New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton
Video Call with New Orleans Media
Friday, November 20, 2020

It seems like you've got some of the media a little shook, afraid to ask the hard hitting questions so I've got two for you. Number one, going back to that bagel, I need to know your cream cheese. I mean, are we flavored? Are we regular? Are we using whipped? And then number two, if or when a decision gets made about naming a starting quarterback, does the opponent this Sunday play any role in that decision making process?
"Yeah, let's start with that. Obviously, one of the things you guys hear me talk about a lot is focusing on each game. And so we'll do what's best relative to how we play the quarterbacks in the situations and what we are trying to accomplish to win this game. The first one's easy. It's just a traditional Philadelphia brand normal cream cheese."

Is there anything important from a team standpoint, just letting them know who the starter is and announcing it this Friday? Does that play a role in it at all?
"Absolutely. And yeah, I think everyone's on the same page."

How excited are you just as a play caller to be able to have this opportunity and show what he can do? Because it's been a couple years coming, right?
"Who are we talking about?"

I'm sorry, Taysom Hill.
"Yeah, I'm sorry too because I haven't announced that either one of those two are starting."

So that was just leaked by someone else I guess today?
"I didn't see today or what you're talking about."

It was just the headline on ESPN that Taysom was going to start.
"Yeah, I didn't see that and again, we've had a good week of preparation and we're looking forward to the game."

Just to clarify, no one has been named the starter?
"Yeah, listen, someone's been named the starter, but we have not announced it. Is that alright?"

Last year, when Drew Brees went down, we saw Teddy Bridgewater kind of take the majority of the snaps if not all of the snaps into kind of a limited role for Taysom (Hill). Now that we've got two quarterbacks here still, regardless of who's starting, can we anticipate that just one's going to be seeing the majority of the time at quarterback just because of the potential injury concern? Or since Drew's not going on Injured Reserve, do you feel comfortable potentially with the two both seeing snaps?
"Yeah, there is no different injury risk. If you are playing two rather than one. Obviously, you want to be healthy at that position. So that certainly doesn't weigh into it. And yeah, like I said, we're focusing on this game, and specifically the roles that we envision, and then we'll go from there."

Do you think there's a confidence that this team has, particularly the guys that were on the team last year that weathered this storm when Teddy (Bridgewater) took over that they can apply to this situation as well?
"Yeah, I think it is a good question and I think that week we were in Seattle for a full week of preparation, the timing, obviously, we were away on the road for a week. We focus with the idea that everyone's doing their job. In other words, when Teddy took over, it was he wasn't going to have to do anything other than his job, and everyone else, focus on doing the things they have to do and that'll take care of itself."

Drew (Brees) was at practice today just taking it in. He was at practice on Wednesday too, how important is that even though he's hurt, but he is still around and being the leader?
"Yeah, look, it is invaluable. His knowledge of what we are doing offensively (and) his expertise. He has great eyes and real good insight. It is obviously like having another coach. And last year when this happened, that wasn't the case because he was getting some scans done. And so I think it was maybe week two that he joined us, but yeah, that's a big deal."

Sean have you guys made a determination yet on whether you'll use IR for Drew (Brees) or hope that he can come back in less than three weeks?
"Yeah, we have to look, if we were going to go that route, it would be before the game. And then obviously, if not, then we would have that anticipation of his return."

Regardless of who starts at quarterback Sunday, what are some things offensively that you are looking at improvement week to week from you to your team?
"Yeah, more specifically, Atlanta does a really good job of mixing up some looks. They're a difficult team to run the football against. When you watch all the games they've played this year, I mentioned at the start of the week that they're 3-1 under Raheem (Morris), and very easily could be 4-0. And if you want to go back before that very easily, and they've had some really tough losses, they're explosive on offense. They do a really good job in the kicking game. And I think they are playing exceptional on defense."