New Orleans Saints Offensive Tackle Ryan Ramczyk
Conference Call with New Orleans Media
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Has it be an adjustment to the officiating this season for the offensive line?
"I don't, I can't say for sure, if they're calling more or not. You'd really have to look at the numbers, but I think early last game against the Titans and we kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit with some easily avoidable penalties. That's kind of on us. But the as a whole I think we have to do a better job in eliminating those of penalties, false starts and things like that."
How do you feel the offensive line has played recently?
"I think Will (Clapp) had to step up. Nick (Easton) had to step up and playing those positions and I think they did a really good job and I think overall as an offensive line I think we've been playing pretty well and overcoming a little bit of adversity. Like I said, I think overall we've done a good job and we're going to continue to look at the film, study the film and make corrections each week."
What's it been like to have guys continually have to step up due to injuries?
"Yeah, I mean it shows you that our backups and these guys that we have are able to step up and able to play really good football and we have all the trust in the world with these guys and they're in the meetings and practices with us. We have a ton of confidence in them and cohesiveness wise, I think they plug in very good and we're all on the same page and able to work well together."
What have you seen from Carolina on film, their defense has been on the decline as of late?
"We haven't watched a ton of them yet as of recently. We're going to get in the film room today and really start diagnosing it and seeing what looks good, what looks bad. But Carolina, there still a good team and I've said it before, you plan as every team is a good team. They're going to give us their best shot and it's a divisional game a lots on the line for us. Mentally, physically, we got to perform and play a good game Sunday."
Alvin Kamara had a good game is that something that you thought would happen regardless of what you've been seeing?
"Yeah, I think it was one of those things. I think it was on that run that was called it just happened that everything was blocked up perfectly. Yeah, I think the safety kind of a bit hard and came crashing through and opened up a lane for Alvin to take off and there was a couple of plays that I think were blocked really well and Alvin's an extremely talented player and once he gets out in space he's a tough guy to take down. That was exciting to see him pop off a couple runs there."
What are your thoughts on witnessing history the last few games?
"It's just really special, especially because you grow up watching football and watching guys like Drew (Brees). It's pretty special to be part of all of it and we're obviously very excited where we're at and looking forward to this next push."
New Orleans Saints Linebacker A.J. Klein
Conference Call with New Orleans Media
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
How was your first Christmas morning as a father?
"It was good. Babies are a little bit too young do any of the gift opening, but yesterday was eventful with church. Definitely had our hands full we're excited for the future, that's for sure. More Christmas memories to come."
Does going back to Carolina feel like another game now?
"It's always just been a game, obviously Carolina is a place where I played for a long time, but when I got here it became just another game. But I know the history between the Saints and the Panthers organizations going back to when I was with Carolina. Every single year it's a hard-fought game, no matter what time of year or what the circumstances are. It's kind of been the rivalry of NFC South I think."
How much pride does the defense take in being able to close a game out in Tennessee last week?
"No, we see a lot of pride, especially if you look at, kind of just what we overcame as a team and as a defense with the adversity we faced. A couple of guys brought in (from other roles) and some other guys coming in and stepping up their gameplan and playing really well for us. It's a better taste in your mouth, even though we had our fair share of negatives from the game. You definitely feel better with the performance by playing out a game like that."
Have you ever been in a football game where guys had to mix and match that much on defense?
"Yes, I have been and I mean I spoke to it last week. This point in the season everybody has missed some games and it seems like every team is hurting and it's a war of attrition. I think it's obviously good when you can have guys that have been in primary backup roles can come in and be efficient and play really good football."
What have you seen from Manti Te'o since he rejoined the team?
"I think Manti really hasn't missed a beat. He brings a great energy to this defense and obviously we missed having him in the room all season long. It is good to have him back, but obviously he brings experience, he brings downhill running backer play. He is just a joy to be around and obviously he's a great teammate. It's great to have him back in the room."
What do you think about the footprint of success this team has put together the last three seasons with the success the team has had?
"Well, I really can't speak for the future. I can speak for the present and I can speak of the past of the last three years and kind of stacking the bricks one by one. Every single year has been obviously a different team personnel-wise, but the foundation has been laid over the past three years of reaching our goals. Obviously, we set our goal to win the NFC South every single year and we've done that the past two and including this year. I think you talk about stacking goals, we went to the divisional and NFC championship game. Our sights are set high, obviously on a Super Bowl. But taking care of business one week at a time is most important, but you can't look to the future too much in this league because I mean, just what happened last week with injuries or personnel changes and a lot can change from week to week. We just have to stay focused on this week, everything else will take care of itself."
How different now is Carolina, they changed quarterbacks, do they look different from the film that you've seen? Do they look pretty much the same as in the past?
"Yeah, I mean they're not going change schematically what they do offensively this late in the game. I think they're just going to try to give their players the best opportunities possible to succeed and what they do, we can't control. All we can controls is our defense and just be ready to play a game, that we know is going to be hard fought and physical. We can't be chasing ghost, we just have to focus on us. Merry Christmas."
