Quotes from the Saints Locker Room

NewOrleansSaints.com
Sunday, October 21, 2007 - 9:00 PM

New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton

“From an injury standpoint, Jeff Faine has a pectoral injury. It was a hard fought game. Things weren’t pretty all of the time especially early on with the offense. They did a good job in the second half. Defensively, we did a better job getting to their quarterback as the game wore on. I think that helped us toward the end of the game. This was a big win for us against a divisional opponent. The crowd was really good today. Things weren’t clean the whole game, but that was an important win for us. We will get back to work and start our preparation for San Francisco.”

Can you talk about the progress of winning a game after overcoming a slow start?

"I was pleased. They hung in there. We had a handful of penalties the second half. There was one particular that didn’t sit well with me, but I will take a look at it on tape. It seemed like when we overcame one penalty and got a first down, then came another penalty. It is good to see our guys fighting. Drew (Brees) kept them together and he did a good job managing the clock at the end of the game. We got some positive yardage at the end of the game with Reggie and we were able to run the clock out."

“He made the big run for us on the draw. He is a guy that I trust a lot with the football. He is smart. It was a really good play he made on the touchdown run. We will continue to get him more touches.”

Do you think the team has its swagger back?

“I don’t know. I think we have played better football and as a result we have won a couple of games. There is a lot to improve in without even looking at the tape. We have to be consistent on a number of things. We are going to have to do a better job on third downs. I think it is a work in progress. The thing about this league is that you are what your record says you are. Fortunately, we have been able to get a couple of wins, but we have a long way to go. Our players understand that. We are going to be traveling out West next week to a team that is looking for a win.”

What did you say to Reggie Bush in the third quarter when you gave him a pat on the back?

“I thought defensively they did a good job and I knew they were going to be patient with us and play a little more zone. He had a couple of big runs that were called back because of penalties. I was just trying to make sure that he was staying north and south and that he were hitting the edges the right way. I thought he was running hard. His effort on that last drive was fantastic. The touchdown and the two-point play were big plays. I just told him to be patient.”

What was you thought process on the touchdown screen pass to Reggie Bush?

“It was third down and goal. It was play we had up with our five in category that handles the pressure where the ball comes out quick. It was really like a wide running play. Drew (Brees) did a good job of running up to the line of scrimmage and I think he might have snapped it before they were completely set. Then, it became an effort play on Reggie’s part and the guys that blocked outside. It was kind of a quick screen, but it was more of a run than a pass. He did a good job of getting across the goal line. He has run hard for us and he will continue to do so. We are going to find ways to get him the football.”

Did you see any difference in the team’s confidence after falling behind 16-14?

“I think we felt like we hurt ourselves on the prior series. It starts with the quarterback and he is a confident player. The tempo got better as the game wore on and he did a good job of getting us in and out of the huddle. I thought we blocked really well. I thought Jammal Brown played really well. One of the goals in this game was to try to minimize the effect (John) Abraham had on the pass rush. That was important because he is a rusher and will try to dismantle your plan. Defensively, one of our goals was to get after the quarterback. (Joey) Harrington made a really good play on that last drive when he extended the play and made a throw to get the first down. Atlanta played real hard. That was a real tough win.”

Why did you go for the two point conversion?

“Being up six puts us up by two field goals. We keep a chart and don’t really look at it until the fourth quarter. At that stage of the game, we took a look at the chart and it said to go for two. We just followed the chart. We tried to get the six point lead rather than five. We would have kicked normally if it were earlier in the game. We try to follow those principles and take in to account the situation of the game.”

Can you talk about Devery Henderson’s touchdown?

“It was a great throw and a great catch. He made a big play in the end zone. We caught them in the coverage that we were looking for. Drew (Brees) located the ball well and Devery came up with the big play. I told him afterwards that he provides a big spark ability to our offense. We keep trying to get all of our receivers matched up in the best situations. David Patten had a big third down conversion for us. Marques’s (Colston) play really changed the field position for us on that last drive. It was a third and four and he caught a slant over (Chris) Houston. He came out of the tackle. That was the one play that changed the dynamic of that drive.”

Can you talk about Drew Brees’s poise?

“He is cool under fire. He does a good job of recognizing the coverage when you give him time. He hung in there and battled. He’s not always perfect, but he is always competitive. I know he is a winner.”

Can you talk about Devery’s taunting penalty and if that had any effect in him returning to the field?

“I didn’t not play him as a result of him spiking the ball. I watched it. I looked at that play and I didn’t think he was trying to taunt anybody. You guys probably saw what I saw. It looked to me that he was fired up and got the monkey off his back by catching a touchdown pass. That’s what it looked like to me. They made a call on it. I was excited for him. After that, we had him in and out, which depended on the personnel grouping. We needed him to play well. We will continue to get him the reps.”

