By Pat Yasinskas

MIAMI –- The defensive line coach of the New Orleans Saints and his best player got into an argument about numbers Tuesday.

aints defensive end Will Smith, often labeled an underacheiver, had 13 sacks this season.

Relax, Bill Johnson and Will Smith were just having some fun, sending messages back and forth through a reporter during Super Bowl XLIV week.

“The one thing I’ll admit is I feel bad that we’ve overworked Will,’’ Johnson said. “He wound up playing close to 800 snaps. The next highest guy on the defensive line was somewhere between 500 and 600.’’

“Eight hundred snaps?’’ Smith asked, looking shocked. “I played 1,000 snaps. Actually, I think the exact number was 1,008. You go tell him that.’’

Johnson was gone by the time the reporter came back.

“You couldn’t find him?’’ Smith asked a few minutes later. “That’s all right. I’ll tell him 1,008. It was no 800, I can tell you that.’’

The actual number of snaps can be hashed out between Smith and Johnson. The point is that Smith was on the field a lot, and, after being labeled as an underachiever at various points in his career, the defensive end produced what easily was his best season.

Read the rest of the story.

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