Head Coach Joe Judge

Q: Even though you're on your fourth left guard and your second center, your offensive line seems to be communicating well. What are you seeing up front? Especially, what did you see from (Offensive Lineman) Matt (Skura) yesterday jumping in and basically being thrown into the fire at left guard yesterday?

A: I would say first off, the way those guys are working and the way the coaches are working with those guys to get them prepared, it was really just putting them in position to go out there and be successful. These guys work really (well) in the meetings in terms of going through the install, reviewing opponent tape, talking continuously throughout it making sure we're on the same page from a communication standpoint. At practice, we get great work against our defensive front – whether it's simulating the opponents' rushes or just going competitive good versus good work. So, we go into every game very well prepared from that standpoint there. Specifically about Matt, I saw a guy jump in there and went out there, competed and made a lot of good plays for us. I think all positions on the team, all coaches, there's a lot of things we've got to clean up and fix to keep moving forward, but I was very pleased with how Matt jumped in there. I was very pleased with the offensive line jumping in there. I thought they did a good job yesterday and they gave us room for some runs, and they gave (Quarterback) Daniel (Jones) a lot of time to throw. That was a productive day against a very good defense.

Q: (Tight End) Kyle Rudolph said after the game yesterday that you had pumped music into some of the team meetings last week to prepare for the Superdome. Can you just walk us through how you decided to do that? What it was actually like for the guys and for the coaches? Do you go to that detail this week with Dallas, like recreating the glare of the sun in the stadium for example? Would you do something like that for every different game?

A: In terms of recreating the glare of the sun, that's a little bit more difficult I'd say. In terms of anytime we have sun work at practice, we'll always use that. I don't care if we're playing at night or we're playing in a dome, it doesn't matter. We'll always use the sun. We try to make everything in practice more difficult than the game is going to be, whether that's simulating having greased balls out there for turnover drills to make sure you've got to really concentrate on focusing and holding onto the ball. Last week, a large part of the emphasis was the noise and we just wanted to make sure our guys were mentally prepared going into that environment and understanding that you had to work to communicate. You couldn't take it for granted. Whether it was through using your voice or signals or whatever it may be, we had to consciously work on all terms to make sure we're on the same page. I thought the guys handled it really well. We went out there – that's a place where a lot of teams jump offsides, a lot of teams have false starts. We were able to operate in the game last night with neither. That was something that was a big focus for us in preparation. In terms of using music in the meetings, I just wanted the guys every time they turned a corner to be reminded of (how) it's going to be an environment where we have to focus to get the job done. I played for (Former Mississippi State Head Coach) Jackie Sherrill in college, so I kind of learned a lot about using every trick in the book to get your team prepared. Anything I think that can help the team I'm always going to use.

Q: Do you have any updates on (Wide Receiver) C.J. (Board) and (Safety) Jabrill (Peppers), and any other injuries?

A: I think it's going to take probably a couple of days on Jabrill to kind of have full grasp of what this is looking like. I would say at the time yesterday, there was a chance to put him back in the game. I didn't feel confident myself, to be honest with you, not knowing exactly what it was, putting someone out there and putting them at risk of really being hurt. We're probably going to take a couple of days to see exactly what's going on there. In terms of C.J., they're going to look at him over the next day or so and see where he's at. I'm optimistic about it, we'll see where he's at. I know C.J. is definitely a tough dude, so is Pep. Both those guys are going to try to do everything they can to get back for us. I would say coming out on Monday, there are just a lot knicks and bumps. A lot of times you don't have answers this time because you've got to let them kind of settle down over the next couple days. You've got to let some of the swelling either go down or set in, see where guys are at with different things. Normally, Wednesday we'll have a better picture.

Q: One of the things you said last night after the game was that results are the most deceiving thing in the history of mankind. What did you mean by that?

