SAINTS HEAD COACH DENNIS ALLEN
Opening Statement:
"A bit disappointed in the loss. I just thought we gave ourselves plenty of opportunities, and I thought we had a couple of chances in the last couple of drives that we didn't take advantage of. We lost the turnover battle for the first time. Thought that was the big difference in the game. There were a lot of positives. Particularly early in the game, I thought we did some good things. It was nice to see Jimmy (Graham) have a couple of nice catches, contested catches."
On Graham's contested catches:
"Yeah, I think that was one of the things that – we've said this. We'd like to see it every day from these guys, particularly veteran players, but at some point, we have to see it. We saw it tonight."
On if Blake Grupe's kick from 60 weighs as heavily as a 50-yard field goal:
"I think it's all encompassing. (Grupe) nailed the 50-yarder, went right down the middle. Then, the 60-yarder just hung it out to the right a little bit, had plenty of leg. Look, I mean percentages of 60-yarders aren't really high in our League yet, but I wanted to give the kid a chance to see what he could do. He just missed the kick."
On Bryan Bresee's play:
"Yeah, I thought (Bryan Bresee) was active in the game. I don't know what his final stats were, but I did think he was active in the game both against the run and with the pass rush. It looked like there were a couple of good things I saw in Isaiah Foskey, also in the game. We have some tough decisions that are coming up. We have a lot of good football players on this team. We have to make some decisions over the next 48 hours."
On if the team is where he would like them to be to enter the season:
"I don't think you're ever where you want to be or need to be. We're in a race to improve and get ready for the opener that's here two weeks from today. There's a lot of positives with this football team right now, yet, there's certainly some things we have to improve."
On the decreasing penalties throughout the preseason:
"Yeah, it was much better. It was much better every game. I think we had one false start (tonight). I think we took too long at the line of scrimmage, needed to kind of get into the flow a little bit and get the snap going. I thought that was a step forward."
On Jimmy Graham's progression this preseason:
"Really, probably since the Chargers practices, I started to see some signs of the mental picture I have of Jimmy Graham. Again, I saw it this week in practice, and I saw it carry over into the game. That's a positive."
On Foskey:
"I think (Foskey)'s getting better, yet he is still a rookie. He still has a long way to go. He's made significant strides from where he was in OTAs and even the first part of training camp. Look, that's what you want to see. You want to see a guy that every time he gets an opportunity to go out there and receive more reps, you see the guy's getting more comfortable in what we're asking him to do."
On the difficulty of the next 48 hours in the league-mandated roster reduction:
"Well, look this time of year's always difficult and probably more difficult this year. That's a good challenge to have, a good problem to have. We have a lot of good football players. We will go through this tomorrow and have some significant meetings to talk about it and pick the right 53 for this team."
On elaborating on the process of making the final roster:
"Yeah, I just think we have a lot of good players, and you can't keep them all. There will be some tough moves."
On when the moves will be made:
"We will discuss it tomorrow and see where we're at."
On Trevor Penning:
"I think we've seen some improvement out of (Penning), and I think where we're at right now with where he is you kind of take into account last year in the preseason and the last preseason game he was injured. I felt good about where he was at and didn't want to risk putting him out there."
On Tre'Quan Smith's status:
"(Tre'Quan) is getting closer. He is not full-go yet, but he is continuing to rehab."
On evaluating players who are injured:
"Well look, some of the guys have gotten some significant exposure to, in terms of past experience. Then you have to go back to what you saw early on in camp while yet giving some other guys opportunities to impress. I think we will look at all of that and take that all into consideration, and we will make the moves that we think are best for this team."
New Orleans Saints Defensive Lineman Malcolm Roach
On his preseason:
"My confidence is really growing. The game is slowing down for me. I'm really just out there having fun. I've worked my tail off this season to get better at certain things. I'm trying to become more explosive, so that I can be more effective and disruptive on the defensive line. It's nice to see hard work pay off. We still have a long way to go. It's just the preseason. Now it is time to get to work and get started on Tennessee."
On if he expected to play this much tonight:
"I never really ask questions. I play until they tell me not to. If I'm not playing, then I'm not playing. I never ask questions. I just go out there and try to do my job to the best of my ability."
On if he feels like it has been his best camp:
"It was one of the best camps. I feel like I always do well in camp, but now I have to bring it over. I stayed healthy during this camp, so thank God for that. Now it's time to bring it over to the regular season and keep building on this success. I just want to keep building on the momentum we have and keep rolling. Let's get this defense together and keep building on this momentum. Let's keep creating takeaways. Let's keep getting after the quarterback. If we can keep doing that then I can see us as one of the top defenses in the league."
On the next detail in his game:
"For me, it is consistency. I wouldn't say it is easy. I can show you a flash play here and there, but to do it (with) consistency. I look up to guys like Cam (Jordan). You see his success. He is successful because he does it on every play of every game. For me just becoming a pro and coming to work every day and getting better. I want to strive to be better because there is someone working for your job. You have to have that in the back of your head every day. I just need to take that next step and be consistent and go to work every day. You have to work your tail off every day because you know someone is coming."
New Orleans Saints Quarterback Jameis Winston
On targeting Jimmy Graham in the red zone:
"He is a living legend. It is a blessing to be able to throw him the ball and watch him go out there and make spectacular catches."
On his takeaway of preseason:
This was the best camp of my career. I'm happy we were able to go out there and compete. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go out there and get a win in this last game. I'm just ready to go out there and take advantage of opportunities."
On what made this his best camp in his opinion:
"The numbers. A high completion percentage. Accurate throws. 100 percent decisions. That's what made it my best camp."
On the next 48 hours:
"This was my first year that we were able to keep a 90-man roster up until this point. Being able to evaluate players and see what people can do up until this point has been great on my heart and I'm sure a lot of guys hearts. The next 48 hours are going to be tough, but that is just a part of this business. They will find a way to be resilient. It is in the Lord's hands. That is just a part of this business that is unfortunate. However, I commend all the people that are going to make a roster. Also, for the people who don't make a roster, keep your head up because you are not just playing for one team. You are playing for 32 teams. 32 teams are evaluating you and hopefully they will make a roster somewhere.
On how it felt getting Graham a touchdown:
"It was excellent getting Jimmy Graham a touchdown. Itwas an opportunity to throw a ball to a living legend. We learned from some things we worked on in practice. It was great to make it to fruition. Jimmy's been Jimmy since he first walked in the building. He has been to 12 training camps in his career. We need to keep him fresh. We need to keep him healthy. When you go out to L.A. and you aren't playing in the conditions that we play in every single day, I think it would allow for a lot of people to find their best side."
On how he feels about this team:
"I feel very confident about this team. We are going to do big things. I am confident about this team."
New Orleans Saints Tight End Jimmy Graham
On opportunity to make some big plays in the Superdome again even though preseason:
"It just reminded me of all the amazing moments I had here in front of these fans, with my teammates and with this coaching staff, so many special moments and wins. I'm looking forward to continuing to capitalize and let this feeling become even bigger. I'm looking forward to the regular season. It's been an amazing training camp and I can't say enough about how good this team is at every position and how awesome iron sharpening iron is."
