New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees
Video Call with New Orleans Media
Thursday, October 29, 2020

Can you talk about dealing with the storm yesterday and today?
"Obviously this year has been a crazy one with the four or five that we've had that have been obviously close or we've been on the outskirts of it. Yes, obviously we've evacuated for about three (storms) since I've been here that I can recall. Obviously we weren't here for those. Yes, driving home last night I left the facility a little bit later, I felt like that was in the thick of it. Trash cans blowing across the road, all kinds of trees down, just having to maneuver a little bit, all the lights were out, it was pretty wild."

This is the second straight year you have to play Chicago, the third out of the last four. Defensively they seem to have remained pretty consistent. What are the things that you continuously that you see they do well?
"They rush the passer. That's something they've always done a great job of. When you look at for example, their big play reel. They don't give up a lot of big plays. It's a product of great pass rush, they get to you before you have a chance to see things develop and they obviously they are really good on the back end too. They have two really good safeties, two really good corners and obviously good nickel and dime players too. They're good in coverage. Equate tight coverage plus good pass rush is usually good results for a defense."

You've seen a lot of great seasons with offensive teammates, like Michael Thomas last year, Jimmy Graham in 2013, Darren Sproles in 2011, it feels like Alvin Kamara might be having one of those years this year. What is your take on that?
"Yes, all the way around, In the run game, the screen game, the pass game, he's just such a dynamic player who can do so many things and so from game to game, obviously you know he's going to active, whether it's going to be huge contributions in the run game or the pass game or whatever, he's been a bit of a human highlight reel so far this season. Hopefully that continues."

We talked to Sean Payton yesterday about his intelligence as a player. Have you seen that? He's had like three penalties in his entire career, one pre-snap penalty. It seems like he hardly ever drops a ball. There's a lot of intangible factors that might be overlooked because he's such a special talent?
"Yes, he's one of the most intelligent football players I've been around. You just tell him once, and he's got it or he can just watch it on film or see it one time and he's got it and he's got such good feel. He obviously has great instincts and ability, but yes, extremely intelligent. We have these tongue twister plays at times where you get in the huddle and it might be in practice and struggling through calling a play and Alvin will be the one to chime in and kind of give you the answer to the test. Yes, he's a very smart football player."

Has it been tough in preparations since week one in not knowing whether or not Mike Thomas would be available to play?
"Obviously I put a ton of time, preparation and effort into each and every situation that we're going to encounter through the course of a game. With each of those you visualize, what the defense could do, where our offensive players are, where our weapons are, where your progression is. Where your outlet is. All those things. Obviously when he's in the game, that changes the mindset a little bit. Obviously he's the feature guy. But when he's not or when there's doubt, that can make things a little more difficult from the standpoint of your prepation."

How much in the two-minute drill is a product of calmness?
"The biggest thing with the two-minute is each one is a unique situation because it's based on time, timeouts, do you need a field goal, do you need a touchdown, what are you trying to get, what are you trying to accomplish. So, you package that together with 'here's how we're going to attack them. Obviously there's a sense of urgency that goes along with it and so really that's where the overall knowledge and management of these situations goes into play and obviously we practice it a bunch and visualize it a bunch."

The offense has been able to make the improvements the last few games. How would you say you were able to do that despite people coming in and out of the lineup due to injuries?
"So it's just time on task. Each year is different, especially when you have a bunch of new guys that didn't get preseason or offseason and are all of a sudden just thrown in a mix and you have to figure out who are we as an offense? What is our identity? What are we able to do? What are we hanging our hat on? What's our bread and butter? How are we putting guys in the best position to succeed based on the defense we're playing, the matchups, there's so much that goes into a gameplan. I feel like the more time on task you get, the more game experience, especially with young guys, the more you begin to fine tune what you're doing."

Is there a silver lining of sorts in the long run of having to get it done without people like Emmanuel Sanders and Michael Thomas in the lineup?
"Yes, listen, you're always prepared. You go with the hand that you're dealt. .The situation that you're in and what I love is from week to week, there's a way to win every game and you just have to figure out how and you look at who you have, what they're good at, how are we going to put guys in positions to succeed. How are we going to preach the keys to victory. How are we going to go about preparing to win this game and we know what Mike is about and Emmanuel, but when you don't have those guys it's a great opportunity for these young guys. As you make a run at it down the stretch, you're going to need a little bit of everybody."