Behind the scenes look into the mind and tactics of Rob Ryan

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METAIRIE, La. -- Cameron Jordan is a great white shark, Malcolm Jenkins a black panther, Kenny Vaccaro a king cobra and Curtis Lofton a grizzly bear. But not everyone on the New Orleans Saints defense got so lucky with the "inner animals" that were bestowed upon them by defensive coordinator Rob Ryan at the beginning of the season.

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Outside linebacker Junior Galette was dubbed a sakis -- a monkey that sports a full, bushy beard like Galette's, which teammates find hilarious. Rookie defensive end Glenn Foster got stuck with seahorse. Deep-thinking cornerback Jabari Greer is a morning dove. And linebacker Ramon Humber is a wombat.

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Clearly, everyone on the Saints defense has gotten a kick out of the concept -- one of many that Ryan has introduced this year to help keep things fun on and off the field. Ryan also does things like introducing assistant coaches with their own theme music during team meetings. Assistant secondary coach Andre Curtis, for example, walks up to the sound of "Forgot About Dre" by Dr. Dre and Eminem -- a crowd pleaser.

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"He's been like the coolest guy," said Galette, one of many young players who have been thriving. "I don't even know how to explain it. I have respect for him as a coach, but I feel like I can talk to him like a player. I've never had a coach like that except for high school basketball. "He's been cool and just very encouraging throughout this whole process. ... You can talk to him about whatever. He just wants to have fun and win. Anytime you have a guy like that with that type of charisma and just brings energy to work every day, you know, you want to be around him and you want to play harder for him."

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