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NEW ORLEANS SAINTS HEAD COACH DENNIS ALLEN
“We did some good things. It’s nice to see [Saints RB] Kendrick Miller in for a couple plays. On the touchdown it was a good route and good reception to get ourselves down the field, which was good to see.
“The three takeaways defensively were positive, but I didn’t like the penalties. It was way too many. That’s something we have to get cleaned up. I didn’t like the fourth-and-23 play at the end of the game, that has to be better. You can’t allow somebody to do that.
“I don’t like the fact that we let the quarterback run way too much. He had about 120 yards rushing and 67 were from quarterback scrambles, which has to get cleaned up. We won the game and I’m pleased about that, but there’s a ton of things that need to get cleaned up.”
On why joint practices with the Texans were canceled:
“They had a lot of guys get injured this past week and weren’t sure that we were going to be able to have productive joint practices. We thought it was better to go ahead and cancel it and just play the game. Sometimes those things happen, and we were both in agreement with that. We’ll work on our own and we have a lot to focus on, a lot of improvements to make.”
On the performance of starting defense:
“It was pretty good. The Chargers had one drive where they were able to move the ball just a little bit. Overall, it was a pretty solid performance by that group.”
On what he saw from LB Jaylon Smith:
“He made one heck of a play on the third down out route to the tight end. It was basically man-to-man coverage there, so that’s the one play that stands out to me a little bit. We will go back and look at the tape to see exactly how he played but it looked like he was flying around out there, which was fun to watch.”
On DE Peyton Turner’s forced fumble and his performance overall in training camp:
“That’s the stuff that we’ve seen him doing in training camp and why we drafted him where we did. Here’s a kid that has had a lot of injury issues, which has forced him to miss a lot of time. Therefore, he’s missed a ton of development. It’s been an unfair assessment of the player up to this point, but I do think he’s had a good camp and has made some nice plays today.”
On describing the last 36 hours or so with the Hurricane and Earthquake:
“I was waiting for the officials to come in and meet with us. We have a hurricane coming in and then my phone was blowing up with an earthquake emergency. The officials came in and said it’s technically an outside stadium, so if there’s lightning, we might have a lightning delay.
“There’s been a lot of thought that was held this week, in terms of the productivity of what we were able to get accomplished in the joint practices and then being able to play the game. I’m ready to try to get back home and get ready to go back to the dome next week.”
On RB Kendre Miller’s performance:
“He’s definitely getting better at all that stuff. He had a nice pass protection play the other day of the practices, too. Each day he continues to get a little bit better. Obviously, we’ve got to keep him healthy and out there getting those reps. You can see the talent level. He’s a talented player and we’re excited about him.”
On WR Shaq Davis performance today:
“It’s unfortunate that he got the one touchdown called back, but it was good to see. He’s a big, long receiver and that’s going to need to be his world. His world is going to have to be playing big and being able to make contested catches. It was good to see it when he does.”
On QB Jake Haener having to leave for a few plays:
“It was the spotters upstairs. He was either them or the officials on the field. I didn’t get an explanation of that, but I knew what it was that they were bringing him out for. We had him evaluated by our doctors and they went through the whole protocol. They said he was clear to play so he went back out there.”
On TE Jimmy Graham:
“Jimmy is with us. He’s healthy and will have some more testing. He’s a little shook up, but overall he’s doing okay.”
On the conversation with Saints DE Isaiah Foskey after the Chargers QB Easton Stick ran:
“That was a play that he should have been able to finish and make the play. I expressed to him that I expect him to be able to make that play. That’s why we drafted him. Now that being said, I’ve seen some improvement out of this player. I’ve seen him cut it loose a little bit. I hold him to that standard expectation that he should have made that play.”
On DE Niko Lalos:
“He’s a guy that worked extremely hard and was on the practice squad last year. He played in the XFL this year, which was good experience for him to get out there and play. He’s been putting some good stuff on tape. It’s a position that we’re pretty deep at, so there’s a lot of competition there. We’ll evaluate where that tape was, but he did do some good things tonight.”
On OL Calvin Throckmorton:
“He left the game with a rib injury.”
On cleaning up penalties:
“Pre-snap penalties can’t happen, that was a total lack of focus. That has to get cleaned up. You have to look at the tape and determine from a technical standpoint what you could have done better technique wise and put yourself in a better position, specifically on some of the holding calls. From my vantage point, I don’t believe they were all holding, but the flag went down. We have to look at it and see what we can do better.”
On the two offensive pass interferences in a three-play span:
“On that particular play, he’s running a little slant-route and the defensive back kind of jammed him. The official explained to me that he thought he really wasn’t running a route. We’ll look at the technique there, but all of those are teachable moments. That’s part of what the preseason is all about.”
On the biggest takeaway from this time out here with the team:
“We have a pretty good team. Now we have to go up and prove it on a weekly basis. I like the way this team is coming together and the way they are working. I like the way they’re coming together as a team. It’s been fun to watch.”
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