Mike Singletary, Jimmy Raye, Alex Smith on the communication issues

Well, after much discussion, we finally received a bit of an update as to the much-discussed communication issues. Coach Mike Singletary, offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye, and QB Alex Smith all spoke with the media today. What's interesting to note is that Singletary and Smith discussed the Saints, while Jimmy Raye was really more of a guest appearance to discuss the Yahoo article and the communication issues.

There are some classic quotations in these transcripts and I think you should definitely take a minute to check them out. Singletary had plenty to say about the "rat" that leaked the information. The best line of the day belongs to Jimmy Raye:

On what he makes of this Yahoo Sports story that came out a few days ago:

"Who's Yahoo? I don't know him, but I think this, guys, we lost the game in Seattle it goes with the territory. I bear my brunt of the responsibility for what took place up there, I've done this a long time, it's my 34th year in the National Football League I'm not flawless, I think I speak with good diction. I don't garble anything. I think I speak with good diction and I think I express myself pretty well, so whoever Yahoo is, maybe he should come call the plays."

I think it's safe to say Jimmy Raye is ready to kick Yahoo's butt!

The team practiced this afternoon and it included Alex Smith wearing a wristband with plays on it. As MM posted, this would seem to indicate Raye will stay upstairs in the booth. In his media session today, Alex Smith said that if the plays don't come in by the time the radio shuts off at 15 seconds, time is more or less up and there's not enough time to get a play in and the team organized. That it needs to happen sooner. There has been discussion of just simplifying play names and then having Smith know what they each signify. Using the wrist band could certainly work in that sense. Raye calls down M35 (just a hypothetical name) and Smith can figure out which play it is.

Of course, the issue to begin with was Raye's apparent disorganization in finding plays in the playbook and instead recalling them from his memory. Whatever the case, I'm curious to see what the team decides on for Monday night's game.

Head Coach Mike Singletary
Post-Walk-Thru - September 16, 2010
San Francisco 49ers 

Listen to Audio: Part One I Part Two I Media Center

On whether he has decided where Coach Jimmy Raye will be situated for the game:

"I have not. I told you on Sunday after the game that we would deal with it, and before the game we will have it dealt with."

On the report that came out about communication issues from Yahoo Sports and whether it is factual:

"You know, let me address it like this. As the head coach, one of the most important things for me to do is decide where I need to spend my time. The time that I have, I need to think about certain things that are important or not important. What's in that article, the thing that I always try to strive to do is to deal with men. And if a man has something to say, he's going to find a way to come and tell you. But I don't want to deal with a rat. And I don't want to spend my time trying to find out, who said this, who did that. The article is not factual, number one. Number two is I don't want to spend my time trying to find the rat. In time, the smell will come."

On whether that rat is in the building:

"Oh I don't - if the rat is in the building, it will show in time, but I'm not going to go trying to find it. It'll show."

On QB Alex Smith potentially playing with a wristband with plays on it:

"It's a thought. It's a thought, it's an option."

On the one thing that needs to be cleared up to face the Saints on Monday night:

"Finish. You start the game, finish the game."

On what he sensed happened during the game:

"You know what, I want to say this about the game and then I want to move on. There are many different reasons why we lost the game, many different reasons that I don't have time to go through. But the bottom line is, we didn't finish. But now, I'm excited about the game that we have Monday night. And in all honesty, that's what I'd really like for us to focus on, because that's what we're focused on."

On the status of CB Will James for this game:

"Questionable, day-to-day."

On whether James will practice:

"You know what, he's just going to continue the progression that he's on with the trainers, and thankfully we have an extra day, but we'll see how that works out."

On whether that puts CB Phillip Adams in a critical defensive position:

"I think if he has to play, we'll create the right matchup and we'll go from there, but if Phillip has to play, he'll do fine."

On whether WR Jason Hill will take over responsibilities for WR Ted Ginn:

"Right now, the biggest reason we brought in Hill was simply because we want to make sure that he can be that next guy if Ginn can't go. Right now Ginn is a day-to-day situation and we have to continue to observe it. But Hill's that guy that, if Ginn can't go, he'll step in. So we'll see how that goes."

On whether Hill or WR Dominique Zeigler is the number three guy:

"What I'm saying is, I'm just talking about from a depth standpoint. Zeigler is the number three guy."

