Skip to main content
New Orleans Saints
Advertising

Saints News | New Orleans Saints | NewOrleansSaints.com

Postgame Quotes: Denver Broncos 33, New Orleans Saints 10 | 2024 NFL Week 7

Quotes from Dennis Allen, Spencer Rattler, Tyrann Mathieu and Demario Davis about the loss to the Broncos

SAINTS COACH DENNIS ALLEN

"We have one (major) injury update to make you guys aware of. Paulson Adebo looks like he has got a broken femur. Then (Marshon) Lattimore's got a hamstring and Nick Saldiveri a shoulder. Those are the three where (those) guys weren't able to come back into the game. You look at this game and there was nothing complementary about the game. In particular, early on in the game, we weren't able to get anything going offensively. Defensively, we allowed them to have too many long drives. Therefore, the first half, I think the time of possession was out of whack. It kind of got a little more balanced up as the game went along. I think that's been a challenge for us. I think we're not winning the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball. That's a challenge for us right now. We have, obviously, a few days here before we have to play again. We'll go out to L.A. next week. We've got to find a way to put our guys in the best position to have some success, and we've got to find a way to play better football. That's been disappointing. Obviously, look, injuries play a part in it, but we've got
to find a way to play better."

On what contributes to a lack of success in the game:

"Look, I think as coaches and as players, we have to do a better job. We have to do a better job throughout the week of preparation. We're making mistakes that we shouldn't be making and allowing guys to get free. Again, part of the run game is that we have to do a better job at winning the line of scrimmage. That's where it all starts. We have to do a better job of getting off the blocks, and we have to do a better job of tackling. I guess as coaches and players all alike, we've got to figure it out."

On if he's concerned on the team's buy in:

"No, look it's hard when you lose five in a row, and then when you look at all the injuries on top of it, it makes it a lot more challenging. I think our guys are fighting, yet the results aren't showing."

On the process leading up to the game and his evaluation of it:

"I think it's still got to improve. Again, I get it, we have to play better. I think guys are trying. I think guys are working. We're dealing with a lot of injuries right now. That's not an excuse. I don't want anybody to misconstrue that as an excuse, but it is an issue for us. I think all of us are trying to fight through that."

On if he's ever experienced so many injuries:

"No. I don't know what that number is in terms of amount of missed time for guys and critical pieces to our team, but it's the nature of the game that we play."

On if there is any trend leading to injuries:

"I don't think we've been able to put our thumb on one individual thing that's caused these things. I think it's kind of one of those years."

On if he could see issues at the line of scrimmage coming from performance in training camp and early in the year:

"I don't think that's something that as we went through the course of training camp and everything that I felt was going to be a major issue for us, but it's become that. It's become that really over the last two or three weeks. Each and every week, it's kind of gotten a little bit not as good."

On if the line of scrimmage issues are fixable with current personnel:

"I think it is. I definitely think it is. We've got to get back to the fundamentals and technique."

On if injuries can be demoralizing:

"It can be. It certainly can be, and that's something we have to be able to fight through. That's the tough part of our league, seeing things like that. It can be difficult, sure."

On why Spencer Rattler left the game at the two-minute warning:

"He got, I think maybe, a hip pointer. At that time, I didn't want to leave him in there. I wanted to put Jake (Haener) in. I didn't want to risk him getting hurt any further."

On the biggest problems Rattler faced in the game:

"I think just the pressure. They sent a lot of pressure at him, gave him some different looks, things that we kind of – not maybe the exact certain looks – but they did a lot of the things that we expected they would do. I think we had some opportunities in the passing game, and we dropped a few balls. Certainly, the sacks were an issue, and part of that's protection, part of that is him being able to get the ball out. I think there's a combination of things."

On his quarterback plan going forward:

"I certainly wouldn't put all of this on Spencer Rattler, for sure. I think there's a supporting cast around him that has to play better. I think we will evaluate the tape. We'll look at it and see what we need to do. Then, we will have a plan moving forward."

On if Derek Carr and/or Taysom Hill could be back next week:

"I think it's possible. I think it's probably more likely that Taysom (Hill) would be ready before Derek (Carr), but we have 10 days. Let's let that play out a little bit and see where we are out there."

