Saints rookie Tre'Quan Smith gets attention from his new coaches

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The New Orleans Saints held their rookie minicamp over the weekend and one of the players that impressed coaches was third-round pick Tre'Quan Smith.

Smith, a wide receiver out of UCF, caught passes thrown at him and showed off the speed that helped him average nearly 20 yards per catch this past season for the Golden Knights. But after the weekend's workouts, Smith said: "This is a different kind of fast."

Saints coaches however think he's doing a good job of adjusting to this level.

"First of all, he can run," Saints' receivers coach Curtis Johnson said. "He's fast. He has what we would call in this profession long speed. He can catch the ball very very well. He's pretty smart. He's getting lined up. He's only playing one position now but he's doing a fine job for us."

Coaches said he still has some aspects of his game to work on. Smith said Johnson has been on him about coming off the ball faster.

"(He said) 'A lot of people told me you are a build up speed guy, I don't believe that. Don't listen to anybody that says that and you can do it. I've seen you do it,'" Smith said. "And that's what we've been working on."

Saints coach Sean Payton echoed Johnson's assessment.

"He's long. He's athletic in and out of his cuts" Sean Payton said. "(He) Still needs to work on his lower body strength but he's handled the install well. I think he's a quick study. He's big and he's doing a good job."

Smith said he was glad that coaches have been paying attention to the reps he's taken during the minicamp.

"That makes me feel a lot of confidence because growing up a coach always said 'If I'm not picking on you or talking to you that means I don't care about you,'" Smith said. "And the coaches have been getting on me correcting my mistakes because they want to see you succeed."

Smith said he's looking forward to OTAs and is eager to get to work with the full Saints offense.

"I'm looking forward to getting to work with Michael Thomas, Drew Brees, Ted Ginn Jr. ..." Smith said. "I'm looking forward to working with all those guys."