Can you talk about Olindo Mare’s progress?

“I have watched him in practice and he has been at full speed. His kickoffs today were good. He really hit the ball well this week. He felt real strong and came off our injury list this week. He has been impressive. I am confident in him. There is going to be a time when we are going to need a kick from him.”

Can you talk about how well the defense has played the last two weeks?

“I think in order to win in this league you have to play good defense. I think that is understood. We have done a good job of hurrying the quarterback and handling third down situations. We have done a much better job of keeping the ball in front of us and not giving up the big play. Those guys have worked hard and we are going to have to continue to improve and play well. It was a good team effort today. They came up big at the end in forcing them to punt.”

Can you talk about how well Roman Harper played?

“He made some big plays last week. He had some plays a week ago where he struggled with some of his assignments. I think he was much better tonight. He is a young player that is pretty smart. I think the film will show that he helped us a bunch today. He did a good job in coverage as well.”

DE Charles Grant

How important was the win?

“It was a big win for this organization and this team. The first four games people were criticizing our play a lot, saying they are not doing this and they are not doing that. Last week we had five sacks and we come back this week and get three or four sacks. The defensive coordinator put us in a groove today, and put it on us as to how good we can be. He did the play calling we made the plays. We still have some areas that we have to clean up though.”

How were you able to get after the quarterback today and was that the scheme you had in place?

“We have a lot of guys up front. If you are playing Byron Leftwich and you know he has twenty five quarterback fumbles in his career, we want to get after him early. Then Joey Harrington came in, opposing people don’t know that they are getting that ball out real quick. They watched a lot of film where we had tendencies. They went back to that first game to see the tendencies we have and they try to utilize them. It’s up to the coach to pick up on the tendencies and I think that today we played real well.”

You guys lost the lead in the third quarter, is the feeling different on the sideline, because you guys were able to come back and take the lead and win?

“This team is sitting at 2‐4 and 2‐2 in the division. We don’t have anything to lose; no one thought we could win. I tell everyone that this is a 12‐and‐4 football team. If you look at our team this team could be 12‐and‐4 easy, every guy just has to depend on each other. I like being the underdog.”

How much did the Falcons’ pre-snap penalties help today?

“It wasn’t all us. The people in the Dome (Superdome) helped with that. The crowd was into it today, the other two home games we played the crowd was kind of sluggish. Today they came out and believed in us and we came out with the win.”

QB Drew Brees

(on what he was thinking on Reggie Bush’s touchdown)

“Get it to him as fast as we can and let him run it for a touchdown. That’s exactly what happened. Obviously he made a great effort there at the end – it was just one of those “will not be denied” plays where he had to get in the end zone whatever it took. That was a big effort on his part and obviously from them guys who were out there blocking for him.”

(on the early touchdown pass to Devery Henderson)

“That was big. Especially early on, it was a way to get this game started. We got in great field position on the punt return and went three‐and‐out but then came back the next time and got into one of those situations where we expected them to be playing the coverage that they did and we were able to get Devery up through a hole. Obviously he made a nice catch and it was a great way to get the whole thing started. It was a big play touchdown that we’ve been talking about for the last few weeks and getting back to the big plays that we used to make.”

(on the play of Pierre Thomas)

“It’s just like in college when you have a walk‐on that comes in and earns a scholarship and ends up being a big part of your team. You see it every year in the NFL and that’s what is so great about this league. You get these undrafted free agents or seventh‐round draft picks like Marques Colston last year and they fight through all kinds of odds just to make the team and then they're thrust into a role where they're producing. I look to the future for Pierre Thomas as being one where he’s really going to contribute a lot. Not only on special teams but like today where he just got that simple draw play and made a few guys miss, broke a few tackles and took it to the house. The combination of Reggie, Stecker, and now Pierre Thomas, I think is great.”

(on how comfortable he was on the scoring drives)

“It felt great. We just need to get a rhythm. We had too many three‐and‐outs, and we need to get rid of those. I think we showed that once we get that first first down, here we go; we go right down the field. I think it’s just a matter of creating a tempo and a rhythm. I look back on all the scoring drives and say, ‘Why did that seem so easy?’ It’s because we’re getting in and out of the huddle, plays are coming in quick, we’re getting up to the line, guys are just seeing it and reacting and we’re playing ball.”

(on the biggest difference between this win and the Tennessee and Carolina losses)

“Getting that first win last week and guys feeling more confident, that’s definitely one thing. It seemed like this was a game that we were going to win. We believed that the whole time. I don’t think there was ever a time when we felt like this one was going the other direction.”

