BillyCarpenter1

TRANSCRIPT: Aaron Brooks
October 22, 2003
NewOrleansSaints.com

Q: Three weeks ago, you guys said that the team was lacking confidence. Now that looks like a different story. Do you have any opinion on this?

A: "Everyone has confidence. Everyone is a lot more comfortable about themselves and what we're doing out here."

Q: What makes you think that you guys will be able to continue what you got going offensively against Atlanta?

A: "The best thing that you can do is continue to practice like we have and continue to have faith like we have in one another and play football like we know how. I think that is the remedy for the last couple of weeks."

Q: Jim Haslett discussed a sense of excitement amongst the team last week. Do you sense that this week?

A: "Probably so. I think the coach has ways of seeing differently than players. That's your job but at the same time, we feel like as a team we have something good going here. We want to keep that up. Really, we're just trying to have fun, doing what's asked of us, we're playing with confidence and letting things take care of itself."

Q: Can you discuss the reasons for your team's success in third down conversions?

A: "The third down package. It's something, we as an offense thrive on as one of our goals to be 60% or better on third down. Right now, we're accomplishing that goal, but at the same time, I don't think any offense wants to come off the field after three plays. It's a big deal for us to stay on the field, helped the defense and special teams as much as we can. Even if we don't score, we're trying to change the field position, so we also have to play that game also."

Q: You guys didn't score much against Carolina, but ran the ball well. Is it more encouraging now that you're scoring more?

A: "Yes, we were playing with a lot of confidence down there, we were so close to putting up more points. Right now as one of the leaders of the team, I'm not concerned with the points we scored, I'm concerned about the wins and losses. If we have to win ugly, whether it's going to be a 10-6 game, 13-10, or 19-13 game like last year at the end, as long as were on the upper end of the scoring margin, I think we can be satisfied in terms of what we're doing. We can always go back and change things. Our main goal is to score more points than the other team."

Q: Can you discuss putting Carolina behind the eight ball a little bit, like Tennessee successfully did?

A: "Lets hope that continues. They still have a great defense, one of the better defenses in the NFL today, so we have to be prepared. We have to dot all our I's and cross all our T's and come ready and willing to win a football game."