MOBILE, Ala. — Wednesday was the first day of the rest of Sean Payton's coaching career, and the Saints' newly reinstated sideline boss was only looking ahead.
Fresh from the early lifting of his one-year Bountygate suspension, Payton faced the media here yesterday after scouting Senior Bowl practices less than 24 hours after his reprieve was announced by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Payton was contrite during the 45-minute session with reporters at Ladd-Peebles Stadium but expressed no bitterness toward Goodell and didn't offer much in the way of specifics about the alleged cash-for-injuries scandal.
"We're at a point where it's time for closure," Payton said when asked by The Post if the Saints had an organized bounty system under him like the league alleged. "It's time for us as a team, it's time for us as a league, to take this next step forward.
Payton, a former Giants offensive coordinator, met with Goodell for nearly five hours in Manhattan on Monday before the NFL announced the following day that his suspension was being lifted early and immediately.
Payton said he and Goodell agreed not to discuss the specifics of their meeting. The timing of the NFL's announcement was certainly convenient for Goodell, who still is extremely unpopular in New Orleans as he heads there next week for the Super Bowl.
Payton, who pleaded with Saints fans to be "gracious" toward Goodell, said he was just glad to put the difficult year behind him and to be able to focus on getting the Saints back to prominence after they finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs under a pair of interim coaches in 2012.
"We've got a lot of tough meetings ahead," Payton said of the Saints. "That's what 7-9 is. Those are our biggest challenges."
The Saints, who rewarded Payton with a lucrative contract extension through 2017 during his suspension, certainly were glad Payton's back.
"We certainly miss Sean in terms of the football team and all the things that go with our business and the game," Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said while attending Senior Bowl practices. "I miss his friendship. We all miss his friendship. We miss him as a person."The NFL's announcement came out of the blue but wasn't exactly unexpected, considering the suspensions of the players allegedly involved — ex-Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Scott Fujita and Anthony Hargrove — had been overturned on appeal by former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue last month. The suspensions of Payton, former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, Loomis and assistant coach Joe Vitt were carried out, however, though Payton didn't end up serving his entire ban and Williams has been freed to seek a job with another NFL team. Payton reacted icily when asked if he would be interested in bringing back Williams. "I have no interest in talking to Gregg," Payton said. Nor did Payton have any interest in going anywhere other than New Orleans, despite speculation during the season that he could be headed to the Cowboys because his contract was up. "There was no way I was going to another team," Payton said.
bhubbuch@nypost.com
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