NEW ORLEANS SAINTS POSTGAME QUOTES

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2015

HEAD COACH SEAN PAYTON

(Opening Statement)

"Obviously it was a good, hard-fought win.  I have a lot of respect for their team and the way they have been playing.  We have made enough plays on the road in the game to get the win on both sides of the ball and special teams.  There were a number of things that we did well and, of course, when we get back we'll see the tape [we can] make the corrections on the things we did."

(On running back Tim Hightower's performance)

"I felt really good.  There were three guys that got game balls and all three are veteran players.  Tim was one of them.  Kevin Williams played in his 200th game and Drew Brees passed Dan Marino into that fourth position [for most passing touchdowns of all time].  Those guys played a long time in this league so I thought Tim was really good. Strong."

(On how the defense played)

"I thought we played a real good complementary game.  Early on, I felt we did a good job with the field position.  It seemed like a lot of that first half was spent on their end of the field. [We] covered punts, and there was a little bit of a wind advantage one direction, but it also created a sun advantage the other way.  So you had to be careful with what you were throwing when you turned back into the one end zone.  Overall, it wasn't perfect, but I thought our guys played hard and played a pretty good complementary game."

(On following up a tough loss with a win)

"We played hard last week, too.  It was frustrating.  I think the response this week was the one thing we talked about.  You're concerned as a coach because you understand that you get close and yet you have to come back and go to work.  It's kind of the way life is though.  Our response was good this week, our effort was good.  We did a good job of being smart too."

(On how nice it is to build up to a win)

"It's nice."

(On how having linebacker Dannell Ellerbe back helps)

"He helps.  We had to be careful about how much we played him.  So we played him in a lot of the sub packages.  Just so he wasn't coming back and getting 60 plays his first game.  He runs the ball well. He's a significant playmaker, and I'm sure when we watch the tape we will see that he made some big plays for us. "            

(On the formation that had four wide receivers)

"We have used it before, it's just a matter of what personnel we are in.  Just trying to get a little bit of a bead on what they are in and then let Drew [Brees] get us to the right play.  It's not anything new though."

(On if it was scary for Damian Swann to leave with a possible concussion knowing his history)

"It always is.  Yeah, it always is.  We will be smart and evaluate him and make sure he goes through the proper protocol."

(On if this was one of the offensive games he has been waiting for)

"I don't know necessarily [about that].  I'd say it was one of the team games we were waiting for.  I thought we did a number of things well.  Like I said, I thought we defended the run pretty well.  This is a good rushing team.  Coming into this game, we talked about it all week, the last five weeks they are tops in the NFL running the football.  Their running back is playing well, their offensive line – I felt coverage we were solid.  It wasn't any of the big offensive plays that went over our head.  Yet we made enough plays offensively and we were good with the football.  We were smart."

(On taking Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Evans away from them this season)

"Well we took him away in this game.  I don't know that we had anything of note in the last game.  When I say we took him away, I mean, it's not just one guy, he is a fantastic player.  So he is going to have some catches and guys underneath have to do a good job.  You want to get a pass rush.  I think the key was the third down number which were favorable.  I felt like offensively we were in those third-down situations that we talk about, two to three, four to six.  I think if you just looked at the third-down numbers by themselves, I think you could predict the outcome of the game.  We converted a lot and defensively we got off the field."

(On whether Swann sustained a concussion)

"We'll evaluate it and then we'll know. It's too early to tell."

#