SAINTS COACH DENNIS ALLEN
"Just a couple of injury deals to make you guys aware of. Chris Olave is in the concussion protocol, and Tyrann Mathieu had a forearm injury and did not return to the game. Those are the injuries that I am aware of to this point. I am thoroughly disappointed in the game. It was not acceptable. It was not good enough. It wasn't good enough from a coaching standpoint. It wasn't good enough from a playing standpoint. We've got a lot of getting better to do, and we've got a short time to do it. We need to get some guys healthy, but we've got to play better than we did today in all areas."
On the defensive issues:
"We didn't tackle. I think that was the biggest thing. I thought our tackling was atrocious in the game. When you don't tackle, you give up explosive plays, you give up big plays. It just kind of snowballed on us a little bit, but it was not good enough."
On the yardage given up:
"We have to tackle better. I thought that was the biggest thing in the game. We didn't tackle in the game. Look, make no mistake about it, when it comes to the defense, that's on me. I have to do a better job with our guys. I have to make sure we understand what we're doing. If we have to do more tackling drills or if we have to – whatever the case may be, but it was not a good defensive performance at all. That needs to be an area that we can count on. It's been an area that we can count on, but right now it's not."
On Spencer Rattler's performance:
"Overall, I thought he did some good things. There were some encouraging things, some things he's going to learn from, from a mistake standpoint on his part. I don't think we did enough around him to help him. It was hard for us to be able to run the football. I thought they really won the interior part of the line of scrimmage, really probably on both sides of the ball on the line of scrimmage. I thought he did some things really well early in the game, in particular the first half. In the second half, it kind of went on. I thought they started pressuring him a little bit more. We weren't able to be as good in protection, which made it a little more challenging for him."
On any commonalities in the problems with the tackling:
"Part of it is angles. It's technique. It's wrapping up. There are a lot of fundamental things that were not good enough with tackling. I think it starts with leverage and angles. That's where it starts, then the fundamentals of actually making a tackle. We have to do a better job of wrapping up, but that's two weeks in a row that we haven't done a good job of tackling. That's probably our biggest concern. You talk about explosive plays, and a lot of those come on underneath plays that become explosive plays."
On if the tackling can be resolved ahead of Thursday's game against the Broncos:
"It's something we better fix in four days."
On if there is a reason why defense has been struggling:
"I don't really know. You know what I mean? I don't have that answer right now as to what that challenge is. One of the areas it starts with is being able to put yourself in a position to be able to get off the field. When you get off the field, you play less plays. I think that's part of our issue too."
On tackling technique vs. effort:
"I think it's a combination of both. I think later on in the game, we could have attacked the ball carrier a little more. We will look at the tape, but it was not good enough. I have to do a better job."
On how to refocus on Thursday night:
"You're probably a little too early to ask me that question."
On the mind-set of the team amid the injuries:
"It's challenging, but we can't sit here and sulk and moan. We have to figure out how we're going to get better. I told the team we have to get better, and have a short period of time to do it. Everybody needs to look at themselves – coaches, players, everybody and make sure we're doing everything we possibly can to get this thing going in the right direction because right now, it's not where we want it to be."
On the effort of the team:
"I'm saying we missed a lot of tackles, and need to do a better job of tackling."
On coaching and schematic changes:
"We made a couple of changes as the game went on in terms of how we were setting up front in terms of how we were setting up front to try to deal with some of the run plays we were getting. We played poorly, and when you do that, obviously you have to look at yourself as a coach, myself, all the coordinators, position coaches. I think we all need to look at ourselves and see how we can be better. That's what we will do this week."
On Johnathan Abram's attempt to call a timeout:
"The officials didn't see it. It happened right about the time the snap was being made. I don't think anyone really saw it in time to get the timeout called."
On the decision to stick with the corners on the sides:
"We matched them the first game last year, and then the second game, we didn't match. I think we have confidence in our guys. I didn't feel like that was the challenge today. I felt the challenge was the underneath throws that became long plays and the running plays that became long plays because we didn't do as good of a job getting them (to the) ground as we needed to."
On the pressure:
"There was a lot to be frustrated about. There are not a lot of areas – other than having three takeaways in the game – there weren't a lot of areas defensively we can say were good. I want to go back to the drawing board and figure out how we can be better."
On the team morale's on the sideline:
"I think all the way through the first half, our guys were in it, our guys were excited (and) our guys kept battling. Even with losing guys like Chris Olave, who I think's an important part of what we do, and Tyrann Mathieu and some of those guys, I thought our guys fought. There was a lot of energy in the building at that time. It really didn't start to snowball until the second half."
