Drew Brees has confirmed that Sean Payton's approach to coaching the New Orleans Saints has not changed.

The head coach was unable to work with the team last season, having received a one-year ban for his part in a bounty scheme, which saw the Saints players offered cash incentives to injure their opponents.

Speaking at a press conference, the quarterback said: "I would not say there was any rust. You know, you have those people in your life that you may not see for a while, but when you get together, it is like no time has passed. That is how it is with Sean.

"It has not changed. It really has not. We have been together now, this will be our eighth season, going back to [2006]. So, we have had a lot of time together. We can draw on a lot of experiences together.

"We are in the moment. We are talking shop, and trying to find ways to get better, and kind of retool and fine tune this offense to make it better."

The Saints failed to make the playoffs for the first time in four years last season.