SAINTS CB ELI APPLE
On his injured ankle
"It's a little hurt. It felt weird and was an awkward feeling. I don't really want to talk about it, but I'll be okay."
On the team's confidence
"We're real confident, we just have to keep it rolling. We just have to continue to get better and continue to grow as a team and take that next step and become a great team. And we can do that by being more consistent and finishing out games."
On Teddy Bridgewater's performance
"He's a real great quarterback. To me, he was making all the right passes and all the right decisions. He's our leader out there, and he was picking them apart. I'm just really proud of him, his story and where he came from."
On if he's had a moment where he thought the team was going to be special
"I think throughout practices, that always brings a team together. Really, the Washington trip and going out into unfamiliar territory. I think that brought us closer and showed us what type of team we were."
SAINTS RB LATAVIUS MURRAY
On if he was expecting to have 27 carries in today's game
"I had no idea how many carries and touches. I just knew my load would increase with [Alvin Kamara] being down. So I was prepared for whatever and just wanted to make sure that I executed when the ball was in my hands."
On his increased playing time the past couple of games
"To be honest, I've been in similar situations before to where you guys want to talk to me and when you don't. It's my seventh year so I understand that. So again, my part is doing my job when my number is called. It's going to be times like this. I know my role, and I know what I have to come in and do when guys go down. That's a part of it. I just take the same mentality every week and be ready to execute."
On Teddy Bridgewater's performance
"I think Teddy is playing the way he knows how to play. I don't think he's trying to come in and replace Drew. He just comes in and is himself. That's all you can ask, because Teddy has had success before. So this is nothing new to him. He's been a successful quarterback at this level. So we support him, he's done a heck of a job."
On tonight's cutbacks from his perspective
"I just read it out. My eyes take me and my feet follow. I can't say there's something I'm doing before I read it. Every play is different. You have to have vision, your eyes will see it and you make sure your feet follow."
On if his skill set was key in tonight's game
"I think it was a physical game. I think we knew we wanted to establish an identify up front, and they did that creating a line of scrimmage and moving the line of scrimmage. I'm a big guy, so I just try to make sure I'm doing my part."
SAINTS WR MICHAEL THOMAS
On today's performance
"I had a lot of fun out there playing with this offense, helping this team move the chains, and making explosive plays. We knew we were playing a tough opponent on the road, so we knew we had to come and lock in and eliminate as many mistakes as we could. I think we played great, but I think there is still room for improvement."
On what the team was able to navigate today
"We just saw what we saw on film and executed and trusted our game plan and our coaches. We executed at a high level, but we still have room for improvement."
On what they need to improve
"We're going to keep doing what we're doing. The train starts to move fast, and just wanting to get some of our injured guys back. We're kind of up against some adversity with our key contributors being down today. So guys had to step up and lead, and make sure everything is good for when they get back. I take a lot of pride when I see one of my brothers that I compete with every day, and I know how much their accountable and how much they want to be successful. I just want to go out there and play for them."
On Teddy Bridgewater's leadership over the last 5 games
"He's been doing great, and Teddy Bridgewater is who he is. He always says be yourself. He's a very calm guy and is a tremendous quarterback, and he wants to win. When you have a guy like that front and center, it's pretty self-explanatory, we have to win."
SAINTS DB C.J. GARDNER-JOHNSON
On his personal game
"I didn't have a good game, but 10 other guys did, so that's it. I practiced great with my team. I did what I was supposed to do with my team during the week, going into the game, Monday through Saturday and you see the results on Sunday."
On keeping the Bears from getting into their game plan
"We just focused on our game plan. It's kind of hard to talk about what was focused on with the media. You know between those lines, when the ball is snapped, it's 11 on 11, we just have to go out there and do our job. Our job today was just to have everybody do their part…Kudos to the offense for doing their thing and kudos to our defense."
On the one consistent factor over the last four games
"We're going to go from good to great, good to great, and that is our motto, that is what we strive on and that is only thing I can tell you so far".
On players stepping up and filling in when needed
"To answer that question in one answer, you don't stop playing football when that one person goes out. So you have to keep playing, keep striving, keep practicing. You have to think about it, if a teacher doesn't come to class, you have a substitute, class don't stop the bus has to keep rolling, they are still on this bus with us, and we are going to keep this thing moving."
SAINTS WR TED GINN JR.
On QB Teddy Bridgewater
"It all goes back to his parents at the end of the day, they groom a nice young man, to be able to come into this world and fight with any emotion any type of disparity, anything. Just to be able to come in and there are a lot of brothers around here, that know how to attack, and have his back no matter who is behind the wheel"
On his 45 yard reception
"Practice makes perfect. That is all you can really ask for. We went over the things, and we should have had one earlier in the game, we fell short on that, but we'll go back to the drawing board and figure it out."
SAINTS T TERRON ARMSTEAD
On what is means to be a Saint
"I think that every team feels like they have something… I think the way we built this culture, this environment in New Orleans these past few years has been special. The group of guys that we have come in, to embrace that, and elevate that, in a lot of ways we have a lot of great guys. Just that alone, the build of the team was special. We still have to go out and perform, and I think we are doing that and we are starting to stack some wins together, so this team has got a chance to do whatever we want to do. The best teams are the deepest. Teams that can sustain and handle injuries. I think our front office has done a great job of building the guys that we can count on…We had some guys that can really step up in all three phases. Guys stepping up and just ready to go."
On how special this win was
"I was just telling someone that I think this is one of the favorite wins of my career. One of them for sure. Just the circumstances, the way the game played out, the energy, the way we went out and won, it was a fun, hard-fought game, one of the favorites of my career."
