METAIRIE, La. Tarik Cohen Bears 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 Tarik Cohen Youth Jersey .com) - Delon Wright scored 17 points and No. Dan Hampton Womens Jersey . Authorities in Medina, Minn., released the details one day after Cunningham was jailed for another alleged incident with the woman he had been living with for the previous eight months. Cunningham had already been charged with felony domestic assault for allegedly choking the woman last week. http://www.chicagobearfootballauthentic.com/authentic-walter-payton-bears-jersey/ . -- Victor Bernardez tied the game with his second goal in the 95th minute and the San Jose Earthquakes drew 3-3 with Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Jason Kidd never appears worries about anything, certainly not about someone like Paul Pierce. Even if Pierces matchup was completely one-sided in Torontos favour in Game 2. Pierce nearly had as many fouls as points. He couldnt get his shot to fall, couldnt keep his man off the boards, and the Raptors targeted the Pierce matchup as one they could exploit. Yet Kidd is not concerned as his Brooklyn Nets prepare to host the Raptors in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Friday night. "Pauls doing every right. The game of basketball is about making shots and sometimes you make them and sometimes you dont. So Paul, I think, has had two good games," Kidd said Wednesday on a conference call. Pierce was sharp down the stretch in helping the Nets win the opener, but couldnt get it going Tuesday night in Torontos 100-95 victory. He shot 2 for 11 and finished with seven points and six rebounds. Worse for the Nets, the Raptors took of advantage of their size against a Nets team that plays Pierce as an undersized power forward. Toronto outrebounded Brooklyn 52-30, with power forwards Amir Johnson and Patrick Patterson combining for 28 points and 18 rebounds while making 13 of 19 shots. Johnson said after the game that with Pierce playing the 4 spot, Raptors coach Dwane Casey told him to go to the glass every time on offence and defence. "We understand were a more athletic team than them. For us to get to the glass every single opportunity we have that presents itself is what we need to do," Patterson said Wednesday. "There shouldnt be a game in this series where we get outrebounded by them." The Nets went to the small-ball lineup after centre Brook Lopez was lost for the season with a broken foot in December, and it helped them turn around their season. With Pierces outside shooting ability, it creates a matchup problem for bigger defenders, who usually prefer to play closer to the basket. Buut it creates a different set of problems for the Nets against aggressive bigs like Torontos, who quickly put Pierce into foul trouble that prevented him from ever getting into a rhythm Tuesday. Mitchell Trubisky Jersey. Yet if he made either of the two 3-point attempts that bounced out in the final 25 seconds, the Nets might have come home with a 2-0 lead, and Kidd preferred to focus on that. "No matter what he shot in the last game, he had great looks and they just went in and out, and so theres nothing in the sense of changing what Pauls going to do," Kidd said of Pierce, the 2008 NBA Finals MVP. "Hes a very smart player, he understands time and situation and ... theres no concern." Pierce said after the game the Nets were soft when it came to their rebounding, and teammates agreed they had to do a better job as a team of helping out on the boards. But that was far from Brooklyns only problem in Game 2. All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan bounced back from his shaky opener with 30 points and carried Toronto down the stretch, while centre Jonas Valanciunas came up with 15 points and 14 rebounds. It gave the impression that the younger Raptors, who won the Atlantic Division, might have too many answers for the Nets. "Toronto is going to win this series," TNT analyst Charles Barkley said afterward. "I have not seen anything these first two games that makes me see anything different." The Raptors will still need to win at least one in Brooklyn. They are a good road team, with a 22-19 record that matched Miami and Washington for best in the East. "Its a new beginning, a new frontier, a new experience," coach Dwane Casey said of going on the road now. "The only way youre going to get it is to go through it. I have faith in our guys and confidence in our guys that were going to go in there as a group bonded together and fight together." AP freelance writer Ian Harrison in Toronto contributed to this report. ' ' '