(on being two wins away from getting back to .500 at the halfway point of the season)

“That would absolutely be the goal at this point. We’re making another West Coast trip here to San Francisco and that can always be tough, so we’re going to have to get ready for a big one this week. Obviously it’s one at a time. It’s never been that cliché, but one at a time has never been more real than right now. We just have to focus week‐to‐week, not get too far ahead of ourselves and we’ll continue to get this thing back in the direction we want it headed."

RB Reggie Bush

Can you talk about the game-winning touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion?

“We were just trying to catch the defense off guard. We ran it quick. We really didn’t want to give them a chance to get set. They were brining personnel when we were getting set. That obviously helped us out a lot. We caught them off guard. As far as the two point conversion, it’s a play we normally run quite a bit. We hadn’t run it all game. It was the perfect call in the right situation.”

Can you discuss your persistence in getting over the one-yard line on the play?

“I refused to go down. I wanted to make a play for my team. That’s what it’s all about, just getting the win. However we got it, we got it. That was all I wanted to do. Obviously every game isn’t going to be 28 points in the first game. You’re going to have games like these.”

Did you tell yourself before the game that you have to come play today?

“I always tell myself that. I always tell myself when you come to play, make plays for the team, don’t try to overdo it and press too much, but make plays in situations. I think I did that today. At the end of the day, you can get better. There’s always room for improvement. We’ve only won two games, so we have a long way to go.”

After the touchdown, did you throw the ball in the upper deck out of frustration?

“I was just excited to make a play for my team. We struggled a little bit throughout the game. We really didn’t have the game go like we wanted it to. You’re not going to have every game where you score 28 points in the first half. It was a tough game. There were two teams fighting for their second win. On top of that, it’s a division game. When you have games like this, I think all records go out the window. We knew it was going to be a tough game from the start.”

When you were up at the corner of the one-yard line, did you know you were going to get a win and how did you do it?

“I kept my feet moving and refused to go down.”

What did Coach Payton tell you on the sideline in the third quarter?

“I’m not sure, but I think I remember a couple of times, (he talked to me about) getting up the field and just continuing to pound the ball. I think that was part of our game plan in the second half.”

Could you have put together a more complete game as a team?

“I think so. I think the offense could have performed better. I don’t think we performed too well today. I thought we protected Drew (Brees) very well today. I thought we did a good job at keeping the pressure off of Drew and allowing him to make his reads and throws, but all in all, I thought as an offense we could have done some more and put some more points on the board. We left some touchdowns out there. There was great effort today.”

Can you discuss the momentum developing in the two-game win streak?

“It’s huge for us. We were down 0-4. We got the first win last week against Seattle against a team that is tough to beat at home. We knew that going into the game, because we knew we were going to have to jump out at them early. We were able to do that in that game. This was going to be a division rivalry game. At the same time, it’s two teams trying to get their second win. It was going to be a tough game from the start. It’s great to get the win today.”

What does this touchdown mean to you?

“To score a touchdown to win the game definitely means a lot, not only me, but to this team, the fact that we were able to come back and continue to fight and there were some big plays by some other receivers on that drive. That drive wasn’t all me. That was definitely the receivers who made the big catches and allowed me to get to the point to make that play. It was definitely a team effort on that drive.”

LB Scott Fujita

Do you think this team has its swagger back?

“That felt pretty good today. I think being back in the Superdome and getting that first home win for the fans felt really good. Do we have our swagger back? It is starting to get back. Guys were flying around today and making plays we came in with a mindset, we talked about playing with confidence and getting to the quarterback and when you do that it creates more and more problems. It was a fun game to play in, it came right down to the wire, by no means was it pretty but shoot we will take it.”

When you were on the sideline and Reggie (Bush) caught that pass and gave the extra effort to get in the end zone, what were you thinking?

“How about Reggie Bush today? That was unbelievable. You hear about all the crap he has take from other people say he can’t run downhill, but that guy competes more than any guy I have seen in the league. He is impressive, his leg drive, he did it a few times last year carrying the pile, but that play he was not going to be denied; and then to come back on the two point conversion and get it the way he did, that was unbelievable. I am glad he is on my team that is for sure.”

Can you talk about the few drives after the score, defensively?

“We knew it was a game that was going to come down to the wire. We expected it to be a tough game, one of those days where you come early and stay late. Our defense today stepped up and made plays when we had to. When it counted and we had to make plays we did. It starts with the guys up front, those guys played huge today, they put a lot of pressure in the quarterbacks face, and that was something that we needed to get done.”

How much weight did this win take off of your shoulders?

“The weight is still on our shoulders. It is nice to get two in a row, last week I half jokingly said all that the one win guaranteed was that we would not finish 0‐and‐16. Now if we can keep lining them up and keep stringing wins together down the road we can worry about postseason. The good thing about our situation is no one in the division is running away with it right now. We have to just worry about San Francisco now and keep lining them up after that.”

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