On the return game situation going into this week's game:

"Well, I kind of addressed it on Monday. We got a number of guys that could do it, could be Josh Morgan, could be Delanie (Walker), (Dominique) Zeigler, it just depends on how it works out. As far as the punt, it could be any number of guys there. It could be the kid, the young kid, Phillip Adams. Also could be 17, Zeigler. Could be him."

On how close WR Kyle Williams is to returning:

"We're just continuing to evaluate. He's looking better, but he's the same as William James, just continuing to do the progression work that he has to do in order to get where he needs to go and we'll see."

On whether WR Jerry Rice has been invited to the 49ers facility after reports that he was working with the Seahawks:

"Jerry's been here a number of times, but you know, where Jerry goes is his business. So the fact that he was with Pete Carroll, that's great. Great for Jerry. But yes, he's been invited here."

On the defensive secondary and how they can evolve and improve:

"Our DBs? Oh, it's just technique, technique, details. It's as simple as that. You know, they know that as well as I do, it's the first game of the season, they got caught in some tough situations that basically they put themselves in, but we just have to continue to go forward and get better."

On whether protection or his ability to get the ball out makes it difficult to get Saints QB Drew Brees:

"I think it's a combination. Sometimes a player is in a great system, and I think the system that they run, it caters to him very well. And he would be successful in any system, but particularly that one. And I think he understands the offense very well and I think when you begin to talk about Drew Brees, once again it goes back to the relationship, it goes back to the relationship with the coordinator. They've been together for a number of years and I think when you have a good coordinator and a good quarterback, if they can stay together for a little while, good things are going to happen."

On whether LB Ahmad Brooks will play Monday:

"Yes, its - he's looking good, it's probable he's going to go. We'll see how it looks but he's looking good."     

On how he determines which outside linebacker will play:

"It's going to be a tough call. We just have to continue to evaluate throughout the week, and we'll see how it looks and what's better for the team at the end of the week."

On whether LB Manny Lawson and LB Parys Haralson are set as starters:

"Well we've got to look at everything right now, but Manny and Parys, they've done a great job and there's no reason to begin to look at them, but right now we're looking at every situation and we'll evaluate if it's what's best for the game."

On whether G Chilo Rachal will play:

"Right now, you know he has that pinched nerve and it's a day-to-day thing, we'll see."

On his thought process on bringing in T/G Adam Snyder over G Tony Wragge last week:

"Well I think Coach Solari felt that Snyder would be the best fit in that situation and made that decision."

On what he can do to keep the team together when things get tough:

"Well right now is a tremendous opportunity for us very early on. I'm very excited for where it is right now because sometimes it's tough to tell a team that's as talented and as young as we are that, you know what, the stove is hot. And it's just a matter of understanding after you go through it and you touch the stove, and you know, hey it's hot. I think our guys understand the challenge that we have going forward, I think they understand that we have to go out there and start the game, finish the game, and just continue to get better. Every opportunity that we have to get better we have to take it, whether it's in practice or it's in the game. So for us, we're going to stick together, we're going to continue to work. We're a work in progress, but I'm excited about Monday night and I'm excited about the challenge for our team."

On whether there are any other ideas being discussed on how to address the play-calling issues:

"No, I think we have enough. I really do."

On whether there are any elements of accuracy in the Yahoo Sports article:

"You know, I'm going to say this. I'm going to leave it where it's at. Some things are better off left alone, I'm going to leave it where it's at. I said what I needed to say about it, and I'm looking toward Monday night and every bit of energy that I have has to go toward that game. And like I said, wherever that story came from, I don't believe its in the building, but if it is, it'll find itself out in time, but sometimes you just have to know when to let something go. That's done."

On whether he is pissed off about it:

"Am I pissed off about it? I would say this. It's just something that's disappointing. Pissed off, maybe a little in my immediate reaction, but to look at it and put it in perspective, you're just disappointed that something like that is written."

On what he means by a rat:

"Here we go, okay? I want you to understand that I believe that in our country, it's the saddest thing that's happened. One thing that I want to teach our guys is to be men. If there's something that you have to say, go say it. And say that you said it. But don't go say a bunch of stuff, but ‘don't tell him I said it.' To me, that's a rat. That's a coward and a rat. So those things I can't spend my time on, and that's all I have to say."

Offensive Coordinator Jimmy Raye
Post -Walk-Thru - September 16, 2010
San Francisco 49ers 

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On whether he takes full responsibility for the miscommunication issues last Sunday in Seattle:

"It's my responsibility, I bear all the responsibility for the way we operate on offense. I'm the leader, it's my watch and I have the responsibility for the things that occur that concern the offense."

