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METAIRIE, La. John Taylor 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 Leon Gray Jersey .28 mph. Logano will start on the front row next to Penske Ford teammate Brad Keselowski, who came in second Friday at 193.099. The Penske drivers swept the top two spots for the second straight race, reversing their qualifying finish in Phoenix a week ago. Lamar McHan Jersey . Both of Padakins goals came in the second period while Zane Jones added a single in the first period for Calgary (13-6-4). Hitmen goaltender Chris Driedger finished with 30 saves for the shutout. http://www.custompatriotsjersey.com/custom-ted-kwalick-jersey-large-1791f.html . -- When the Los Angeles Kings are on top of their formidable defensive game, they revel in the silence they can create in a frustrated road arena.STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State appeared to have its second Big 12 Conference championship and BCS bowl game berth in three seasons within its grasp, thanks to a late rally. Instead, the No. 6 Cowboys (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) were left in a state of last-second shock after rival Oklahoma answered with a rally of its own in the closing minutes of a 33-24 win on Saturday. Desmond Roland, who finished with 144 yards rushing and accounted for three touchdowns, appeared to put Oklahoma State up for good with his 1-yard touchdown with 1:46 remaining. His score put the Cowboys a 24-20 lead and appeared to secure an eighth-straight win as well as the Big 12 title and BCS bowl game berth. Oklahoma (10-2, 7-2) quarterback Blake Bell, however, had other plans. The junior, who started earlier this season before losing the job to Trevor Knight, rallied the No. 18 Sooners down the field and capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass with 19 seconds remaining to Jalen Saunders in the corner of the end zone. Saunders touchdown came just five plays after Oklahoma States Justin Gilbert briefly appeared to intercept a pass from Bell, but the cornerback was unable to keep the ball from hitting the turf. Following Bells touchdown pass to Saunders, Eric Striker then ended the game for Oklahoma by recovering a fumble and scoring during a desperation series of laterals. The Sooners were then pelted with snow balls from the rival crowd. Oklahoma has now won at least 10 games in four straight seasons, and Sooners coach Bob Stoops is 8-1 in his career against Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy. "That was a heck of a football game," Gundy said. "Its unfortunate that we came up short. What the game really came down to was that Oklahoma made some key plays on fourth down, and we didnt." The win set off a frenzied celebration in a frigid Boone Pickens Stadium for visiting Oklahoma, while leaving Oklahoma State once again suffering a bitter defeat at the hands of its fiercest rival. This level of disappointment was higher than most for the Cowboys, whose hopes of a second Big 12 championship and BCS bowl game berth in three years were lost after Bells touchdown pass to Saunders. "You juust love it to see a guy whos a competitor like that, whos been sitting on the bench all game, to come in and play so well," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said of Bell. Gino Cappelletti Jersey. . "He played great." The shakeup in the BCS bowl picture, however, was the last thing on the mind of Bell -- the Oklahoma junior who replaced injured starter Trevor Knight in the second half. After starting eight games earlier this season for the Sooners, including a win at Notre Dame, Bell began Saturday as Oklahomas third option at quarterback. He ended the game by leading the Sooners on a game-winning 66-yard drive in the closing minutes, going 5 of 8 for 57 yards on the drive and finishing 10-of-16 passing for 140 yards in relief of Knight and backup quarterback Kendal Thompson "I was just thinking that whenever I got my opportunity, I wanted to do the best I could with Trevor going down and Kendal coming in," Bell said. "... Once I got into the rhythm of the play, I felt like everything was clicking." Oklahoma State led for much of the game, only falling behind for the first time early in the fourth quarter when Oklahomas Michael Hunnicutt kicked a 39-yard field goal to put the Sooners up 20-17. Facing a late-game deficit, quarterback Clint Chelf appeared to rally the Cowboys for the win with a 7-play, 89-yard drive on which he completed five straight passes for first downs. Oklahoma stayed close for much of the game thanks to the play of its special teams, doing so with Knight on the bench in the second half with a shoulder injury. Saunders returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown in the first half and Hunnicutt -- who also kicked a pair of field goals -- also caught a touchdown pass on a fake field goal attempt. Hunnicutts 8-yard touchdown catch from holder Grant Bothun tied the game at 17-17 late in the third quarter, and it came after Bothum darted to the left following the snap before finding a wide-open Hunnicutt. Stoops said the Sooners didnt put the fake in their gameplan until Thursday. "They called it in about 15 seconds before, so we didnt have too much time to think about it," Hunnicutt said. "I was just super excited." ' ' '