BillyC

Haslett says quarterback must eliminate fumbles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS -- The advice from New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett to his quarterback is blunt -- hold onto the football or else.

Aaron Brooks fumbled four times in the Saints' 14-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- three of them were lost, all hurt New Orleans.

Haslett, who has staunchly defended Brooks since he became the starter, admitted that he considered pulling Brooks when the fumbles started.


"I think there's some point, and I addressed this with him, that he needs to take care of the ball or we'll have to do something," Haslett said.

With the Saints (6-7) up 7-0 late in the first half, the ball slipped out of Brooks' hand as he attempted to throw a pass and Tampa recovered and ran it to the New Orleans 37. Two plays later the score was tied.

Late in the third quarter, the Saints had a third-and-8 at the Tampa Bay 44. Brooks scrambled away from the pass rush and gained 4 yards before being hit by linebacker Derrick Brooks and fumbling again. Tampa Bay recovered it at their 30.

New Orleans was on the verge of tying the score early in the fourth quarter, playing a first-and-goal at the Bucs' 6. Brooks was sacked again, fumbled again, and Tampa Bay recovered again.

"They were all his fault," Haslett said. "He's got to take care of the football better. It's like a running back or anybody who carries the ball. He carries the ball every single time we have a snap unless we have a direct snap. He's probably going to touch it 69 out of 70 plays and he's got to do a better job of managing the football."

Brooks leads the NFL with 10 of his 13 fumbles lost. The Saints have lost 18 of their 30 fumbles, the most in the league.

Brooks' fumbles came after an outstanding first half in which he completed 13 of 17 passes and the Saints gained 216 yards to Tampa Bays' 113.

"I'm thinking we're throwing the ball on Tampa Bay, we're doing a great job, we're going down the field," Haslett said. "The guy's smoking, he's on fire, he's taking the ball up and down the field. Then all of a sudden the ball pops out. It can't go on any more. He needs to take care of the football."

It's not a case of Brooks making bad decisions, Haslett said. Brooks has only thrown eight interceptions this season.

The No. 2 quarterback for the Saints is Todd Bouman. Haslett said he has confidence in Bouman, but admitted Bouman does not know the offense as well as Brooks or have his mobility.

Haslett isn't worried about shaking Brooks confidence.

"He better have thick skin, he's a quarterback," Haslett said. "A quarterback's got to be able to handle it. Nobody else put the ball on the ground first of all. He did it and he's got to deal with it. He understands that. We had a good talk about it."

A victory against Tampa Bay would have left the Saints just one game behind the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card race after both lost and fell to 8-5. Instead, New Orleans will need some help to make the postseason field for the first time since 2000.

The biggest reason for the losses this season are the turnovers the Saints have had, Haslett said.

"Most definitely," he said. "If we had protected the ball yesterday we would have won the game. But you can probably say that about four or five of our other games also. We're minus-six in turnovers. In order to win in this league you've got to be in the plus-five to plus-10 range. If you're above that, you see some teams now that are plus-18 that are 12-1 or 12-2. That's why they have those kinds of records."