On what he could have done better:

"I guess we could have won the game, and then I wouldn't be here addressing this issue. I think it's important that all of you understand that this game has a human element to it, and of the games that were played last week, I would dare say that there was anyone in the position I'm in that was flawless. So what could I have done better? I could of maybe had a better plan, I could of maybe made some better decisions, hopefully the ones that I made were the correct ones, or you hope they play out that way, but because of that there are any number of things that you always think back on when you lose, that you could of done better, and if you don't, then you probably shouldn't be in the game."

On whether he lived up to his responsibility in the first half of getting things in on time:

"I've lived up to my responsibility everyday I've been here as a San Francisco 49er coach, and I did that on Sunday. I've lived up to my responsibility. The problem that we had going into the game, with the noise, and the mechanical system, and the play call entry into the game, there were some glitches that caused him to get out of the huddle late when he had to make some calls or do some things with a formation in motion that created a timeout situation. The time frame of which that was done from me to the boundary to him has to be in a more efficient fashion. There were times in the first half that I either, through the phone, or the mechanism from the coach to quarterback from the sideline to him, went off or failed. He was getting information and the phone went off, there was a crowd noise, problems where he didn't get much or part of the information. Those mechanical issue things were a part of that process of the communication. But we have a backup system, backup signal system, and a backup fail safe system for the quarterback that if that does occur, he has a go-to run and pass that he doesn't have to stand there and wait, that he can go in the huddle and call. For that specific reason, and the couple of the instances I think what happened was, you'd have to ask him because he made the statement, but I think what happened was he was into the play call, and the allotted time for the headset went out, now he's into the play call, he's trying to decipher where to go from there, he's at the line of scrimmage, he's rushing, and he gets there and he can't do it, he can't change the call so he does the next most efficient thing because we are in the red area, he uses a timeout. But we have and we practiced the mechanics of we don't want to burn timeouts in the first quarter and the third quarter. We would rather take the foul, I would, my personal philosophy, I would rather take the five-yard penalty than to burn the timeout in the first quarter of the game. Knowing that we might get a T2, a two-minute situation in the second quarter, or we may get a situation in the second quarter where we need the time out. I would prefer us to go backwards with a five-yard penalty in the first quarter as opposed to taking a time out. We had that situation happen, and we talked about it this summer, I can't remember the game, but it was a third and two situation, and a similar situation happened and he took the delay which made it third and seven, and his comment to me was as we talked about it was ‘maybe there Jimmy you think third and two I should of burned one, and now leave it third and two and get a play call and convert.' Well now that's a judgment deal, and that is as best as I can represent it to you as we are structured, and I would prefer not to burn the time out in the first quarter and in the third quarter. I need those in my pocket at the end of the first half, second quarter, and fourth quarter, and to use them on a formation, misalignment, play call misalignment, or motion misalignment would not be something that I would choose to do."

On whether he was surprised to have miscommunication issues with QB Alex Smith and him not understanding his philosophy on not to burn timeouts in the first quarter:

"I don't think it was that at all. He clearly understands that. I think and as I related it, it was because of where he was. The ball was at the 20, it was down in there, similar to the third and two situation, so rather than take the backup, five, he thought at that point we were midway, I don't know where it was into the game, somewhere late in the first quarter, one of the ones that I remember, he chose to take a timeout which was ok, at that point I was ok with it because we still had two time outs. The subsequent to that, that's when the timeouts started to go then that was a problem."

On whether he thinks it makes sense for him to come down onto the field to alleviate some of these miscommunication issues:

"And that's a possibility, I mean that's something that we've talked about. The system that we had in place from my perspective, it's better for me to be where I am because you eliminate the emotion of the boundary, you eliminate the emotion of the crowd, you eliminate a lot of the distractions that you have, and some guys prefer it, I've been down, I've called down for years, but this situation is different as I inherited it a year ago, it's different. So I chose to be up and it works best for us."

On why switch was made from Jason Michael relaying the plays to quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson to relaying them:

"That was a decision that you'd have to ask the head coach. That was a decision that the head coach made that he thought would be the best going forward and you'd have to ask him. For the continuity of us, if I'm the coordinator and Mike is the quarterback coach and we're the two people that talk to him, it just kind of naturally made sense that this year we transitioned to Mike calling the plays as where a year ago, Jason and I have been together for a long time, the familiarity of the things that I say or start to say go faster than a year ago where the situation everybody was learning me, it wasn't, it just didn't make good practical sense to do it that way."

