New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees* Media Availability Transcript
Wednesday, October 25, 2017*

The Bears are forcing a lot of errors out of offenses. What concerns you the most about that?
"They have done a great job of getting pressure on the quarterback and just being in the right place at the right time. Some guys in the secondary are making great plays. The safety (Eddie Jackson) had two touchdowns last week, picking up the scoop and score on the fumble and then the nice job by the corner batting the ball up in the air and him (Jackson) running underneath it to make the play down the sideline again. Those are game-changers. The week before at Baltimore, the other safety made a similar play off a deflected ball, where it looks like a punt returner, returning it about 90 yards for a touchdown. Those are game-changing plays. Not only are you putting points on the board for your team, but those offenses were in close position at the time. Those are game-changers. They are playing with high energy. They have some big guys inside that can wreak havoc if you allow that. They've done a great job with that. We have our work cut out for us to go out and execute efficiently with what we are doing and attack these guys"

How satisfying was it for you as an offense to finish out against Green Bay the way you did as an offense, chewing up clock and getting first downs?
"It was good. Especially since we didn't start the game the way we wanted to with two turnovers, them getting a big play for a touchdown. Yes, we stuck with the plan. We knew that if we were able to execute and possess the ball and do all the things we preach offensively, we could wear the defense down and turn that into points. I thought we did a great job. We had great balance throughout the game run to pass. The line did a tremendous job in every phase. The running backs and receivers did a tremendous job, not only catching the ball, but blocking and then the defense came up with some big stops. It's just a great team win. To go into halftime down at Lambeau Field and having not played very well, I think to come back in the second half and put forth that effort says a lot about the team."

Do you feel less pressure now the way that the running game is operating?
"It is a good feeling to know that you can run the ball effectively that you have a pair of backs that do a good job both in the base run and the sub run game. It just gives us a ton of flexibility. It gives us the opportunity to do a lot. The receivers can block, catch and make big plays and the defense is playing outstanding getting takeaways that have resulted in points for us offensively. That's winning football, when you talk about the formula for winning. If you can do those things consistently, you can win a lot of football games."

Does that combination make you feel that this is the best team that you have been on in a while?
"I'm not going to label anything yet. We're only six games into a long season. We have a lot of work ahead of us. I like the direction we're going. To start off 0-2 and overcome all that speculation and that slow start I think says a lot. To rattle off four in a row and try to make it five in a row, winning feels good. The main thing you have to ask yourself is are we playing our best football. I don't think we're playing our best football yet. We're doing enough things to win, but we're not playing our best football. I'm anxious to see what our best football is like."

Is that far off or is it close?
"It's not far off. It is close. But, we can definitely improve in a lot of areas."

Mitchell Trubisky is a starting quarterback after 13 starts in college. Could you imagine taking the reigns of an NFL team so quickly if you had started only 13 games at Purdue?
"Guys come into this league so much more well-prepared than ever before. Credit that to the amount of football that they play, from the seven-on-seven passing academies and camps up on through high school. There's so much bouncing back of coaches from college to pro that I think a lot of the systems that are being run both offensively and defensively are carrying over. I think a lot of what quarterbacks are being asked to do at the college level and what they're seeing from a defense, helps them prepare even more for this level. You see it every year, there's two, three, four guys that step in every year and they're operating very efficiently just like Mitch Trubisky is."

Have you had any dealings with Trubisky?
"No, I haven't met him."

You can run a little parallel there for as a rookie what it is like for a quarterback?
"Yes, I didn't start any games as a rookie, but I know my head was swimming when I first got to camp and throughout the season. Not only are you adjusting to a new offense and being required to do new things, but the speed of the game and understanding the formula for winning in the NFL is different from that in college."

Ryan Pace is a guy who you had a relationship with here and we're sure you wish him success except this week. Do you see what he's trying to build or help to build?
"I love Ryan Pace, loved him when he was here and loved that he received the opportunity to become a general manager somewhere because he certainly deserved it. I think he's doing a great job. Obviously you knew this time would come when we play against him or the team that he's affiliated with. I have a ton of respect for him."

