New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton
Conference Call with New Orleans Media
Monday, November 16, 2020

Opening Statement:
"Real quick before we get started, I'm not going to address any injuries on this conference call or questions about any injured players. Fair enough?"

To be fair, it's the starting quarterback.
"Yeah, no, I appreciate (the question), there's none though. In other words, Wednesday's our first day that we're required to do that. And to be fair to the process, let's stick with that. I'll make sure on Wednesday, we list his (Drew Brees) practice status and everything else."

Can you talk about how you have looked at the backup quarterback position though with Jameis (Winston) and Taysom (Hill)? Is it similar to last year that if you do need a guy on a temporary basis, you have that setup for Jameis?
"I wouldn't project or answer that in any way. We'll see how this week unfolds."

Can you talk just about your review of Jameis' performance on yesterday?
"Yeah, I thought he did a good job. I thought there were some challenges, I mentioned in the postgame conference that aside from the quarterback injury, we had a tight end and a receiver (get injured). And so there were a handful of things watching the film that we've just got to clean up."

Can you get into how important the play C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Demario Davis was yesterday?
"Those guys both played well. We felt it was, in both cases, both of those guys had one of their better games. And after the first drive, I thought progressively we got better and better defensively."

Did you think that at any point Jameis Winston was maybe reckless or careless with some of his throws yesterday? And if that something that you would consider maybe one of the problems with him in his career?
"Yeah, I didn't yesterday, and I can't speak for these challenges in Tampa. But I haven't seen that here."

Beyond just his traits, what did you like about how he fits into this offense, Jameis Winston?
"He and Taysom (Hill) have a good feel of what we're trying to do. They pick things up. And I feel like it's (a) good room."

I want to go back to Drew (Brees) real quick. He mentioned last night that it sounds like a cumulative thing with him. And I know, I've talked with him before about recovery, trying to get ready for the next game, how much more time he puts in on that. Is this just a byproduct of father time? Or did he just happen to be beat up more this year than normal?
"Yeah, I think it's probably the latter. Certainly there's an element of recovery. I haven't seen him yet this morning. But I think he took a significant hit yesterday in that game. We were mindful of his reps during the week. I'm sure I'll have a chance to visit with him here in the next 24 hours, but he'd probably have a better answer for that than I would."

Is San Francisco a real test for the discipline of your defense and how do you feel like you guys did with that just with those keeping your eyes in the right place and some of those things you guys have been talking about for a while?
"I thought we did well. It was, obviously they do a good job with their formations, Kyle (Shanahan) does a good job in their planning. I thought once we got past that opening series, we had a chance at an interception. I think they converted three third downs on that drive. And then after that, we played a lot better."

I remember last year when Drew (Brees) was injured in Seattle, you didn't name a starting quarterback until late into the week?
"That'll be the case this week too."

Could you maybe elaborate on the process of what goes into that? Is it this week of practice, is it the game plan?
"It's probably a little bit of all of it. Yeah, a little bit of all of that. And also, none of it benefits us by announcing that player earlier than later."

Just being as familiar with the rules as you are, I don't know if we got a chance to ask you your interpretation of, I mean, I guess you got to see the hit on Drew, did it look like the right call? And did you sense anything malicious about it, or just a heavy hit?
"I think this, in my humble opinion, I saw really one flagrant hit that was worthy of a personal foul, and that was the hit on Tre'Quan (Smith). I know we were called with a couple on the quarterback. And it's I'll say this, they were consistent relative to that foul being called on the quarterback. So whether it was the two called on us or the one on Drew, they were consistent. Do I necessarily agree that any one of the three or all of the three were obvious fouls? I don't really. But they were consistent there. The missed call was the one on Tre'Quan."

Regardless of who's quarterbacking this week, how much does it help that whoever that quarterback will be really familiar with the Falcons having been in the same division with them?
"Yeah, I think it helps that it's a division opponent. And yet we haven't played them yet."

Have you heard from the league on possible punishments over the locker room celebration after the Tampa Bay game?
"No. I haven't heard a thing. This is you guys asking reports about reports."

Did you change what you did after this last game, though?
"No. I didn't dance after this last game."