New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton
Conference Call With New Orleans Media
Monday, September 20, 2021
Were there any areas after watching the film that stood out and alarmed you more than others?
"I think the number one area was in protection. Offensively, our communication and being able to handle some of the pressure looks we received from Carolina. There were just a number of things that we need to clean up. That would be the one thing that stood out. Secondly, the big pass plays we limited fairly well and yet we allowed run after catch. The yards after receiving for Carolina was something that stood out. We didn't tackle as well in space as we had the week before. Overall in the kicking game, I thought we were solid there. We had a blocked field goal and we covered well. Offensively, there was really no rhythm there and that's something we will spend a lot of time on this week."
It was hard to tell from the tv broadcast, but how did you feel that the receivers were able to create separation?
"I don't know that the separation was more of a problem than having a chance to set and be protected. There were too many times free rusher, too many times when our communication wasn't on point. So I wouldn't look at that as the first thing."
As far as those protections go, is that more on the center than the quarterback with Jameis Winston now as opposed to Drew Brees?
"It's the group in its entirety. It's our offensive line, our quarterback. It's also us relative to a gameplan of having good answers instead of some of the looks we received and quite honestly, once we struggled to handle a look or two, we got more of it. We need to have a better plan and that starts with me. We need to have a better plan to put our guys in a better position, but it's not just one group."
When you see something like that, you assume the rest of the league will look at that trend. Does that concern you?
"Absolutely. That's the way the tape is. We have to be prepared and be able to handle some of those double-A gap walkups more efficiently and we need to be able to handle the communication more effectively, relative to our gameplan. Being able to make those adjustments and understand ways in which we want to attack that."
You referenced it as finding a rhythm on offense, taking for granted the synergy between you and Drew for a long period. What types of tactics or practices or changes do you make to find that rhythm?
"The one thing that stood out yesterday if you just looked at our third downs and the distance to get a first down. When you have as few snaps as we had, there's generally one common denominator. Your third downs were third and longer situations, whether it was third and long situations, whether it was a minus play or a penalty, but the negative plays whether it be through penalty or sacks or anything that's going backwards, puts you under a much more challenging predicament on third down. That is the one thing, our early down efficiency has to be better."
We've talked about Jameis Winston's turnovers and decisionmaking. How do we balance those two things and how they were connected yesterday?
"There's so many things that go into analyzing a turnover. Obviously we don't want to turn the ball over. Each one we look at specifically, talk about it, discuss it and then make the corrections."
Were any of the assistant coaches able to test out of the protocol today that were sidelined?
"No one today. The only coach that's come back off it was Brendan Nugent right before we traveled. He came back off of it at the end of the week. Obviously Ryan Nielsen and Brian Young went into it. Nothing new to report on that front."
The roughing the passer call on Christian Ringo, was that the appropriate call in that knee area?
"I don't think so and I don't think when they look at it it's something they're wanting to call. When you really look at all the circumstances around it, I think it's one of the more challenging penalties for all the crews. We got one last week that was tough if you're Green Bay, not necessarily one you would want to call and then this week we got one against us. Hopefully they even out in the end."
Would you say it has been a positive for Taysom Hill how he's been incorporated with Jameis Winston as opposed to Drew Brees and can you discuss the thought process on the fourth and five play where a timeout was called?
"The fourth and five play was us trying to get them offsides and feeling comfortable with a timeout to use. Kind of a no-brainer freeze where you're trying to draw the opponent offsides from an obvious run formation that we had used, so that's all that was."
New Orleans Saints Defensive Linebacker Demario Davis
Virtual Media Availability
Monday, September 20, 2021
What was the most disappointing thing about Sunday?
"It's just tough in this league anytime you lose, as competitors, nobody likes to lose games and you know it comes down to getting that W and more W's in the win column than Ls in the loss column. So I think that was just the most disappointing piece and just certainly, things that we got to get fixed."
Was it as much about communication as it was execution?
"You just have to give Carolina credit, they made more plays than we did. Certainly, from a first and second down standpoint, just being able to put them in third and longer situations, they just did a good job of executing on first and second down situations than we did. We did a good job of stopping, but taking care of some of those short passes and what not, we didn't do so good of a job. So we allowed them to extend drives with penalties. So just being able to clean up that stuff. (We) have to get it fixed."
The defense seemed to adjust better in the third quarter, we're you able to correct some errors from the first half?
"Yeah, we just we have a very high standard for our defense and the first half we did not play up to that standard and coming out the second half we started looking more like ourselves."
New Orleans Saints Defensive Tackle Malcolm Roach
Virtual Media Availability
Monday, September 20, 2021
What did you learn from watching the (Carolina) game film?
"We have to be more consistent. We went out there and made some good plays and some bad plays. We just have to be more consistent and work towards consistency every day. Just try to win every rep. As the game goes on, we hope to come out victorious. That's basically what we learned from the film. We just have to go out there and be more consistent."
How tough was it to watch the film?
"It was pretty tough. It's always tough watching film when you lose. It was pretty tough."
What was Carolina able to do to keep you guys off balance? Secondly, can you run us through what you saw and felt on your interception?
"For the first question, as a defensive line we just did not play consistent enough. We didn't get them in any third and longs. We didn't play consistent enough on first and second down. It's hard to play good defense when teams are able to have a lot of third and shorts. Instead of us dictating them it was them dictating us. We have to do better being more consistent on those first and second downs to get more third and long situations and things like that. On the turnover, it was just a reaction when he (Sam Darnold) stepped up in the pocket and saw the pressure coming. PJ (Williams) came off the edge and I saw him throw the ball. I said "ain't no way he's throwing this ball". I saw the ball coming out and I grabbed it. I tried to return it but at that point in the middle of the pushing match I tried to just go to the ground and make sure the ball was secure."
Is it pretty easy to move on to next week? Is that something you're looking forward to?
"You know, after you lose, you can't wait to get out there and play. I wouldn't say we need to just flush it because we need to grow from this. We need to study this film and realize what we're doing wrong and find out where we're making our mistakes so we can learn from them. We can't let one loss beat us twice."
Did you find the errors from yesterday were mental or communication?
"I would not say it was communication errors. It was more mental errors and things like that. I told you earlier, it's just about us going out there and being consistent to play dominant football. We can't just choose to go out there and play dominant football, we need to go out there and play dominant football throughout the whole game."
