Black and Blue Review
“If we’re going to rush for over 100 yards, we’re going to control the clock, keep our defense off the field, you’d like to win that game. That was a lot of what we did last year.”
On the red zone offense:
“I had no issues with the plays that were called. We can execute better. That’s probably the biggest thing, more than anything else.”
On Josh Norman’s game:
“I thought Josh was what we were hoping for — a little shot in the arm. Josh has got a little swagger to him right now, and hopefully we can maintain it and keep it rolling.”
On the short week:
“I was kind of hoping to have a bye right about now, but we don’t. We don’t have a bye for about three more weeks. So this mini bye is going to be good for us. We’ll play Thursday night; then we’ll have some time off, hopefully, get some guys healed up and get those guys back.”
On the return of DeAngelo Williams:
“DeAngelo has signified that he’s ready to roll. I’m excited about that. It will be a nice boost because when he and Jonathan get rolling and do the things that they do, I think that’s a huge thing for us. That can be a nice shot in the arm.”
On Trai Turner’s knee and ankle injuries:
“Trai’s more of a week-to-week thing. He’s kind of in the same position Bene was in a couple weeks ago.”
“It’s hard to put your finger on one thing or another.”
On the 4th-and-25 screen pass at the end of the game:
“The last play was a little gadget play that didn’t get off; that didn’t quite get completed.”
On bouncing back from the Seattle loss:
“That’s the unique thing about this profession, one of the reasons why a lot of us are in it. It’s something that’s hard to describe. You have to take yesterday, and as down as everybody is because of the way things happened, and we came up short, you’ve got to block it out. You’ve got to move forward. You’re playing for first place and it’s the start of the second half of the season. If you said at the start of training camp, or the start of OTAs, ‘Hey, you’ve got a chance on Week 9 to be playing for first place, would you take it?’ Yeah, I’d take it.”
On the disappointing NFC South:
“You can’t worry about perception. You’ve got to worry about what’s right in front of you. Right now, it’s the Saints and we’ve got to find a way to go have four solid quarters of football and find a way to win a game. You’ve got to focus on that, because of you don’t, then you’re kind of cheating yourself and your teammates. And that’s hard to do.’’
“It’s good when the light comes on and stays on. That’s why you coach, as a teacher. I was very, very encouraged by how he played.”
On Kony Ealy’s game:
“He had the sack and he had some other good rushes also, where he was using his hands. He was physical in the rush game, and he had another good hit on the quarterback. Anytime anybody plays well, young or old, you’re going to garner more playing time. Or at least a look-see.”
On facing the Saints offense on a short week:
“Maybe it’s a good thing it’s a short week cause I won’t be sleeping much this week, either.”