On whether his preference is to remain in the box:

"I said we are reviewing how we are going to do it, and there is a possibility that I could come down or I could stay the way I am doing it."

On whether he has a preference:

"Yeah, my preference would be to stay up."

On whether he has ever called plays from the sidelines and what does he get from upstairs that he can't get down on the field:

"Well you don't have, you have the isolation, you don't have interference and you don't have the emotion or the boundary of the players coming off saying ‘throw me the ball, run this, the crowd,' you don't have to deal with all that when you are up away from it. You can say ‘well it doesn't, you get calised to it, or you can do it if you're down there all the time, or it doesn't affect,' to me it would be something that would be a distraction for me."

On whether it's realistic going forward for Alex to expect the play with at least 24 seconds left of the play clock:

"Well, if you notice every practice that we have, we have the clocks on. Understand this, Sunday wasn't the first football game that we played with the San Francisco 49ers. Now I have been here a while, Sunday wasn't the first game we played. We have in place a mechanism where we practice with the clock, and the timing. We have a cutoff point and a system where we'd like to have the information in the huddle, and out of the huddle, at the line of scrimmage, so he's up there between 17 and 15 seconds so he can do what he has to do. You practice that procedure with the clocks in place, trying to as closely as you can emulate that in the game. Well ideally yes, I'd like to have him out of the huddle on the 40 second clock I would like to have him in place coming to the line of scrimmage somewhere in the 20 to 25 second range, ideally. Because then that allows him, and the offense, or people that he has to talk to if somebody misaligns or if there is a shift or a motion that has to move, it gives him all of that time to think, and then he's doing all of these things, then he's got to make his deal, his mic point, or a change, or a call, or a protection call or whatever, and then you come out of there with 15 seconds to go on the clock you're in a rush-rush mode and now you're not at your best.

On what he makes of this Yahoo Sports story that came out a few days ago:

"Who's Yahoo? I don't know him, but I think this, guys, we lost the game in Seattle it goes with the territory. I bear my brunt of the responsibility for what took place up there, I've done this a long time, it's my 34^th year in the National Football League I'm not flawless, I think I speak with good diction. I don't garble anything. I think I speak with good diction and I think I express myself pretty well, so whoever Yahoo is, maybe he should come call the plays."

On whether this whole miscommunication issue has brought his coaching staff together:

"I don't know that the coaching staff is even aware of this, at least I haven't addressed it with the offensive side of the coaching staff. This is an incident that was brought to my attention that I had no knowledge of and what I did was basically figured it was part of the landscape, part of the job. I don't read the internet or don't read the deal so I didn't have any knowledge of this until it was brought to me and then from there I did not take it any further, because I didn't know and I didn't have any details of what it was about, so I didn't go any further with it. I had a discussion with the head coach [Mike Singletary] about it and that was the end of it."

On whether there is a role for RB Brian Westbrook and why he didn't get on the field on Sunday:

"There is a role on the offense for him, he is [RB] Frank Gore's backup, that is his role. The game, as the game unfolded, the plan to insert him into the game and take some of the reps of Frank, turned in the second half as we got into a two minute offense with 10:29 to go in the third quarter, and from my perspective where we were best in the offense that we were operating in, because of the knowledge of the protection was with Frank there, so we lost the opportunity to get what he had planned to do, we lost that opportunity when we got in a 3 score or 4 score game, and lost that ability to be in a run - pass mix so to speak, because we were trying to two minute and score and get back into the game, and the people to answer your question, Brian is learning what we're doing, but what they were doing defensively in their sub-package in protection, it was more feasible for us to have Frank in there who has knowledge of it than to put someone in there to cut maybe a defender loose and hit the quarterback and create another problem."

On whether he was saying Alex could have handled the situation better had he gone to a fail-safe system:

"No, that's not what I said. That is not what I said at all. I said we had that in place. I'm not admonishing the responsibility of what happened Sunday, what I did say was that Alex probably got cut in between getting the information, the phone cutting off, and down to a point to trying to finish what he heard as opposed to utilizing the system that we have in place of ‘if it's not in by designated time, go to your go-to package and run a pass. That's what I said."

