New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton
Opening statement:
"Let's start with the obvious. Obviously, we were not very good tonight. It was a long game, especially offensively. I thought the two things that stood out were that we had trouble with any type of balance, protection. I thought our return game struggled, especially in the kickoff return. I thought we hung in there defensively for the first half. We had some takeaways, but it wasn't very good. Disappointing."
On the first adjustment he will make from this game:
"It's hard to do that without reviewing it yet. In fairness to the question, watch the tape, look closely at who's doing what, and we'll get back to work on Sunday."
*On Taysom Hill's role this week: *"He was still going through the week. We knew he wasn't going to be able to play quarterback this week, but he's listed as full relative to being up. That was his foot."
On his role once healthy:
"Again, we'll see. We'll look at everything right now. Obviously, we have to."
On Ian Book being inactive and Taysom Hill active:
"[Taysom Hill] was just like last week. He was our No. 2 quarterback, right? Last week was the same way. Obviously, his role would be limited, but it was the same as last week's game."
On the fourth down attempt with lost yardage:
"We were late with the get off. The ball was not snapped, but we had guys moving. We will look at it on film, but the timing and the get-off were poor."
On his aggressive play calling:
"I think a little bit. I think we were going to try to return kicks as best as we could, bring them out. How do you create points? I think going in we felt like we had to be a little bit more aggressive. (Buffalo) is a team that's capable of scoring. We weren't going to be able to just score 14 points or 17 points and win a game against a team like this."
On if he can recall a time where he felt like he needed to be this aggressive on certain types of decisions:
"I can't remember. I'm sure. There were some tough seasons, but it's now. You deal with the now. Obviously, it was difficult, and I am sure it was difficult for the television viewing audience."
On the offensive struggles:
"More importantly being a head coach, the premium on winning is so important with the amount of work you put in for everyone involved – players, coaches, trainers, equipment, everyone. There's so much that goes into it. That's what you think about."
On if the offensive struggles weigh on him being an offensive-minded coach:
"No. It just weighs on you, period. It's something that, obviously, we have to look closely at everything we're doing and who we are doing it with. It's not like these players are going to come walking through the hallway. It has to be from within."
On his review of Trevor Siemian's performance:
"We just finished the game. It's hard to give a review. He struggled. We struggled blocking him. We struggled running. I think it's going to be difficult to do a lot of anything if you can't block him and you can't have some balance."
On Josh Allen:
"Shoot, he's big and athletic. There were probably three or four plays, either 2nd or 3rd down, where all of a sudden, he gets into the defense for a first down. He's extremely talented."
On Siemian's interception:
"I think he forced it in the two-minute drill outside. I'm sure he will see that on film. Just seeing it, that's something he will see."
On how he keeps the focus one game at a time after four-straight losses:
"You have to focus on the next game, the same way if you have three or four-straight wins. It is very narrow relative to who the next opponent is. How do we change the results? How do we improve? That is where our focus will be."
On the two-point conversion attempt:
"I'll be honest with you, and I'm aware if you're a pretty good offensive team, it's probably not a problem. If you're not a good offensive team, which is what I would say that's where we are at right now, it probably is a problem. Two yards on a handful of downs tonight were a struggle, but I understand the question."
On if the short week had to do with the performance:
"I don't think so. I think both teams (were dealing with the same thing) – it is what it is."
Saints quarterback Trevor Siemian
On how he played tonight:
"Not good enough to win. I didn't play very well."
On why the offense has struggled in the past four weeks:
"It just feels hard. We're just not getting anything going early in games and today we kind of allowed it to snowball. We put our defense in a bad situation, so, we have to get (the offense) right."
On what happened during the critical missed fourth down conversion in the first half:
"Yeah, it was just a miscommunication with the snap and the cadence."
On how he will prepare to adjust his preparation to have more success:
"You just try to get some first downs and get some momentum back. You have to play it one play at a time. When you get first downs, good things happen from there. (It felt like) there were way too many three-and-outs today."
Saints linebacker Kwon Alexander
On the mood of the team after losing four straight:
"Everybody is upset. We're trying to figure it out. But we will figure it out. We have to get back to the drawing board and get ready for next week."
On if there was a tackling issue:
"We just have to get better at every little thing; tackling, coverage, communication, everything. Everybody has to work together, figure out a plan, and execute."
On how hard it is on the defense when the offense is struggling to score:
"It's our job not to let the other team score. We have to hold our offense down and pick them up. We have to figure out a way to keep them energized."
Saints center Erik McCoy
On the impact of a changing offensive starting lineup:
"I wouldn't really say so. It's all guys that have experience, all guys that played together before. Like I said, we just did not play our best ball today."
On the feeling of snowballing offensively, and how to get out of it:
"I think it goes back to practice this week. We've got to come in, we have to pay attention, even closer attention. It all comes down to the execution in practice and in games, we just have to do it."
On the difficulty converting third downs and its impact on the offense:
"Yeah, when you come off the field on third down, three and outs, you don't get anything going. You don't get the run game going. Nobody's getting their touches, and it's just hard."
Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan
On a strong first-half performance, then the point of team morale falling:
"As a defender, if we can get one turnover, we can get two. If we can get two turnovers, we can get three, and we didn't get enough turnovers today. So, I mean, four quarters, no spirit diminished. We knew what the emphasis was, we needed to create another turnovers and we didn't, so we have to get better from that."
On issues created by Josh Allen, especially after facing Jalen Hurts:
"I would say after seeing (Jalen) Hurts, probably not. You feel like you're aware that he (Josh Allen) can stretch some plays out with his feet. I think we did a good job of rounding him (Josh Allen) early and often. He was hit a few times, we got two turnovers out of it, but again, if you can get two turnovers, you can get three. If you can affect the quarterback every other play, you can affect the quarterback every play, and again, we have to put it on our defense right now. We knew we had to come in and take the load, and we've got to be who we think we are."
On the burden on defense to generate turnovers or impact the quarterback on every play:
"What do you mean? We are a team. Our offense is dinged up, that is no excuse. It is (a) next man up mentality. Our defense is relatively healthy in terms of our linebacker corps and our secondary. So, we (the defense) have to be the strength. We (the defense) have to be more than we are in this game, more than we were in this game."
