Good afternoon. When you look at the tape you try to sit there and the questions that pop out as to - everyone plays the game of 'could have, should have, would have.' But I do think that after looking at the tape, as poorly as we played just before the half, 27-17. Had we been able to convert, even if it was a field goal, even if it was 27-17, I think that at least as we came into the halftime there would have been a tremendous feeling of - we had given up plays, the score was not in our favor but we were staying there in good stead and we did have the ball at the start of the third quarter. I was pleased with our special teams play. I think that all – I am going to say it would have been six for six if it wasn't for the penalties on kickoff coverage. I would have felt pretty about ….. but our entire special teams operation. Our return game obviously was much better. Domenik Hixon did a nice job and the guys rallied and did a real good job of blocking for him. He made some moves and plays on his own but he did a real nice job. Our field goal protection was good. We blocked an extra point. We were very close on another one. We kicked a 49-yard field goal. We had lots of good return yardage. So I felt good about that. And as I told the players, we need to get back to where all three phrases are playing well together. We didn't play as well on defense, obviously, as we can play. We didn't play as well on offense, either. So it is a sad day and 'remorse for opportunity lost,' as I always say. But we have to regroup and we will. And I'm sure that we will. And a little bit of humility is not a bad thing.
Q: How is Kareem McKenzie today?
A: He seemed to be doing better. I'm not going to be able to tell you anything until I see what – even Wednesday. But he seems to be doing a little better.
Q: Is it a groin injury?
A: Whatever they call it – strained – I don't know what the word would be. He injured the groin.
Q: Was it a tear?
A: I don't know. I'm not going to tell you that that word wasn't – I didn't hear that word. There wasn't as much bleeding as there could have been and something to that nature. Strain, tear, I'm not sure what the word is.
Q: Your team makes a living getting to the quarterback. How did they protect Drew Brees so well?
A: They did a good job of protecting. We certainly didn't. We didn't make it uncomfortable for the quarterback at all. He had a great game and we give him all of the credit. But we certainly didn't do anything to upset the rhythm, to get him off balance, to make it less comfortable for him. We didn't knock him down enough; none of those things happened. And he responded and played really well. It was disappointing and I know the guys are disappointed.
Q: As you move forward, do you feel like you need to add personnel defensively or are the answers already there?
A: Well, we are constantly – we are aware of the availability of whomever, but I would say that we are always in that business. But at this point in time I don't have anything for you.
Q: You talked about humility. Did you sense…?
A: No, not at all. I just said so because today it is a solemn day and everyone is quite down.
Q: Some of the defenders say that small mistakes led to big plays.
A: No, I think you have to start first by saying, okay, they were the number one scoring team in the league; 36 points a game; that's a lot of points… So they can score. They made plays. I started to say a little bit after the game and I wanted to make sure I saw it on tape – they made some plays on some simple things that they just went up and got the ball. The quarterback was confident enough to throw it up. And they elevated and got in position to make plays on the ball even though we had people there. There were occasions where we had guys there. We just weren't able to get up to where the receiver was to challenge the catch. So you have to give them a little credit on that, too. Crossing patterns, we didn't cover those very well – play action crosses. At times there were people that were out of position just a little bit, not necessarily secondary people, but it caused us – perhaps we could have got some pressure had we been absolutely aligned properly for some of our pressures. There may have been a half a man here or a half a man there and didn't get it done. Certainly there is a lot to be corrected.
Q: Did you ever feel that certain people didn't match up scheme wise?
A: I don't know that that was the – I'm sure there is some indication in there. We all know that Henderson is very fast; and of course the runner is very fast. Bush is very fast. But I don't know that that was the reason for the big plays. The big plays over the top, I thought we had some people in position who just didn't make plays on the ball.
Q: Will Chris Canty be available this week?
A: I don't think he will be able to do anything this week at all. Right now he is listed as 'out' for Wednesday.
Q: Were you surprised by the pass blocking confusion on the protections?
A: Surprised? I don't know if that is the word. We haven't had any of that. And certainly there was plenty of notice. We were directing some traffic out there, probably my fault. Ahmad hasn't had a lot of practice time. That always eventually comes back to bite you in the tail.
Q: How is Mario Manningham?
A: I hope that – we won't know until Wednesday, I don't think. But I'm hoping that he is going to be fine.
Q: What is 'leverage'?
A: Leverage is the position that they are supposed to be in, maintaining it. I don't know which route you are talking about but there were times when we would have, for example, outside leverage and get beat outside. Not many, but there were a couple. Each coverage has a leverage position for the defender, whether it is outside or inside, how ….. press, press outside, press inside; that whole deal. That is what leverage refers to. You lose your leverage and obviously you have lost the position that you were assigned based on what you are trying to take away and where the help comes from. You lose that position, you don't have any help.
Q: Have you thought about moving corners to the safety position?
A: I sure would like to get our whole roster back.
Q: Is that something that you might have to wait for until you get Aaron Ross back?
A: That is not for me to say just yet.