On whether he wished Alex wouldn't have talked to the media about these issues:

"No. I don't know you very well, but I'm not ducking. We're not dodging or ducking anything here. One of the coaches said very distinctively the other night ‘the game doesn't lie to you, it is, what you saw Sunday we displayed in Seattle was what it was. The issue was a timeout, a communication problem with the play to the boundary, no I don't wish he would have tried to hide that or sweep it under the rug. We need to deal with it, get better going forward. It's one game in a sixteen game schedule. I wish it hadn't happened, but going forward we'll find a mechanism to try and improve that, if that was the case and make it better, and then we'll have to improve that some place along the line because of the noise or the headsets going out on the boundary, or what happens in other peoples stadiums, or rain, I mean you have a lot of other contingencies that you have to deal with, but no I don't wish he hadn't said that. Because if he hadn't of addressed it, I would still be addressing it anyway. I think he did the right thing."

QB Alex Smith
Post-Walk-Thru - September 16, 2010
San Francisco 49ers 

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On what need to change mechanically in the play calling method for Monday night's game:

"You know, honestly, it's just a more conscious effort from top to bottom, from the moment the play is called coming all the way through the headsets to me -and that's getting in the huddle and being efficient in the huddle and breaking and getting to the line of scrimmage. I think something that we've, you know, obviously we've battled on and off at times and it's something that we need to make a more conscious effort of, like I said, from top to bottom. I think the better environment you can create out here in practice, you know, the most similar to game speed-type of deal, the better you're going to get at it."

On whether the team had this problem last year:

"I mean, at times, and it's clearly, I think, something on the road - you battle a little more when you get in a hostile environment. I think a lot gets made of people, ‘You're only dealing with crowd noise at the line of scrimmage.' But obviously, I think even a bigger part of that is handling the crowd noise in the huddle. It's a noisy place, guys are getting in there, and when one word can change what so many guys are doing, you know, it's obviously vital that you communicate pretty clearly in there. And it's tough when you're battling the clock, stepping into a noisy huddle, a noisy stadium to try to get that done. I think you saw, if you look at Monday night and the Chargers dealt with it as well, burning timeouts and taking delay of games. It's just - I think that's why people call it home-field advantage. But no excuse for it, obviously it's something we've got to address."

On whether they are going to work on a remedy:

"Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, no point in waiting until the day of the game."

On what that remedy is:

"Good question. It's something, I guess, I'm not comfortable as far as getting into the details of how we're going to do it. There are a few things we're looking at. I think as far as actual operation goes, you know, to cut down time."

On whether he discussed that solution with offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye and quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson:

"Yeah it's something we've talked about, yeah, in house, absolutely. You know, different options."

On whether Raye staying in the press box will still work:

"Yeah, it's absolutely something I think can work. We got through it all last year. Like I said, I think something of making a more conscious effort of and working on it in practice, it's something that's on all of us. No question, so whether or not we can do it out there, absolutely, no question."

On the issues he raised earlier this week about communication:

"Like I said, I think it's something that we've gotten away with at times in the past, especially last year, you know, just battling it and hurried at the line of scrimmage and we've gotten away with it at times. But I think over the long run, it hurts you. You have less operation time at the line of scrimmage, you're burning timeouts. You're taking unnecessary penalties in key situations. All those things add up and put you behind the ball."

On his feeling now versus after the Seattle game:

"I don't really think, I guess, after the game and still today - I think a lot has been made out of it but I was simply telling the truth. I was unaware - obviously we do the press conferences right after the game, [Head] Coach Singletary was under the impression we had one clock, I mean, one headset problem and he was under the impression that that's what most of them were. I simply told him, ‘No, that it was just the one time.' You know, and the rest of the time it was a clock problem, so that's it."

On why he didn't use the backup calls during times the play failed to get communicated:

"There is, but at the time, they happen in key situations. Most of the time it was third-and-short, third down, even fourth down situations, right - so obviously those were key situations. It's one thing for me to step in the huddle and call my own play when it's second-and-seven, but obviously there's a little more on the line in these critical situations when it's third-and-three, and when you're getting away with getting the play in right before it cuts out and then stepping in and getting the play executed, you know, those certain times I just make that, ‘Hey, third-and-two I'm going to take the timeout and make sure we get this right. You know, we're in the red zone, third-and-two, I'm going to take the timeout, get this right so we can go execute and be effective.'"

