SAINTS HEAD COACH SEAN PAYTON
"I'll tell you what I just finished telling the players - obviously, we put ourselves in a hole in the first half. You get behind like that and your margin for the second half becomes pretty small. I thought we fought back, made some plays and gave ourselves an opportunity there and yet, we weren't able to get it done. Just credit Detroit, they came out and played well early and that ended up being the difference."

(on the series at the end of first half when Detroit called a timeout and didn't have one, did he get explanation of the rules there)

"No, I did not. They had a couple snafus there at the end (of the half), obviously the reporting."

(on if he instructs his players to run right in for that type of situations)

"He reported. Once he is in, typically when you do that the personnel does not change and he was already on the field (from the previous play)."

(on if the referees give some kind of signal to acknowledge when a played reports eligible)

"Well, he was in for the prior play and the explanation I got was he never reported. My question was 'well, if he never reported why didn't we throw a penalty on that first play?' Senio (Kelemete) is one of the smartest guys on our team."

(on Drew Brees' night)

"He battled back, he kind of hurt his foot a little bit, went, had it taped, and then, in the second half we were able to block better for him. Guys made some plays. I thought we had a lot of opportunities this game; more than it appeared for some catches. He hung in there though, he got hit a few times. It's a good defense up front, they rush the passer really well and we knew that was going to be a challenge."

(on if it is harder to appreciate Drew Brees' accomplishments in a loss like this or do they stand alone)

"It's always difficult. Last week when we get a win its easier to give out a game ball. Obviously, he still has a lot of good football ahead of him."