Coach BILL BELICHICK

"It was an interesting game. We obviously had a lot of trouble there in the first half, particularly the first quarter. Starting with Brandin Cooks, I'm glad we don't have to play him twice a year, he's not in our division. He's a really good player. The Saints came out and played very well. We couldn't do anything offensively and we had a hard time stopping them. We made a few good situational plays over the course of the night, Devin (McCourty)'s break-up in the red area, (Bradley) Fletcher's break-up in the red area, James Morris' strip. Those were some really big plays that helped us get some stops, save some points, and eventually we got the running game going a little bit and we protected the quarterback well and I thought our receivers competed and made some plays. There was a good punt return for Chris (Harper) that was a good runback. Obviously, there's a lot of things we have to learn from and improve on but I thought our guys hung in there and competed and eventually made enough plays to make it competitive after being (down) 21-0. We'll get back to work this week, getting ready for Carolina and keep correcting our mistakes. We gave a lot of looks to some young players and it looked like, definitely, they had some positive moments but we'll look at the film and take a closer look. Maybe some of these guys showed that they deserve another chance or they deserve a chance to play in this league so we'll see how it goes."

On Jimmy Garoppolo's progression:

"He had a chance on a lot of complete passes. He threw the ball pretty accurately, a lot different than last week. There really wasn't a lot of pressure on the quarterback tonight and that's always a good thing for the passing game. I mean, there were some good things and, obviously, things we need to improve on everywhere. I thought overall offensively, once we got going we were able to move the ball a little bit, score some points, get in the end zone, kick a couple field goals, got some first downs, convert some third downs. Those were some good things there."

On getting an extended look at Dion Lewis:

"Yeah, he had a good week of practice. He missed last week, had a good week of practice. We were able to get a good look at Dion and James (White). We got Jonas (Gray) and LeGarrette (Blount) some carries so all of our backs some decent work done tonight."

On Chris Harper:

"Yeah, all of our receivers competed well. They made some plays, made some catches and Chris (Harper) in the return game, showed up a couple times to so it wasn't perfect, again. There's things we've got to work on but it was nice work."

On Saints' first two series defensively:

"They did a good job, they are a good football team. They are obviously well-coached. I have a lot of respect for the Saints and all of their players; they have a lot of depth on their roster. They put us in a big hole. You have to give credit to their team; they were ready to go with their execution. They have some great players that played well and you have to give them credit. They are a good football team."

On coming back from down 21-0:

"I was glad to see us compete all the way through for 60 minutes and that will go a long way. We, obviously, need to play better for 60 minutes and not think that we are going to pull every game back from behind. We need to play from ahead and get ahead. That's two weeks in a row where we've been totally outcoached and outplayed in the first quarter so we'll see if we can do better than that."

Running back JONAS GRAY

 "It was a battle out there, with two good teams fighting, and I didn't expect anything but a game like this. They knew what we were going to do and we had to adjust and that's what we did. We fought hard to get back into the game and that's good."

"The mantra for our team has always been to do your job. So whoever is in there, as a running back, you have to trust them. And that's all I'm doing. I thought I did ok, but I feel I'm still rusty on a couple of things, and I've got to improve when it comes to running after the initial contact. But it was a good day and something to build off of and I'm definitely going to take a look at the film."

"I think that every player in the NFL, if you give them time, they are going to grow. And that is what's happening with Jimmy (Garoppolo). When you're playing with a guy like Tom (Brady), I mean you're going to learn a lot from him. And he's (Garoppolo) learning from his own mistakes, and I think he's only going to get better each and every week."

Running back JAMES WHITE

 "Whenever you get your opportunity, you've got to take advantage of it. And that's something I've learned all my life. So I just tried to go out there and make the most I have."

"Like I said, I'm just looking for an opportunity. I mean, that's all you can ask as a rookie trying to get into this league. And whatever the coaches call, that's what I'm going to do, regardless of what my role is."

 "On that play (TD run), I noticed the linebacker overplay the play a little bit, and I just made a cut and there was nobody there."

Cornerback MALCOLM BUTLER

"It was great to go out there and get the reps and get ready for the season. I'm just out there learning and to give my team a chance to win. These games are all about us making plays and not letting the plays come to you, but to go out there and make the play. And as a cornerback you've just got to go out there and make plays."

 "I've always had confidence, even before that (Super Bowl) play. If I didn't have that, then I wouldn't be on the team."

Defensive back DEVIN McCOURTY

 "It was a learning experience out there; not only for myself but also for our entire defense. I mean we practice against (Tom) Brady everyday and that's great. But it's another thing to challenge yourself by playing against another great quarterback. Playing against him (Drew Brees), there's a lot of similarity between him and Tom (Brady) but there's also some differences too. So it's good for the defense and for the secondary to face a quality player like that (Brees) so we can get ready and prepare for the season."

Touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks "that was my fault. I have to stay on top of the coverage and help out Duron (Harmon) on that play. I just have to do a better job the next time."