On whether it's better to take the five-yard penalty in those situations:

"Yeah, we've talked about it; it's something we've always talked about, preserving timeouts."

On whether he thinks he could have made better calls:

"Yeah, in hindsight you can look back and make the calls there. I made the judgment call that it was early on in the game, and that these were critical enough situations to merit a timeout. That's what my mindset was. I understand that we didn't want to use them, but looking back at the game, we got down there three times on our first three drives and then we didn't get down there again, so."

On what he would do it the same situation now:

"You know, I may be being more conscious of being able to step and go to one of my calls. But like I said, you can't wait until there is 15 seconds on the play clock to do that. That's something we've talked about; it's got to be sooner than that, stepping in and, you know, whatever the designated time is, you know, 23, 24 seconds left on the play clock, that if I don't have something I'm stepping in and calling my own thing. You can't wait. Even at 15 [seconds], for me to step in and know what personnel we're in and call a play for that situation is difficult. So, being more prepared for that. There are several things you can do. Like I said, I think a more conscious effort from top to bottom, and I think really practicing it, you know. I think the more you can simulate those game situations out here with the 40-second clock, with it rolling, guys having to get back in the huddle, creating a game tempo, the better."

On whether it can be resolved it one week:

"Yeah, absolutely. I mean it's something every team in the NFL does. We're getting it done, yeah, absolutely."

On the differences of him or Raye calling timeouts in certain situations:

"I think it just, there's a lot to go into the game situations. I mean, like I said, down there, the fourth down, a critical situation, I was going to call a timeout. I mean, that's something I think he would even waver on. I don't think there's a clear-cut answer. I think the one probably in hindsight, was the first one. It was first-and-10 and we were in the red zone. I think if you're going to address one of them it's that one. If you take it and go first-and-15, I felt like it was important for us to get off to a good start. We just got the pick; we had just gotten a first down, and had the clock problem there. That's the one that I think probably merits the most scrutiny."

On the Yahoo article which speculates that there is a lack of trust between some players and the coaches:

"I found that, I'm not going to lie, I found most of the article pretty ridiculous. Stuff that I had absolutely no idea about, stuff that was news to me, that players were going to coach Singletary this offseason and had these issues is something that I no idea about, and I meet with Singletary pretty often. So, no idea; I was completely unaware of, so as far as, you can ask the rest of my team, but as far as what I'm saying, completely coming from nowhere; false."

On the defenses of the league planning to force him out of the pocket and also stopping RB Frank Gore:

"I would say, excluding a couple teams, that's probably the mindset for every defense; stop the run and get after the quarterback. I mean, every team, unless you play, like I said, a couple teams that really spread it out, that you might take a different strategy, a ‘bend-don't-break' type of deal. But for the most part, defenses' mindsets are they're not going to let you run the ball on them and they're going to get after the quarterback. I mean, that's the mindset of every defense and probably every defensive coordinator."

On whether he would like to call more screens, draws and traps and be more independent with his audible calls at the line:

"I mean, it depends week to week. Every situation is different. I mean, obviously, you're looking at matchups that you have that week, matchups that you have versus them, things that look good on tape, you know, home and away that, you know, obviously with these at home you can get away with a lot more checks at the line of scrimmage, things like that. On the road it can be difficult, so a lot goes into that. Like I said, it changes week to week."

On the matchup problems TEs Delanie Walker and Vernon Davis cause for defenses:

"Absolutely, yeah, especially when we're balanced; I think that's the key thing. When you look at, when you look at what we were doing the first half, even though we couldn't execute in critical situations, but we still had the ability to move the ball, it's because we were balanced. When I look back at the tape, that's clearly one of the main reasons we were able to do that. Even though we weren't running for a ton of yards, we still made them defend the run and we were able to throw off of it. In the second half, when we got away from our game plan, obviously with the score and got one dimensional, we struggled."

On facing the New Orleans Saints defense and how it is different from other defenses:

"I think they're different in the sense that they're trying to throw a ton at you. They're not one of the defenses that, okay, they play this front and this coverage for the most time. And obviously, I mean a handful of things; you turn on New Orleans tape and it's all over the place week to week to week. They play every front imaginable, every coverage. They do some things that are very unorthodox as far as the defense goes. And the play fast, so, I think part of the deal is to create some confusion, and they like to pressure. I think that's the last thing; they like to get after the quarterback in multiple ways."