When discussing the improvement in the Saints defense:
"Possessing the ball means something to the defense - it means snaps taken away. When we finished the regular season and went to Philadelphia for the Wild Card round, we were able to point to 186 less defensive plays (than 2012) which is more than two games."

On Jimmy Graham's contract status:
"I know that Mickey Loomis, CAA (Creative Artists Agency), Jimmy Sexton and all parties involved are going to work very hard and very diligently, no different than they did with Drew (Brees) on his contract.

"With that being said, the first thing that comes to my mind with free agency is your own roster. I think often times that gets overlooked. The most challenging part of your job as a coach, and I share that with Mickey or anyone that has been with an organization as long as we have been, going on year nine, is some of the tough decisions that have to be made with regards to your cap with the ability that you possibly can sign Jimmy Graham.

"It's very easy to say 'you are certainly going to get this done' but you have to understand there is a budget here. That's the challenging part. You are going to read these names that have already come across the ticker from Atlanta last week and we will be no different."

[