Saints Players

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

OCTOBER 8, 2023

SAINTS PLAYERS

Alvin Kamara, RB

(On how it felt to set the Saints all-time touchdown record)

“I hate to sound boring about it, but I just wanted to win. It feels good. I’m happy because my teammates were so hyped about it. I’m in a blessed position because it’s like my teammates almost wanted it more for me.”

(On how the running game helped the team in the red zone today)

“We talked about it during the week. When we can run the ball efficiently, it just opens everything up. We were collaborating today. We have too many playmakers to be a bad offense and I think today was a good example of what we can do when we are collaborating.”

(On if today’s game was closer to the standard they can play at)

“In the seven years I’ve been here, offensively, we are used to operating at a certain level of efficiency and effort where we could score at will. When you can do that in this offense and limit the self-inflicted mistakes and penalties, the possibilities are endless. With the playmakers we have, there is enough for everybody. And as a team, when the defense is doing what they are doing, it can get ugly. It’s a great feeling to go out there and put that on display.”

(On what is what like last week after the loss)

“It was another work week. A win or a loss, the losses hurt, but it’s the same thing. You have to have a short memory in this profession. You never want to lose, but sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in that lull and worrying about what we are going to do, instead of saying, ‘ok, we lost, let’s flip the page and keep going forward and doing what we have to do in practice to put our best foot forward at the next game.’”

Michael Thomas, WR

(On his confidence going into each play)

“My love for the game, having a sense of urgency, knowing that my teammates need me and accountability. When I get an assignment, I know I have to get out there and execute it to make sure the play happens.”

(On how important it was for the offense to get back on track)

“Very important. Every week it’s going to be really important for us to play like we played today and keep building to play complementary football and do the things that we are capable of doing. This is just one game, and we will enjoy, but we know we have to get back to work and keep finding ways to get better, pay attention to details and execute and I know we’ll have fun days like today.”

(On the importance of collaboration between offensive players and coaches)

“Just that sense of urgency and communication. Everything we did today, I think it benefitted us in the right way. We tasted it and we want more.”

(On what he said to Coach Dennis Allen during shared moment after the game)

“I just congratulated him on the victory. He coaches us hard and I know how much he wants to win. He does so many great things. As our head coach, you of course want to see him win, so to be able to shake his hand after a performance like that, hats off to him. You have to give him credit where credit is due. He did a great job today for us and I was proud of him. That is ultimately what we want to do every week so just to be able to do that, he did a tremendous job today.”

Tyrann Mathieu, S

(On his pick-six)

“It feels better when we win. You can make those kind of plays earlier in the game and it doesn’t necessarily help the team win. I’d probably say it feels better to win games. I just saw the ball in the air. I think the d-line was hunting all day. Any time you see a ball in the air and no one around it, you just try to get under it and really just secure the catch.”

(On taking away the run game)

“We’ve got a really good defense. I think when we are playing well at all three levels I think it only compliments all of us. When we can stop the run, guys in the secondary show their ability. Guys like Cam [Jordan], Grando [Carl Granderson] and [Bryan] Bresee show they can get the quarterback. Vice versa. If we are covering well, those guys can pin their ears back and hunt the quarterback. We just try to play complementary level ball all three levels that way and all of us can get a taste of that success.”

(On the game)

“You never want to lose two games in a row. I think as players you got to take that accountability and responsibility. I think throughout the week guys showed up doing a little bit extra, watching a little bit more film. Because you don’t ever want to lose three games in a row. Not in this league. We all understand it is still kind of early in the season and we have a lot of ball left to play. You just kind of want to put your best stuff on tape. I thought coming into this game with this coaching staff, a team that it doesn’t matter what’s going on, they have always been a well-coached football team and this is a great environment to play in. We knew coming to this week was going to be another challenge for us. I thought we did what we were supposed to do as far as start fast and finishing strong.”

Cameron Jordan, DE

(On the dominant performance)

“I always expect this type of performance, we’re always striving for a perfect played game in all three phases each and every week. At some point I’m sure reporters and fans are like, ‘when are those going to be played?’ It seems like this week we played a close to perfect game and there were still plays we could have made. We’re just going to continue working on our craft and try to get better each and every week.”

(On Bill Belichick calling him one of the hardest workers in the league)

“I appreciate that. Before the game you try to tune out everything. We just lost the previous week. I’m just trying to get us a W in the win column, whatever gets us there. It has been a great part of my career to turn the page after 24 hours and look towards the next week. So the moment we got to the Monday after the loss, I’m gung-ho on zoning in on Mac Jones and his offense, and Bill Belichick, who you know is one of the most phenomenal coaches you’re ever going to see, a legendary Hall of Fame coach. So if he said anything positive about me, great, I have to go earn it.”

Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE

(On the play of the defense, and if this was the best defensive performance he has been a part of)

“Dominant. Yeah, man. If I’m out there, I’m going to be dominant. That’s it. Yeah, definitely one of them. I think a year or two ago we had another almost donut, or donut. It started from the first snap. I felt like we came out there ready to play.”

(On moving forward)

“We came and got a major step forward and it’s good to enjoy this win. But we have to keep taking steps forward and not look back. It’s a party every win. You have to enjoy every win. It’s hard to come by. Just to go out there and do what we did, it’s exciting.”

Ugo Amadi, S

(On the defense)

“We came with a chip on our shoulder to bounce back from last week. Not just the defense, all phases. We showed in this game what we are capable of doing each and every Sunday. That’s what happens when all phases come together, especially on defense. You got the pass rush and the coverage on the back end playing together tight as one unit.”

(On moving forward)

“We will stay even keeled. We will go back to work next week and get ready for another good opponent that you can’t sleep on. We need to keep doing what we’re doing. We don’t have to be perfect, we just have to do our job.”

(On the shut-out)

“This is my first time even being a part of something like that, leaving a goose egg on the scoreboard. It goes to show that not just the starters but the guys behind them are ready to go to. There was no drop off.”

Malcolm Roach, DL

(On the game)

“We were just prepared, because we were locked into the little details, We knew we had to come to work and we knew that the offense was going to come out and we needed to give our best shot. We prepared and executed the game plan. We got after the quarterback and got some turnovers early and were able to put together a full game.”

(On the frustration of losing last week)

“We’ve got to always focus on doing the little things. Not doing the little things will create big problems for you. Locking in on the little things and just being together and making sure this locker room is not going one way or the other way, and just staying together. At the end of the day, we all have one common goal, and today we accomplished it.”

(On Tyrann Mathieu’s interception)

“Ah, there was a lot of juice right there, when T – T [Tyrann Mathieu] you know is just a ball hawk, and he has been doing it forever. When he’s able to get his hands on the ball, we know it’s a possibility he’s going to the crib with it, like he did today.”

(On the offense staying locked in the entire game)

“I don’t know what all they did. From what I can speak of, I know our scout team for the defensive line did a great job of preparing them this week. They did a great job of giving them the right looks, guys like Jack Heflin, Kyle Phillips and those guys, Niko Lalos, they do a great job on the defensive line getting those boys ready for what’s coming this week.”

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