On the sequence before the end of the first half:

"We shouldn't have taken the timeout is what we shouldn't have done. We had two plays to try to see if we could create something. Then, after having a couple of checkdowns and some pressure on the quarterback, it was like let's take a knee. Let's get out of the half. Let's regroup and come back. We'll get the ball to start the second half. Initially, the thought was can we get a chunk play and have the opportunity to create something? If not, then let's get out of the half."

On who called the timeout before the half:

"I'm not sure exactly who called the timeout, to be honest with you. I'm not sure if it was called on the field or not."

On Bo Nix's performance:

"I think the big play was the short yardage toss play where they had the numbers over there. It was a good play by them, a good design. That was probably their biggest play. I felt like we had a few times where we had free runners on the quarterback, and he's athletic. He made a play. He made us miss. That was certainly something we were aware of and probably need to do a better job of managing that."

On managing player frustration:

"You have to stand up and lead. That's what you have to do. You have to stand up and lead. That's what I have to do. That's what our coaches have to do. That's what the leaders on our team have to do because we're the only ones that can get us out of this. Nobody – it's not like we're going to have a draft in the middle of the season. Nobody's going to be coming in here to be the savior. We're going to have to do it ourselves. Hopefully, we'll begin to get some guys back because, look, early on in the season, we played good football. I know this team has it in them. I have two tapes that show me that this team has good football in them and has got good coaching in them. Right now, we're not playing that way, and obviously, there's a multitude of reasons why. We've got to figure out how to get back to playing that type of football because I've seen it done. I've seen what it
looks like."

On if Paulson Adebo's injury requires surgery:

"I think he's going to have surgery tonight."

On Rashid Shaheed going on Injured Reserve:

"Look, it's another play-maker. We've got our rookie quarterback out there with some backup players on the offensive line playing in front of him and two primary receivers are out of the game. That's another challenge that you have to overcome as a young player (Rattler). He's (Shaheed) an explosive element to our offense. He's an explosive element to our team and special teams. That's a big loss."

On the approach in the next few days:

"Here's the approach - the approach is we're going to come back in on Monday, which would be a Thursday night kind of schedule. Monday's going to be like a normal day after the game schedule. I want guys to get some rest. I want guys to get some recovery. I want them to get their bodies back. The guys that are injured are going to be spending the weekend in here getting themselves healthy. Then, we will start planning for the Chargers. I think over the next few days, I know for me and for the coaches, I think we just have to look at everything that we're doing and where we're at and how we can help our guys be better. That's what we have to do as coaches."

On if he's going to be in the office more than what he would be for a schedule after a Thursday night game:

"No, but we're going to be working. It's easy to work remote now. I'm going to see my son in Savannah."

On Kendre Miller:

"I thought he played well. I thought the plays when we handed him the ball, I thought he did some good things. I wished he would have caught the ball over the middle, but I was impressed with what I saw out of Kendre. I think that's a guy that can help us."

SAINTS QUARTERBACK SPENCER RATTLER

On his performance in his second start:

"Got to be better. Plain and simple, got to be better. I felt like we had some good things going at certain times, but just couldn't catch a rhythm. It starts with myself, (I) got to be better, and then the group will follow. So I've got to set that standard and be better."

On Thursday's challenges vs. last week:

"I can't put my hand on it right now. We'll watch the tape, see what we could've done better, but just coming on the sideline and looking at the iPad, we had some stuff there. We just all got to be on the same page and at the same focus, and that starts with me. As a leader, I've got to be better in that area."

On the blind side sack situation:

"They had a better play call than we did, plain and simple. They executed and split second that ball is out to Juwan (Johnson) and it's a big play, so, I've got to get it off faster."

On the defensive pressure:

"They have a really good front, a really good defense, good scheme. We moved the ball at times, but it's a good front. They're talented."

On team's disappointing stretch:

"I think you're going to go through tough times, and we've got great leaders on our team. Demario (Davis) just talked to us and said 'This storm will pass. We've got to all stick together.' Just keep finding ways to improve. It doesn't feel great right now, but if we just keep stacking days and get some guys back healthy, we'll be alright."