A: What I meant by that was in terms of going out and having a plan, if all you're thinking about are results, you're never going to get that accomplished. Sometimes, the worst thing that can happen to you is doing something the wrong way and having success. You've got to be willing to understand what the correct steps are you have to follow, what the true process is for you to be successful and stay committed to following that. Sometimes, you have success and it's in spite of something you did wrong, and you can't mistake that for the way to do it. Sometimes you fail, and you have to go back and reexamine the process of what you did in the steps along the way – and you can't abandon that. You've got to make sure that you stick it and do it the right way. To me, I just don't believe in being results oriented. Obviously, the focus is to have success, which are the results, but that comes from doing all the steps along the way to be successful.

Q: Last night, (Running Back) Saquon (Barkley) mentioned on the passing touchdown that he caught that he and Daniel thought they saw something earlier in the game and they thought if they ran it later, they might be able to break free. How encouraging is it when you hear that they're seeing things like that, they're seeing things in the defense and they're able to enact it later in the game like that?

A: I think that all comes from these guys just working together throughout the week and watching opponent tape, talking through schemes, they talk in meetings. The good thing is when you go ahead and you're installing a scheme or diagramming a play or whatever it may be and you start seeing the players kind of talking to each other, and it's not that they're talking not paying attention. They're talking in terms of they're seeing something in terms of how it applies to them and sharing it with the player next to them – it may be the quarterback, receiver, whatever it is – of how they could really go ahead and see it through their perspective and make it work. So, those things tie into the game of when they see something, which obviously turned up later to be a big play for them, they communicate that with each other and then also with the coaches to let them know, 'Hey, come back to that play. We've got a chance there. Let's go out there and get something.'

Q: When it comes to the tackling on defense, I know you guys could not have been pleased with some of the lapses especially down near the goal line. When you go into practice this week, do you kind of build your practices around now – do you bring back more tackling drills? I know you're kind of walking that line at this point of the season, but what are your feelings on that and how do you get these guys to get back to where you need them to be?

A: First, I think a large part of the focus on some of the missed tackles are, we always focus on making the tackle – the first man can make the tackle and next man can work the strip. We can't make that mistake and get too adventurous on trying to rip that ball out and forget about making the tackle. That sprung both of those touchdowns, not securing him and getting him down, where it could've been minimal gain and it ended up being points for the other team. In terms of the tackling, there's different phases of the tackle – the open-field entry, maintaining leverage, the close and the finish. There are different parts of it that we can work. In terms of designing practice this week, we'll see where that goes in terms of pads and those days, how we handle those. But tackling is always a focus of ours. I'd say for the most part this season, I've been very pleased with the tackling. That obviously didn't show up yesterday with the lapses in some areas. We've got to make sure we clean it up and correct it because obviously the teams that we keep playing are going to be very, very talented and very capable of running through arm tackles or bad tackling form. To answer your question very directly, we'll definitely work on tackling this week in practice and there's a lot of different ways of working on it to make sure we get all aspects correct.

Q: Do you have any kind of sense of (Wide Receiver) Sterling Shepard and (Wide Receiver) Darius Slayton? I know it's early in the week. With that, when those guys are ready to return and with (Wide Receiver) Kadarius (Toney) being a big factor, (Wide Receiver) Kenny Golladay being healthier now, (Wide Receiver) John Ross (III) added into the equation, could there be such a thing as having a good problem to have, to have almost too many guys to throw the ball to?

A: I don't know if I have the case of having 'too many guys' to throw the ball to. I'd say that Slayton and Shep are both working hard. We were encouraged last week with the progress they made. I think we'll know a little bit in a couple of days in terms of what they look like going into this weekend. I know they're pushing hard to go ahead and get back out there, and we'll see the rest of the week what that looks like. In terms of having all those guys available at the game when they're all up and healthy, to me it's you want to have as many good players at the game as possible. I think all those guys are very capable of making plays. Whoever the open player is, we want to get the ball to and have them make a play. Very pleased with the way those guys are coming along as a unit and the improvements they're making and the production they're having.

