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Payton talks about win vs. Panthers, running backs and secondary
New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton

Press Conference

Monday, October 4, 2010

Opening Statement:

“Pierson Prioleau ended up with a chest bruise and of his lung. We checked him into the hospital last night. He was released this morning and he’s feeling better. It’s something we just have to monitor this week. I think initially all of us, at least I did, felt like it was more of a concussion, but it was just him struggling to catch his breath. Chris Reis, we’ll have to look closely at his shoulder. He’s having all the MRIs as we speak. We have a few other nicks. Of course we’ll monitor where Pierre (Thomas) and Roman (Harper) are, some of those other guys who were injured prior to the game. Overall, there are certainly things that we want to continue to work on. I am pleased we were able to get the win. I felt defensively we came up with some big stops, certainly at the end. Guys have played well defensively. Sedrick Ellis played well. Usama (Young) played for us and played maybe more snaps than we had anticipated and played more snaps at a position than we had anticipated, so that was good. Jon Vilma and Malcolm Jenkins the same way. Offensively, there were a lot of positives. The turnovers and some of the red zone opportunities were ones that we have to look closely at and work on as we get further on in the schedule. The good news is you get the win, but looking closely at a critical eye, there are a lot of things that we’re going to be able to coach off this tape and work on.”

Could you be bringing in any players based on your injuries?

“I think number one, I’m optimistic Roman’s going to be healthy and I think tomorrow there’s a good chance we’ll bring in a couple of guys to work out.”

Is Pierson Prioleau going to be questionable this week or is it a longer-term thing?

“I would say just this week and a lot of it’s how he’s feeling and how he’s responding. Fortunately, the x-rays and all those other things were negative, but yet, something as significant as a lung we’re going to have to be patient. It would not be long term. It would be a short team (injury). Looking ahead to this week it’s something we have to play close attention to.”

Is it fair that some have a notion out there that the offense is in a malaise?

“I think if you look at points scored, that aspect hasn’t been what we’re accustomed to and certainly where we want to be. I think each game has been a little different. Yesterday there were opportunities for scoring that we didn’t take advantage of. Whether that’s a turnover at the one, one at the fringe when we’re entering the end zone or even the last play sequence in which we went down to the five and I had a boneheaded call on second down and take a loss. It was a draw play and then we settle for a field goal. Different than the Minnesota game where it was going to be a different type of game, a different type of defense. We’re fortunate though that we’ve been able to win despite maybe not playing our best football. Maybe sometimes a plan is going to be maybe a little more conservative. Yesterday, watching the tape and I’m sure after the players see it, we’ll feel like we left some points on the board and clearly you see that when you watch the tape today. That’s why we get back to work here and try to correct some of those things. We possess the ball more. Our third downs were better. I mentioned last week and to you guys the importance of third down as it pertains to running statistics, time of possession, total snaps and I thought we saw a little of that illustrated in the game in that we put together some good opportunities for us offensively when we stayed on the field. The one thing I felt after the game and certainly looking at it now, I was happy with our second and short and third and short. The whole game we were 2nd-and-2, 3rd-and-2, 3rd-and-3, 3rd-and-5 and maybe one or two different times when we were at 3rd-and-long. I think we were very efficient on our early downs maybe compared to some other weeks. We had more balance. We just have to take advantage of those opportunities when we get into what we call the red zone or the fringe and (want to) come away with touchdowns and not just field goals.”

Read the full interview below...

Payton's Monday Press Conference

saintsfan601

great read.

saintfan