METAIRIE, La. -- Last summer, when expectations for the New Orleans Saints secondary were through the roof, former Saints cornerback Jabari Greer offered an important note of caution. He said it's not so easy for a group of new guys to come together and develop the kind of chemistry and communication that is so vital in the secondary.
Greer's words rang painfully true as the Saints' secondary was undone by assignment and communication errors, especially early in the year.
That was my first thought when the Saints lost steady veteran safety Rafael Bush to a season-ending chest injury. It will now be even harder for their secondary to develop that chemistry and continuity as injuries keep forcing them to rotate bodies in and out of the lineup.
Greer, who now works as an analyst for the SEC Network, agreed.
"That's my biggest concern," Greer said.
The Saints have also been without safety Jairus Byrd for nearly two months and cornerback Keenan Lewis for two weeks. Byrd and Lewis are both expected back within a matter of weeks. But finding that chemistry and consistency may take a lot longer.
The Saints' top five defensive backs this week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could potentially include first-year cornerback Delvin Breaux, rookie cornerback Damian Swann and safety Kenny Phillips, who hasn't played in a NFL game since 2012. Breaux and Swann have shown a lot of promise this summer, but they also experienced some growing pains in a Week 1 loss at Arizona.
"If you look at them on paper before the season, you had Kenny Vaccaro, Jairus Byrd, Keenan Lewis and Brandon Browner. Now that would seem to me to be the very best secondary on paper in the NFC South, for sure. But not one time have all those guys been on the field together," Greer said. "And it seems like even more so, they've just been having to plug and play players in there.
"For players to play with speed and the way they want to play, they need to have a unit that has played together more than just a game. And it's hard for them because they haven't had that yet."
Greer said he was fortunate when he played so many years together with cornerback Tracy Porter and safeties Roman Harper, Malcolm Jenkins and Darren Sharper in New Orleans because they anticipated each other's adjustments so well -- which made it easier to replace any one of them when they went down.
"We were always on the same page, and that's one of the most important things," Greer said. "I don't necessarily know if they've played together enough to be on the same page."
Greer said losing Bush "changes the dynamic of the secondary."
"He's always been the man to fill in and fill in incredibly when people went down. Malcolm goes down, Roman goes down, Rafael is there. Jairus Byrd goes down, Rafael's there. So he's always been like ‘Mr. Dependable' for their secondary," Greer said. "Now when he goes down, that could easily make them feel as if that steady presence isn't there. Now you're rushing to see who's going to be that player."
Greer is very high on Phillips' potential to fill in until Byrd returns, though.
"I was surprised he didn't make the team. He had an incredible preseason to me, in my opinion," Greer said. "Every time I watched, he was enforcing, he was setting the tone. I think the best option until Byrd gets acclimated and back to full speed is Kenny Phillips and his experience.
"And listen, you can not underestimate the power of being removed from the league for as long as he was. Listen, he's been on the couch for two years. Two years of not playing ball. If you have a desire to play and nobody taking interest, nobody wanting you, that can make a guy go from a good play to an All-Pro player, because you've had that taste of humility. And we've seen flashes in the preseason with Kenny Phillips just getting hungry, with that intensity and focus."