On what he's learned through two starts:

"Just to not quit. Keep going, keep battling. I know that's said a lot, but it's real. You don't want to just give it up at half or third quarter or fourth quarter, no matter what's going on. You've got to just keep swinging, keep punching, keep believing in your guys. Just got to be better."

On grace considering injuries:

"No excuses for anybody, starting with myself. I'm so hard on myself and want myself to play at a high level at all times no matter what the circumstances are. We do have a lot of injuries, but it's next man up mentality, we know that. We'll get guys back healthy and keep getting better."

On specifics in his game to work on during the mini-break:

"Again, I'm going to watch the tape and see what happened today. I felt like I was seeing things well today. I felt pretty comfortable back there. We just all have got to be on the same page, and that starts with me. It starts with me. If I've got to use my legs more, or get it out quicker, get a sense of different checks, I have to, so I can get better at that."

On sequence before halftime:

"We just did what was called. We took two throws. I think I checked them both down to (Alvin Kamara) and we took a knee, and there was only 16 seconds left. We had two timeouts, had to go 50 yards or so, 40 yards or so. They were going to drop coverage and try to force us to check it down, so that's what we did. Got on to the half."

On hip pointer:

"Fourth quarter, I landed on it weird. Maybe somebody hit it, just landed on it funny. I just got up and it was a little tight. It's one of the only spots I don't have pads on, but should be OK."

On talking to Drew Brees:

"Obviously, one of the best of all time. It was pretty cool to spend a little moment with him pregame. Obviously such a big deal, he got inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame today, so congrats to him. He's one of the GOATs, and it was cool to be on the sideline with him for a minute. He had some good advice for me."

On message to fans:

"Obviously, we want to put out a better product. We've got to be better, so it starts with us, but having great support always helps. With what I've seen, Saints fans are great every game, so we've got to play better and keep them there."

SAINTS SAFETY TYRANN MATHIEU

On how the defense approaches this going forward:

"Obviously, it's not going our way. We can't pout, we're grown men, we get a paycheck, so we have just got to continue to push forward. Life doesn't always go your way, and I can't stress that enough. We've got to find a way to stay together and look in the mirror. Are we doing the right things throughout the week? Are we preparing the right way? Do we believe in our coaches? Do we believe in the guys next to us? So, we've got a lot of tough questions to answer and ask ourselves, but obviously this is not the type of outcome any of us imagined. Some things aren't in our control, but the things that are in our control, we've got to do a better job of showing up and trying to make a play."

On the state of the team and the break before the next game:

"We're not the healthiest team right now, and sometimes you just need a couple of days off to regroup. I'm hoping that this long weekend could work to our advantage, and we come back and everybody has to recommit to the group. The season isn't over, but we've got a lot to figure out."

On team's biggest concerns:

"Defensively, if we don't stop the run, it's hard to play good defense. I think for most of that game, they had the momentum. I dropped a pick, and those are the plays that we have to make if we want to turn the momentum. If I catch that ball before halftime, they don't get three points and we probably score that drive. So then, it's a one score game, and we're still in the game. So we've just got to find a way to make those plays, because I think that's what's really holding us back. We aren't making those plays in those critical moments like the team needed."

SAINTS LINEBACKER DEMARIO DAVIS

On the run defense falling short:

"That's the point of a run defense, and a good defense in general. You have to stop the run. But you have to look at it and figure out why that happened and make the corrections. I think what you don't do is try to attribute it to all these other factors. I've been on this defense for seasons when we haven't given up a hundred yards rushing. I've been here when it's up, and I've been here when it's down. Sometimes you do everything right and you get a bad result. What are you going to do, and how are you going to respond? For me, I look at them as opportunities, because I was always focused on the process, not on the results. I've learned it's the process, and of course it's tough when you don't get the results you want. But like I said, and I say it all the time, loss is the greatest teacher in life. When I was up 10, I went right back to the drawing board, so now that I'm down 10, I'm going right back to the drawing board. And that has only served me well, and this team has always been resilient through all different types of adversity. Whether it's been injuries, whether it's been games not going our way, this team has always been resilient."

Check out the game action shots from the New Orleans Saints Thursday Night Football game against the Denver Broncos in Week 7 of the 2024 NFL Season on Oct. 17, 2024 in the Caesars Superdome.

Related Content

Advertising