On his extra advice for Spencer Rattler ahead of his first start:
"Nothing other than just go out there and play. You know what I mean? Let's don't put too much pressure on this deal. Just go out and do what you've been doing since you were (points) that high (young). Then go have fun doing it. Look, I thought early on in the game, I thought he did some really good things. I think as the game went on, the score changed and things became more difficult."
On if he will stick with starting Rattler at quarterback:
"Yeah, that's my intention."
QUARTERBACK SPENCER RATTLER
On his touchdown pass to Bub Means:
"I was definitely happy on how Bub was playing. It was kind of quiet these first four or five games. He's been grinding in practice. We've been talking about when your time comes to make those plays. I was happy for him. I think that he was one of our leading receivers and he made some big-time plays. We all just have to play better as a group."
On losing Chris Olave early:
"It was tough. He'll tell you himself that it is next man up mentality. It's unfortunate to see your top guy go down really early in the game. I hope it's a speedy recovery. I hope that he is back fully healthy. It's tough. We really wanted to get him involved in this game."
On the pressure Tampa Bay was bringing in the second half:
"I caused a few of those sacks. The offensive line fought their butts off all day. They played really well. I thought we did some things to help them up front. I just need to continue to work that pocket and get the ball out. I have to give credit to their defense. They played really well in the second half."
On if he felt comfortable with the bootlegs:
"Yes, it worked really well in the first half. We were pinning those edges and really getting them on the fakes. That gives you a lot of space and take some pressure off your offensive line definitely early in the game. Stuff was coming open. I thought the tight ends did an amazing job of feeling that space and that zone in the first half. We were making plays of it in the keeper game. We'll be better. We have to get back to the drawing board and get back to work."
On his emotions:
"It felt very calm. It was fun to be out there. It felt really good. I definitely have a lot of stuff to clean up after my first start. I'm going to be better."
On the speed of the game:
"Football is football at the end of the day. Every week you are going to play the best guys in the world. We have to execute. We can't shoot ourselves in the foot. I have to be better. We have to be better."
RECEIVER BUB MEANS
On the connection with Spencer Rattler:
"It just carried over. We had confidence with each other. We had chemistry, so we just went out there and balled. I knew eventually that I would get an opportunity. When my opportunity came I made the play. That's a blessing. I can never complain about getting an opportunity to play. I just go out there and compete."
On who keeps the ball on the touchdown reception:
"I don't know. We have to figure that out. I forgot about that. It was (Spencer Rattler's) first touchdown too. I'm proud of him."
CORNERBACK PAULSON ADEBO
On what led to the uncharacteristic defensive performance:
"We didn't execute as high as we can. I think every single one of us needs to look ourselves in the mirror starting with me personally. I need to look at myself in the mirror and see what I can do better. How can I have more of an impact on the game? The good thing is that we play quick on Thursday, so we can get the bad taste out of our mouth. There is a lot for us to work on."
On the missed tackles:
"The missed tackles were definitely a problem. It is one of those things that we are going to have to look to get fixed before Thursday."
On why the game turned out the way that it did:
"Tackles are a part of it. Anytime that you can't get someone on the ground (it is a problem). It starts with me and the whole defense. I wouldn't question the effort. Personally, I need to look at myself in the mirror and I will."
On keeping the spirit up:
"It's a long season. We don't want to have this type of game happen again. We will get to Thursday and we'll play a lot better. That's our whole focus right now."
DEFENSIVE BACK JOHNATHAN ABRAM
On if fundamentals were an issue today and can they get fixed:
"Of course. You wouldn't be here as a pro if you didn't have the fundamentals to tackle. We are all pros. Those guys get paid, so kudos to those guys. They came out and played hard. They outexecuted us today. That's morseo of what it is. The backs ran hard. The quarterback had a few turnovers, but besides that he played well."
On cleaning up the missed tackles:
"We need to make a conscious effort to get 11 guys to the ball. We need to be where we are supposed to be. We need to clean up our angles and approaches. We need to get the guy down. That's something that we need to work on, but we will get better."
On what they could have done to carry the momentum from the second quarter:
"Execution. Football is not a hard sport. They call a play on offense. We call a defense. It's all about who executes the best. Oftentimes, you don't see a guy lose because the guy was so much better than the other one. If it is a blown coverage, then it looks a lot worse compared to a guy being near and making a catch. That is why it is a 50-50. We just have to do a better job of executing in the second half. The first half we got off to a slow start and then we started executing well. We just got away from it in the second half."
