Head Coach Dennis Allen
Opening Statement: "I'll start off by updating you on the injuries. Darren McFadden had a little bit of a shoulder. David Ausberry had a shoulder. John Wetzel had a knee. Kevin Burnett had a knee. Tracy Porter a groin. Joselio Hanson a shoulder. Brandon Bair a hamstring, Eddy Carmona was a neck and a leg. The guys that I think could potentially be significant – Tracy Porter's groin we're going to have to see where that's at. David Ausberry's shoulder obviously we'll have to see where that's at. Wetzel's knee I think are probably the three that could be significant. Overall on the game, obviously, I didn't think we played well in the first half. I don't know that we played well in any one of the three phases in the first half. We've got to be able to move the ball better on offense. We can't have the penalties, the self-inflicted wounds, where now all of a sudden we're starting behind the sticks. We're off schedule on every series, whether it be by penalty, by sack, negative plays. We've got to eliminate that. Defensively, too many big plays. Too many big plays in the passing game. Got the ball downfield too much on us. We've got to eliminate the explosive plays in the passing game. You do that with the rush and you do that with the coverage. Disappointed in the first half, was a little bit more pleased with the way we came out and played in the second half. I thought defensively, in the second half, we came out and played a little bit better. I thought our second team defense tonight was better than the Saints second-team offense. But, at the end of the day, we weren't able to pull off the win. We've got a lot to get better at. There's going to be a ton of things on that tape that we can look at for improvement. So with that, I'll open it up to questions."
On Matt Flynn and lack of time: "Yeah, I think we'll go back and look at the tape and see exactly how it played. Obviously, everybody plays a part in the protection issues; it's the quarterback, it's the line, it's the receivers. Obviously I think there's a few plays there where he could have been better. I thought he did a nice job in the two-minute drive of getting us down the field and getting us some points. But overall I don't think we had any rhythm at all offensively and what we're trying to get done in the first half."
On protection issues: "Yeah, I think he was under duress most of the evening. The first drive we had two touchdowns that guys that got open and we weren't able to find them. Then really after that I think their defense, they brought a lot of pressure and they did some different stuff than what we'd seen in the first preseason game. I think they were a little bit more multiple with what they did and gave us some problems."
On if there was improvement in the pass rush: No, no there wasn't much of a rush. When you get a quarterback like that that kind fo time to throw the football, he's going to find somebody open. That's obviously an area we've got to look to improve and look to get better at."
On the lines of scrimmage: "I didn't think that we won the battle up front. I think defensively, again they gave us a couple of different looks and gave us some challenging stuff. Up front, as far as our defense is concerned, I knew that was going to be a challenge going into the game with their big, physical offensive line. I was anxious to see how some of those young players that we had in there were going to respond. Obviously, I don't think we won enough battles up there."
On the issues with the offensive line: "Some of it was some different looks. Some of it was guys getting beat. Some of it was we have to recognize the pressure and find the hot receivers and get the ball out. Really it was a combination of a lot of different things. I can't point to one individual aspect to say that was the issue, but obviously, their defense won that battle in the first half, that's for sure."
On Jack Crawford: "It looked like Jack made a few plays. Actually he made a few plays on special teams too. So I think that's an encouraging thing. Obviously, we'll go back and look at the tape and see exactly what he did well or things we have to get corrected. But yeah, I did see a few things out of Jack today that were encouraging."
On the injuries to Ausberry and Porter: "Yeah, I don't know exactly what the situation is going to be. We seem to feel like they could be a little bit more significant. We'll find out the extent of it probably tomorrow."
On if DJ Hayden is cleared for contact: "DJ, I have to talk to [head athletic trainer] Rod [Martin] about that, but he should have been cleared for contact. Today would be 12 weeks from the point of surgery, so my anticipation is that he's going to be full go this coming up week."
QB Matt Flynn
"I have really good memories of this place, especially all of the great things that happened to me playing here in college (at LSU). But we were coming out here as a football team to get better. And in the first half that clearly didn't happen. We've got a lot of work to do and we have a lot to learn from tonight. And I am glad some of that is getting out of the way now."
"The difference between moving the ball and not moving the ball is just so small. There are just some things that we have to clean up. We know we can do a lot better than that but you have to give them a lot of credit. They came out and played hard and took advantage of our mistakes. So many negative things happened for most of the first half, so it was good to see us respond like that and score before the half and make a ball game out of it. That was really encouraging."
"We were seeing a lot of fronts tonight but that's not surprising because we see a lot of that in practice so that's not surprising. It was just a lack of communication and execution and we just can't let it happen. Like I said, that's why we play these games to learn from the mistakes we made. Now we have a chance to correct them and get better."
"I have a great opportunity getting a second chance to earn a starting spot. I know these chances don't come too often so I'm really blessed with this opportunity."
CB Tracy Porter
"It was really weird. This is a place where I spent most of my career. I played here (in New Orleans) for four years and then to come back here it was weird. But it was good to come back, playing in front of this great crowd and my family. That was a good thing about it. But it's really strange talking to you guys in the other locker room – as a matter of fact this is the first time I've ever been in the visiting locker room here at the (Mercedes-Benz) Superdome."
"That's why you play these preseason games because you know coming in you are going to make mistakes. There are going to be plays that we make and the other team makes that's like an experiment – that's what preseason is for. It wasn't like we are almost to the season. Tonight was the second preseason game, so we have a lot of time to learn from the mistakes and correct them before the real thing."
"We know we are a much better ball club than we showed. We had too many penalties and mistakes. We know we could've converted on a lot of things both defensively and offensively. Like I said it's a learning experience for all of us."
