL earlier in the season, when he took a line drive in the head.) I stretched it a bit calling some of these guys All-Stars, but Im sure you get the point. I dont really have any answers short of reducing the length of Spring Training and cutting back the regular season to 154 games, the way it used to be. Ditching interleague play to cut down on travel a bit more might be another solution. Sanchez growing with the Bisons Aaron Sanchez, who could be up with the Blue Jays at some point down the stretch or even used as trade bait, is still looking for his elusive first Triple A victory at Buffalo. Sanchez came up with a solid, and longer, outing Thursday night at home against Durham. He threw 83 pitches over six innings, but was saddled with a 3-2 loss that dropped his record to 0-2. Jeremy Moore tagged him for a long, game-winning two-run homer in the sixth but overall his numbers were pretty good. It was his third straight quality start: he gave up five hits, three runs (one unearned), walked two and struck out six. Jays begin crucial series with Rays At the beginning of the season, I actually felt Tampa Bay would win the AL East. Injuries and a lack of depth did them in in the first half. Although the Rays are still nine and a half back of front running Baltimore in the East and eight back of Seattle for the second Wild Card, they are now the second hottest team in the AL East next to the Os. Theyve won seven out of 10 and 10 out of 14. Theyre getting healthy again as well, outfielders Wil Myers and David DeJesus should be back in the next couple of weeks. The Rays could make some noise down the stretch, and thats why the Jays cant afford to be swept by them this weekend at Tropicana Field. In fact, if the Jays can win or sweep the series themselves, it could push the Rays right out of the race and turn them from potential buyers into sellers at that July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. Soriano DFAd I wonder if the Blue Jays will take a flyer on Alfonso Soriano, who was designated for assignment by the Yankees the other day. He can still hit lefties, something the Jays have struggled with all season long. ' ' '