a quad strain. (G) Todd Herremans came out just for a bit, then he ended up going back in, because of his knee. (DE) Darren Howard has a groin strain. (CB) Rod Hood has the heel strain and then (WR Donté) Stallworth still has the hamstring strain. The guys are getting better. We'll just see how they do here in the next little bit."
"I thought New Orleans did a nice job against us. They obviously started the game faster than we did and when you are playing a good football team you have to make sure you come out of the chutes, especially when you're playing at their place. We didn't do a good job of that. We need to not only start faster but we need to finish stronger and we didn't do that. Third downs, they did a better job than we did on third downs. Again, we need to eliminate some errors there and we'll be better off."
On what can be done to get the guys out there and going from the first snap: "You need to start better. You need to make some plays and put your players in a position to make some plays earlier."
On what can be done to help the defense not be on the field so much: "When you have opportunities, both in the run and the pass game, on your possession throws and then runs, you've got to get positive yards on those. We did that better in the second half. There is always good and bad in the games. I thought that third quarter the guys came out and played pretty good football right there and we did just what I am saying."
On whether it is dangerous to rely on big plays: "That's not what we are relying on. We want to be successful on the other plays too. We've got to do a better job there."
On whether the game plan was to try and throw the deep ball as much as they did in the first half or if things just unfolded that way: "We're always going to throw the ball down the field. We've done that since we have been here. We need to make some plays on the ball and we weren't able to do that."
On whether he is concerned that both of their losses have come in situations where the team couldn't finish: "We need to do a better job in the first quarter and the fourth quarter when you really look at it. That fourth quarter is important and we (need to) continue to push through and stay aggressive and that starts with me, being aggressive in my calls, (defensive coordinator) Jim (Johnson) being aggressive in his calls, and then the players following the same way."
On how his teams of the past were always a fourth quarter team and whether he is concerned with his defense's performance in the fourth quarter: "We need to do better there. That's something we are working on. We're going to get that fixed."
On whether there might be changes on defense: "Not necessarily. We're looking at everything right now."
On the problem of burning timeouts early: "I've got to do a better job of getting (plays) in sooner and then you add in there a little bit of the noise. We had one game where the headsets went out, with (offensive coordinator) Marty (Mornhinweg) and I and the quarterback. There's a bunch of excuses you can throw in there. Bottom line is I've got to get them in there to the quarterback sooner and clearer."
On why they had to use their last timeout before the two minute warning: "I don't remember that one."
On whether clock management is something that can be worked on: "That's a loaded question, but I have taken a couple hits with clock management so I am not sure exactly how to answer that. We can do a better job there - I guess is what I'll tell you."
On whether the Superdome was louder than expected: "We knew it was going to be loud in there. That's not an excuse. We've played in loud places before, Kansas City last year which is probably as loud as you're going to get. We just have to do a better job of handling that situation."
On whether he would have done what the Saints did at then end of the game, kneeling to kill the clock before attempting the last second field goal: "That's exactly what because what I was going to do was, I was going to let them score and then get the ball back and go. That's what we would have tried to do if they weren't going to do that. You let them take the ball in and then take your chances of getting the ball back and going."
On how the Saints put it all on their kicker, John Carney: "Well, they did, that's the safe way of doing it. He's got a good kicker. He's kicked a few balls before."
On whether he ever considered letting them score on third down: "Not at that point, no."
On SS Michael Lewis' situation: "We haven't gotten into all that yet."
On whether he expects all the hurt guys to play: "Yeah, I think so."
On whether LB Matt McCoy is okay after leaving the game with an injury: "Yeah, actually Matt felt pretty good today. He came back and felt pretty good."
On whether he expects to get WR Donté Stallworth and CB Rod Hood back this week: "We'll see. We are taking it day by day."
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