Drew Brees loves facing a worthy opponent in practice. For years, Brees tested his wits against Jonathan Vilma, turning the Saints’ practices into a daily battle between two grandmasters, both checking out of calls and adjusting plays on the fly in an ongoing chess match.
Brees, whose penchant for turning every practice into a competition is legendary, has been looking for somebody to play Boris Spassky to his Bobby Fischer ever since the end of Vilma’s time in New Orleans.
He might have found his Spassky in new middle linebacker James Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis, the longtime Ram the Saints signed in free agency to right the defense’s play-calling problems of the past two seasons, is already testing Brees in the first six practices of organized team activities.