New Orleans Saints QB Ryan Griffin on how he felt team did tonight: "It didn't end the way I'd like. We were focusing on getting a win, especially in the last preseason game. That's really all I can think about right now."
On the last offensive play of the game for the Saints: "It was my fault. I was looking for a back shoulder and we weren't really on the same page."
On the game as a whole: "I wish we could've moved the ball better. We fought hard and made some plays. We had a couple of guys making some really great plays out there. Everybody was running the ball really hard and put up some points, but I wish we could've put up just a couple more."
On his chances of making the team: "I try not to think about it, it's out of my hands at this point. I'm just trying to do as much as I can. From this point on, until we have another practice, I can't really do anything so I try not to think about it or worry about it."
On how he felt he did tonight: "Being the quarterback, you get judged on wins and losses. I had to complete more passes, move the ball, and you can't turn the ball over. You can look at some of us being able to move the ball and touchdowns, but in the end that's all that really matters."
New Orleans Saints ILB Ramon Humber on what the goals were coming into today's game: "The goals were to be focused and compete; we know we are going to play a lot of minutes and we just have to give out effort and compete on the football field."
On what the Saints can build off of for next week: "We can definitely improve on the number of penalties; there were a lot in the first and second half. We also need to work on improving our special teams, the looks and schemes being run with the defense, and the amount of penalties here and there."
On what Humber can take away from the loss: "There is a lot to improve on. We had a lot of turnovers and penalties and without those we still had a chance to win. If you cut those out there probably would have been a different outcome in the game."
New Orleans Saints RB Mark Ingram on how the team did tonight: "It was good. We did some good things. We killed ourselves in a lot of ways. We had two turnovers. We had lots of pre-snap penalties. We have to clean that up. We can't let that be our M.O. as a team. Starting with me…I fumbled one time."
On what caused all the mistakes: You just have to be focused and not make mistakes. Not holding on defense and special teams. We just have to clean that stuff up and we'll be OK."
On if there is eagerness to start the season: "Everybody is eager to start the season. Finishing preseason strong is important. There are a lot of guys fighting for jobs, fighting for roster spots. The last preseason game is important to a lot of people so it's important to all of us."
On how he feels he is at with his game right now: "I feel good. I feel healthy. I'm strong. I'm fast. I'm more comfortable in the offense. More comfortable on the field. I'm feeling ready. I'm excited for the regular season to start."
On if this is the best he's felt: "Definitely…health wise and just feeling comfortable in the offense."
On how ready this team feels: "We feel good. Of course there areas we can improve one. But we feel ready for the season. We've been making improvements and getting better."
New Orleans Saints S Jim Leonhard on what the goals were coming into this game: "You want to go out there and put a strong performance out. You just never know, this game is a little different, if you are playing in this game you are fighting for a roster spot. You obviously want to win but you want to put out their your best performance you can out there, and at the end of the day you let the chips fall where they may and hope you made the team, and if not here you hope you put enough on film to make a roster somewhere else."
On what can be taken away from the loss: "I think there were a lot of good things, we played well. I think yardage wise we did a good job on offense. Anytime you turn the ball over and have penalties like we did you are going to make it a closer game. We give up a big play at the end of the game and it obviously hurt us, but I think there are a lot of positives. Effort was great and you've got a lot of guys playing a lot of snaps tonight and I thought guys responded well but you can't let those little things beat you."
On what the team needs to do to get prepared for week one: "Obviously, it is a huge switch in your mentality, going from the pre-season to the regular season. Everything is on the line, it is for real now and a lot of guy who have gotten a lot of reps now you have to figure out what your role is. Obviously the starters are back up and live all game. You try to go out there and you want to get a good start, especially in the division, starting with Atlanta."
New Orleans Saints QB Luke McCown on the end of preseason: "You're glad it's over and now you're ready to get down to what matters. Preseason is a great time for a lot of us, veterans and young players alike. We get playing time that we might not otherwise get and we work on things in real life situations that we may not otherwise get to work on. I really excited about where the team is headed."
On the difficulty of the roster cuts on players: "It's extremely difficult. We know what we signed up for when we put our name down and said we want to be a professional football player and we know what comes with that. It's a brutal reality, but that fact is that last year I was released in training camp, got picked up by Atlanta and found myself in the NFC Championship game. Coach Payton made a point to address that prior to the game, and then after the game that in '09, the Super Bowl team had 28 players that had been released at some point in their career or just got resigned by the team that they were with. That speaks loudly because there's always a lot of turnover in this league and a lot of uncertainty. If you have the mental toughness and if you have the never say die attitude, and if you continue to work, you never know where the next opportunity might be a Super Bowl."
On opening the season with Atlanta: "I hope I'm able to provide something. I'll do what I can but at this point in the game, there's plenty of film, we've played them twice a year forever now. We know who they are and they know who we are. It'll be a good game."
On the first offensive series: "I felt really good about it. We went in and there with specific guys that coach wanted to get a little time in. To go out and to be able to execute a couple of plays and to put a drive together and score on the first drive is how you want to start off the last preseason game. To start it off that way and to finish it like that was good for us."
New Orleans Saints TE Benjamin Watson on what the team can take away from the loss: "Well you can take a lot of things away from a loss. Even from a win, you know. Biggest thing about a loss is really, you really get a chance to watch the film, see things you did well, whether you win or lose, there is always some things that you did well, there is always some things that you did poorly. Obviously today, we had too many turnovers and it's hard to win in this league when you turn the ball over. That being said we still had a chance to win the game in the end, so that's something that bodes well for our team, the fact that we're resilient, the fact that we fight back and we still had a chance to win the game all the way down to the end. So that's something good that we can take away. So the important thing right now, I think, is to look at the film. Obviously there is a lot that has to be done after this game, but I think we all played really hard and we can be proud of some things."
On what some of the goals were coming into the game: "Well, yeah, number one to win, obviously when you play in a game. But number two a lot of different guys played, a lot of guys got to play that didn't play as much earlier in the preseason and it's always good for these guys to get out and execute our offense. We've been in training camp for four or five weeks now, OTAs and this is kind of the culmination of all that hard work, guys getting a chance to go out and play. We wanted to come in and play fast, (we) kept the game plan pretty vanilla, basic to what we do and just allow us to go out and perform."
On whether he feels the team is ready for the regular season: "Oh, well there is always work to be done before a regular season game. You know, really in the preseason you're installing a new offense. You got to get to a place where you're comfortable. You want to get your timing down and all those things have improved each week. And so next week is going to be big for us, we get a chance to actually look at the Falcons breakdown the things that they've done and the personnel. It will be more of a normal game week and the coaches will put together a game plan for us to work on leading up to the game."
