Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore said he's heard the term "sophomore

slump" applied to him early this season.The 2017 Defensive Rookie of the Year sounds certain his critics will have to eat those words as the season wears on.But he also agrees the numbers haven't been pretty for New Orleans' pass defense the past few weeks Alvin Kamara Jersey Salute to Service , and as one of the stars of the secondary, he has to answer for that."We've been doing some stuff out of character," said Lattimore, referring specifically to mistakes in technique and ineffective communication among defensive backs."We've just got to get on the same page and do certain things, like, together. And once we figure that out, we're going to get it right. But it's just got to start with playing with more swag. That eliminates everything. Playing with that confidence and going out there and getting it done."New Orleans, which visits the New York Giants this week, ranks 30th against the pass, allowing 336.7 yards passing per game.Even more concerning to Saints coach Sean Payton is that the Saints rank last in the NFL in yards allowed per pass attempt, a result of some of the deep passes they've given up in all three games.There were touchdowns passes of 58 yards to Tampa Bay's DeSean Jackson and 50 yards to Mike Evans in the opener; Tyrod Taylor's 47-yard, game-tying touchdown to Antonio Callaway in the final minutes of a Week 2 matchup with Cleveland that the Saints ultimately pulled out; and a 75-yard scoring pass to Atlanta's Calvin Ridley in Week 3.And those are just the scoring plays. Other deep throws produced big gains either on catches or pass interference penalties.Altogether, the Saints have yielded 45 or more yards on six different pass plays 鈥?one of them due to pass interference called on cornerback Ken Crawley."If there's only two things happening 鈥?a pass interference or completion 鈥?and there's no interception opportunity, then teams are going to take multiple (deep) shots more and more and more Authentic Tommylee Lewis Jersey ," Payton said this week. "I don't like the fact that we've had one takeaway after three games."There are a handful of things that need improvement fast."Saints defensive backs took no issue with Payton's criticism."It ain't like he's not telling the truth," Lattimore said. "They see they can go deep and get a positive play out of it. I'd do the same thing playing us. But we're going to turn it around. We're going to get it right. I'm not really worried about that."Safety Vonn Bell said he saw Payton's expressions of concern as motivational."We've got to change that 鈥?stop the deep balls, keep everything in front, make them throw the check-downs and get off the field," Bell said."And we've got to change that on the back end. Challenge accepted. Go out there, step up to the challenge and my cat don't catch it. That's all you got to do and we've got each other's back."And the improvement will have to come without top nickel back Patrick Robinson, a veteran acquired from Philadelphia in free agency who was placed on injured reserve after injuring his ankle last week.Giants veteran quarterback Eli Manning sounded hesitant to read too much into the small sample size of failure New Orleans' secondary has put on video during the season's opening three weeks 鈥?particularly because New Orleans has gone up against elite receivers such as Evans, Jackson and Atlanta's Julio Jones, not to mention Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan."They've just gone against a couple of high-powered offenses that have good receivers and guys have won some battles," Manning said."They do a lot of different looks on defense, so we have got to be prepared for all of them and make sure we can hold up and hopefully give our guys some opportunities to win those one-on-one battles."The Giants present the Saints with the challenge of covering another elite receiver 鈥?one who is all too well known in his native New Orleans. That would be Odell Beckham Jr., who went to the same high school as the Mannings before starring at LSU, and who had nine catches for 109 yards in New York's victory over Houston last week."Got to bang him up. Got to hit him. Got to get him frustrated, get him out of his game Tre'Quan Smith Jersey ," Bell said.If the Saints can't slow down Beckham, expect Manning to be the latest to try his hand at the deep ball against the Saints.Notes: Saints rookie defensive end Marcus Davenport (hip) and linebacker Manti Teo (knee) both missed practice on Thursday. Left guard Andrus Peat was limited by his sore ankle. Saints coach Sean Payton said it's too early to judge New Orleans' last-ranked running game.New Orleans managed only 43 yards rushing on 13 attempts in a Week 1 loss to Tampa Bay, but Payton said that was more about the nature of a game because the Saints had to lean on the pass after falling behind. And though the coach was more critical of the running game following the Saints 21-18 victory over Cleveland, he stressed: "We're talking about one game here. We're not talking about a crisis."The Saints' surge to the NFC South title last season was fueled to a large degree by a rejuvenated running game that ranked fifth in the NFL.The addition of Alvin Kamara, who became the 2017 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, to Mark Ingram, who had his second consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season, gave New Orleans an elite tandem.Heading into Sunday's game against Atlanta, the Saints are averaging an NFL-worst 52.5 yards rushing during a 1-1 start.Ingram is serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs. Falling behind early also has compounded matters for New Orleans. Payton has had to lean heavily on Drew Brees and wide receiver Michael Thomas, who has an NFL-record 28 catches through two games."We definitely miss Mark," Thomas said. "He adds value to this offense."New Orleans' 36 rushing attempts are third-fewest in the NFL, but the Saints also have struggled when they have run the ball, averaging only 2.9 yards per rush. That ranks second-to-last Manti Te'o Jersey , ahead of only Tampa Bay.When Ingram's suspension was announced in the spring, Payton said the solution would not be to just give his carries to Kamara. Yet, Kamara's workload has increased. He has averaged 10.5 carries and 7.5 pass receptions after averaging 7.5 rushes and five receptions per game last season.The Saints spent much of the offseason, training camp and preseason looking for a complementary running back to Kamara.The turnstile of rushers hasn't worked out.New Orleans signed veterans Terrance West and Shane Vereen and drafted Boston Scott in the sixth round to join holdovers Jonathan Williams, Trey Edmunds and Daniel Lasco.West and Edmunds were released, Vereen and Lasco wound up on injured reserve and Scott was released and later signed to the practice squad.The Saints wound up signing Mike Gillislee after he was released by the Patriots at the end of the preseason and bringing up Williams after briefly placing him on the practice squad.After two games, Gillislee has 11 rushes for 27 yards and he lost a fumble that Tampa Bay returned for a pivotal touchdown in the Saints' 48-41 loss in the season opener. Williams has rushed just twice minus-1 yard.Payton said communication and blocking were the main issues against the Browns, who held the Saints to 62 yards on 23 rushing attempts."We just didn't run as effectively against (Cleveland) as we would have liked," Payton said. "It's one of those teams that's going to give you some tough run looks. There's just a number of things that we have to get cleaned up."Brees cited two important runs that helped the Saints rally from a 12-3 deficit in the fourth quarter.Kamara had an 18-yard run that started a touchdown drive which pulled them within two points. He also gained five yards on a third-and-2 to extend another touchdown drive that gave New Orleans its first lead."When we rushed better in the latter part help of the game it helped," Payton added. "When we review with our players where we stand in terms of what's important to winning and losing, (running effectively) certainly sits at the top."Notes: Defensive tackle Tyeler Davison (foot), receiver Tommylee Lewis (knee) and linebacker Manti Te'o (knee) did not practice on Wednesday. ... The Saints listed three players as limited in practice: left tackle Terron Armstead (knee), receiver Ted Ginn (knee) and left guard Andrus Peat (ankle). Custom San Francisco 49ers Jerseys