New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - NewOrleansSaints.com Sean Payton reviews Cleveland Browns game

Opening Statement: “Just a couple of things in regard to yesterday’s loss, I think that the one thing that is most disappointing is that situationally we have to do a better job of playing football. That could be an end of game situation. That could be when a team is attempting a field goal, (on) fourth and four, (and) we are offsides. We take a sack in a position yesterday where potentially we are in scoring range with a field goal to make it a seven point game as opposed to a field goal game. A few of those came up in the Atlanta game and there were a handful of them that came up yesterday in Cleveland. We’ve got to look closely at being prepared for those things and being smarter in those situations. That is the one thing that has stood out now two weeks in a row. Obviously it is tough losing on the final drive and we talk all the time about the importance of two minute offense and defense that is how a lot of these games end. That is how most of these games end. I think it’ll be important that we have a good week this week in preparing for Minnesota. They are coming off a tough loss themselves so I am sure they will be ready to play.”

What is your reaction to Adrian Peterson being likely to play this weekend?

“I saw it and look we are going to have to prepare to play him along with the rest of the team. That’s the only thing. Obviously from a scheme standpoint it is significant because of his ability. It’s probably better to know that now than to find it out later in the week and try to prepare for all the different scenarios (of his availability).”

Your guys haven’t committed a lot of turnovers but they have been pretty big. Is that a situation where you look at the play and say this is what we are talking about?

“Just relative to the turnover battle, really, it is 1-0 yesterday. Not getting any takeaways and losing by one increment, when you take the last two games we lost that battle by one and both of those games finished in closing field goals. So it is significant when you are looking at games that are that close.”

What can you tell us about Mark Ingram?

“Nothing now. I thought he ran really well yesterday. I thought he played hard. We will evaluate where he is at but nothing today with specifics in regards to any of these guys with injury.”

What is the big picture when you lost two games by a total of five points?

“It’s focusing on the things that you feel like consistently come up, that potentially kept you from winning those games, focusing on those, making the corrections and then getting ready to make the improvements and play your third game. Today is an important day to look closely at the film. It is important for our players to see it and then get ready to play another opponent.”

Where is pass rush on that list of priorities?

“It’s important. It goes hand in hand, the coverage, the rush, all of those things; it becomes easier to do your job as someone in the secondary when the quarterback is under duress. Those are things that go without saying. That is all part of it. Sometimes it comes from a four man rush. Sometimes it might come when we are sending more than just four. Yesterday we probably pressured more than we did week one versus Atlanta and yet he (the quarterback) was able to still make some plays. We had some assignment errors, some communication errors, those are the things that we have to get cleaned up.”

Do you maybe insert yourself a little bit more in the defensive room after two tough weeks?

“We try to at the beginning of the week meet on the game that we just had. Last week we watched the tape together defensively. I’m not in that meeting room as much as I’m in the offensive meeting room and yet at the same time we’ll talk about personnel for the upcoming game, how do we look to what is the plan with regards to our personnel and then during the middle of the game at times I’m always on their line (headset communication). I’ll have real good dialogue with not only Rob (Ryan) but the rest of those guys on defense. It is important we play a complementary game and I think that is something that I have pretty much been consistent with in my time here. I think those guys will bounce back, will do a good job preparing this week and we will collectively make sure we have the right players out there and the right scheme for who we are playing.”

Is it more typical to see assignment and communication errors in weeks one and two?

“They’re concerning in that a lot of it’s pre-snap. I think it can cost you in week one or two. (But) It’ll cost you in the middle and later part of the season. I think it’s critical that guys know where to be and what to do. The same thing happened on the third down play offensively, we had a miscommunication, we don’t pick up the right linebacker, he comes free and gets a sack on Drew (Brees) and now we are out of field goal range and we are punting the football. Those are things that we need to clean up in a hurry.”

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