New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons - Mercedes-Benz Superdome - Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 - Saints quarterback Drew Brees
"Let's do it, go ahead it is Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have family waiting."
On the energy from the home crowd:
"I love it. It was awesome, they were amped up and the defense fed off it. The defense played tremendous today against a really explosive offense, got four turnovers, which was a huge stat in the game. Just the energy and the emotion on Thanksgiving Day, it was great."
On how this team is built to win:
"When the defense plays like that and we are getting five yards a rush, like we did today, those are all great things. So, for me as a quarterback, it is still about managing a game the best way that I can. When there are opportunities for big plays, we make them; convert third downs, we got to possess the ball so we can put together good drives and go score points and play that complementary brand of football."
On the collection of young talent on the Saints roster:
"Well, each week, especially the last three weeks, you have seen just the level of confidence, growth and maturity out of some young players, on both sides of the ball. They are stepping into roles, getting significant playing time and really having to contribute in a big way. They just have to continue to get better and better. I think their confidence is building with that too and I feel like we are just scratching the surface."
On the young defensive players on the Saints roster:
"They are playing with a ton of confidence and swagger and just a belief."
On throwing four touchdown passes to four undrafted free agents tonight:
"I have heard that stat, I love that stat. That is actually one of my favorite ones. It says a lot about them. It says a lot about taking advantage of the opportunity and stepping up when we need it. We are down some receivers from the beginning of the year until now and these guys have had to step into these roles and do some things that maybe weren't expected. It is just a growth process, it is fun to watch the grow and gain confidence and build chemistry, which typically takes time, but they have been thrusted into this role. Especially on a short week, this was a challenge; you start playing and thinking about matchups; these are all things that I think keep me up at night. As I'm thinking from play to play, it's about moving the ball and finding that matchup. With young guys stepping up and making the play and having those four guys, Austin Carr, Dan Arnold, Tommylee Lewis, and Keith Kirkwood, right. All of them to play the way they did, to each get a touchdown on Thanksgiving Day with all of their family and friends watching at home is pretty cool."
On Dan Arnold's touchdown:
"It was a great catch, he had just a seam route and beat the other guy. It was one of those where you put it out in front of him and he's a big target, so he went up there and pulled it down and really made a great play. He had told me earlier, he said he wanted to make up for the one that happened at the goal line on third down where the guy knocked it out. He said 'I should have never let that guy knock it out of my hands'. So, he held onto that one."
On winning two games in five days:
"This is a challenge obviously. Going into the Philly game we knew we were going to play three games in about 11 days. So, Philly, Atlanta and then we go to Dallas a week from now. That's tough to do, so guys need to be really diligent with getting their bodies ready to turn around in four days and play and now obviously, turnaround in seven days to play. I think guys have just stayed very focused, very diligent, we had a good plan this week for how we were going to come out and play this game and now we got to plan and get ready to go to Dallas."
On the teams' confidence level:
"Listen, it is fun, we are having fun. We enjoy being around each other, we enjoy going to work. We work hard. We understand that it is the preparation during the week and it is the work during the week that allows us to go out and play this way, and play with that confidence that we are playing with. It is fun to find different ways to win. It is fun to come out and the defense has four turnovers and you have four undrafted guys catch touchdowns, right. That is fun, it has been a while since any of that stuff has happened. So, you just keep finding new ways to win, you keep finding guys who step up and make plays and you begin to envision how this thing is going to look next week and the week after and just as we continue to build on what we have established."
On the teams' confidence level going into their second game against Atlanta this season:
"Well, we felt like we go into every game feeling like we want to run the ball, we want to be balanced. We got a nice lead early in the third quarter, but knowing how explosive they are, they can score at will. For us it was about possessing the ball, controlling the clock, getting points and touchdowns when we could. At the same time when we can rush for five yards a pop and I think we had about 31 rushes for a buck fifty, something like that, so that is really good rushing yardages."
