New Orleans Saints executive vice president/general manager Mickey Loomis joined the Saints Hour on WWL on Tuesday, Nov. 14 and discussed the Saints game against the Minnesota Vikings, wide receivers A.T. Perry and Lynn Bowden Jr., the team's bye week and more in an interview with Mike Hoss, the voice of the Saints.

Later in the program, Hoss interviews Elicia Broussard Sheridan, Saints senior director of social unification and youth sports development, about the collaboration with the Atlanta Falcons on the RivALS 50/50 Raffle to raise money for Team Gleason and Tim Green Chosen ALS Charities

The main topic of conversation was the Saints' 27-19 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Loomis said it was a "poor performance" by the team.

The Saints allowed the Vikings to get off to a high-scoring start as the Vikings went up 24-3 in the first half.

"I think the last few weeks defensively, we've struggled in the first half of these game," Loomis said. "I don't have the real answer to the why behind that, so we've got to get that fixed. We've got to figure out why we are starting slow and it's taking us a while to get settled in defensively."

On the other side of the ball, Loomis said despite the team improving significantly over the last five or six weeks, there are still things to get cleaned up. He said the Vikings controlling the ball for long stretches contributed to the offense's inability to get things going.

"Their drives were long drives, you know, a lot of plays, keeping our offense off the field," He said. "It's hard to get into a rhythm if you aren't on the field. And then when you do get on the field, if you are only running three or four plays before you've got to punt, that's not a recipe for rhythm."

Two Saints wide receivers caught their first receptions of the season, Perry and Bowden.

Perry also caught his second catch and first touchdown of his career on a spectacular contested grab in the end zone. His size helped him shield the defender from the ball.

"Here's one thing you can't coach and that's the height that he has," Loomis said. "He's a long, tall receiver. He's got pretty good body control for having that size and we saw some really good things in the preseason that we like. He's still developing, but he was pushed into action on Sunday and I thought he responded pretty well."

Bowden has been seeing snaps this season doing the less glamorous roles a wide receiver can play, run blocking, running routes to clear space for others and playing on special teams. Loomis said he's really been a "jack-of-all-trades" type of player and a great teammate.

"He's just a good football player and a good guy to have around and he's better I think offensively in terms of catching and run after catch than the opportunities we've given would dictate," he said. "So, it's good to have Lynn."

The Saints are on bye this week as is their upcoming opponent, the Atlanta Falcons. Loomis said the Falcons probably feel the same as the Saints do, as with two games against one another, both teams can control their own playoff positioning by winning the NFC South.

Loomis said the team will use the time to get "refreshed and recovered" before heading into practice ahead of the crucial NFC South match-up.

"We're in a race to develop consistency, we're in a race to figure out some of the issues that have plagued us, and we are also in a race to recover in terms of getting your bodies back, getting in the right frame of mind," Loomis said. "All that goes part in parcel with each other, and then be ready to go on Monday and focus on Atlanta."