METAIRIE, La. _ Alvin Kamara knew better than to say whatever he was thinking. Surrounded by a crowd of cameras and notepads in a corner of the Saints locker room, the second-year running back smiled and shrugged his way through the inevitable questions, wisely invoking his right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination.
"I'm in the playoffs," he said. "Just enjoying my teammates, enjoying the preparation, ready to play."
Last summer, Kamara raised some eyebrows up in Philadelphia when he declared that the Saints would have "beat the (bleep)" out of the Eagles in last year's NFC Championship game had New Orleans not suffered a stunning last-second loss to Stefon Diggs and the Vikings in the divisional round. In November, Kamara was given a chance to retract or alter his comments prior to the Saints' regular-season tilt against the Eagles, but opted to let them stand.
But with two days remaining before the two teams square off in this year's divisional round, the diminutive playmaker was saying all the right things. Or, rather, he was saying nothing at all.
"It's playoffs _ it's a different game," said Kamara, who scored 18 touchdowns while racking up 1,592 yards from scrimmage this season. "I'm definitely looking forward to it. It's a second season, so we're excited, working hard, and ready for Sunday."
Whether the Eagles will be ready for him is another matter. In the Saints' 48-7 win in Week 11, he carried the ball 13 times for 71 yards and hauled in a 37-yard touchdown reception. The Eagles are hardly the first team to struggle to contain Kamara. Since the Saints drafted him in the third round in 2017, the running back has scored 32 touchdowns, more than all but 10 other players in NFL history through 31 career games.
As for the impact of his comments on the Eagles' motivation?
"I don't care," Kamara said. "I'm in the Saints' locker room."