What have you noticed from Brandon Coleman so far?
"He's one of my favorite teammates, B-Cole. Whatever you ask him to do, he is willing to do to help the team. Week to week that changes. Some weeks it is B-Cole we're going to need you to block this guy 40 times this game. Some weeks it is we need you to run this series of routes or do this on third down. The guy can do anything you ask him to do. He does it willingly. He is tough. He is smart. He knows each receiver position. We have a lot of experience now. It's going on four years. I think any guy that's been around that long, go back to the (Marques) Colston's and Devery's (Henderson) and Lance Moore's and (Robert) Meachem's, when you have that much time together that's when you really develop a repor and there's things that we can reference to together from years past that might help us with a certain route of installment that we're installing week to week. I have a ton of confidence in him."

Sean (Payton) said the other day 'you can't worry about the horse at the quarter pole' talking about (where the team is in the standing), was that said for the media or for the players?
"It's absolutely meant for us as well. We've heard the same thing in our meetings and that is we have a lot of football left. We're trending in the right direction. What's happened thus far doesn't promise us anything for the future and that there're things that we need to get better at, there are things that we need to improve because as you go along the games become more important and the margin for error becomes smaller and smaller. We need to continue to play our best football."

With (Mark) Ingram and (Alvin) Kamara, do you find that you guys are maybe less predictable with which running back is in the game than you can remember with other guys?
"I would say so because both guys are so versatile, both guys can do everything. You asked me which guy is going to be in at goal line, I do not know. It could be either one. Who is going to be in at third down? I do not know, it could be either one. Base offense? It could be either one. They're both so versatile in what they can do, it's a good thing to have."

Have you noticed that makes a difference with defense?
"Certainly, for sure. There are defenses that key in on your running backs and that will determine the coverages they play, the fronts they play, the types of defensive structure they play against you just solely based upon who the running back is. When you're able to mix and match the backs and do it in a way where you're very comfortable asking them to do, basically just opening up the playbook to them, and saying no matter what we're running we feel comfortable with that guy in the game, that's a good thing."

What have you seen out of your former teammate (Akiem) Hicks?
"He's done a great job, he's done a really great job. He's a disruptive player. He makes a ton of plays. When you turn on the film, you notice him. That's the biggest compliment I can give to somebody is when you turn on the film and notice a guy like that. The road he's traveled from here to New England then to Chicago. He certainly seems like he's found a good home and he's doing a good job for them."

What's the key to throwing a good successful player route?
"Throw it to where your guy can get it and the other guy cannot. (It) Sounds pretty (sarcastic). I am not being a smart aleck, that's true."

What have you seen out of Marshon Lattimore just in terms of his skills?
"He's extremely talented. I'm sure the DBs can speak to that better. But I think you just see the (confidence). It's one thing to be talented but it's another thing to gain confidence and then begin to understand the system that you are in and understand how to play the position at this level with all that those guys are asked to do at times, know where your help is at all times, know when to take chances, know when to anticipate. The more that you see, the more experience you have in this league, the more you know to anticipate what is about to happen. I think he just continues to get better and better."

It seems like a lot of quarterbacks you included begin to notice the matchups that they can exploit, a lot of times that's a rookie, can you remember a rookie who you looked away from in a game?
"I don't know. Not off of the top of my head. Just in the near past, Marcus Peters was a guy who had a phenomenal rookie season with KC and last year when we played him that was his second year, he had already kind of established that no throw zone on certain routes, (it's) been plenty of corners now. I remember playing against Aaron Glenn who's on our staff now and we legitimately had a no-throw zone. If it was a route inside of 12 yards to the right, you were not throwing it because Aaron Glenn was there and he was probably going to make it a bad day for you. Every young DB strives to kind of be that guy."