Q: Offensive line-wise, the last two games you've played just the same five guys (and) you haven't subbed in. We know your philosophy is always play everybody, bring everybody, everybody who goes plays, but offensive line-wise have you found the last two games that if the five starters are playing really well then you're just not going to make a change?

A: I think we had a mix the last two games that we were good with going into the game. With the flow of the game, we just stuck with who we had. That doesn't limit what anyone's doing progression-wise or limit anybody's opportunity or availability to be in a game. I would still expect to see all of our guys play. I don't see that (going) any different. However the last two games you're correct, we've gone with the same five guys and I've been pleased with how they've played overall.

Q: Offense overall, it seemed like there were more aggressive shots or more downfield shots, or however you would quantify it, in the second half and especially in the fourth quarter. Is that the score? Were there adjustments made? Is that the scheme? Just quantifiably, there were more downfield deep throws that game than there had been the first three-and-a-half games. Why?

A: That all ties more into the opponent, who you're playing them, how you match up against them with different matchups, some of the things they're doing defensively and how you're playing up front with some other elements. This isn't anything that we go and calculate saying, 'We have to hit this many of this kind of pass.' There were things we saw within the game plan that were going to give us opportunities. We weren't going to go down there and not try to be aggressive and make any play that we thought was there. There have been other games where we've had very controlled passing games, which have been productive moving the ball up and down the field. There have been times we've taken calculated shots, pushing down the field, but it's really based on the opponent and what they're giving you at the time.

Cornerback James Bradberry

Q: What'd you think of your guys' defensive performance yesterday, overall?

A: Overall, I think we played pretty well. I think we started off kind of slow in the third quarter at the beginning of it, but we finished well.

Q: Could you tell me about your interception and just walk me through that play?

A: I know they were around the logo, so I was expecting them to throw a shot, throw like another explosive pass. So the guy ran the post route, pretty much, I had him in cover 3, so I was on top of him and then (Saints Quarterback) Taysom Hill threw a jump-ball to me and No. 11 (Deonte Harris), so I just feel like I went up and made the play.

Q: Just a follow up on what was asked about the interception, were you surprised Taysom Hill threw a pass? Like when he's in the game, they run the ball almost every play, so I'm wondering if you were surprised by it and why you weren't surprised by it? Because I think everybody's surprised when he throws.

A: That's why you've have to be high alert for those type of plays because they were around the logo, so you've got to automatically think, 'they want to take a shot,' given the tendency of that team. Also, they had fast guys in the game. That's also the tendency for a pass play, so I paid attention to the tendencies that they had and then I feel like that's why I was able to make a play and I wasn't surprised by it.

Q: I think your interception was one play after they had a touchdown that was taken off the board, is that right? So, I'm saying, can you feel on the sideline the momentum shift there because if they have that touchdown, we'd be having a much different conversation. You guys probably lose the game and then you get an interception and win the game. Could you feel that in the moment or is that only a big deal now after you won?

A: You could definitely feel that we were in a tight predicament had that touchdown stayed up, but thankfully, we were blessed and there was a penalty on the play. I think we were able to have another chance to make a play and put ourselves in a better position for the game. But you could definitely feel like the Saints were getting the momentum and they were definitely getting on a roll, but that's why you've got to be able to make plays in those time spurts.

Q: What about the stops there at the end because I feel like I ask every week about end of half defense and how you guys have struggled in the four-minute drill and then you guys came up with two big stops there. What changed versus the first three and a half games?

A: I guess we were just more alert of that. We wanted to win. We wanted to make sure that we were executing, and we were in the right position to execute and I think we put ourselves in the right position. Of course, it was a good play call from our coaches, but we also executed the call well and I feel like that's why we were able to finish.

Q: When we talk about the pass rush, a lot of people look at the guys up front, but obviously a pass rush is a joint effort between the guys up front and the guys on the back end. With that said, the pass rush has kind of gotten off to a bit of a sluggish start overall. What have you guys identified on the back end as to what maybe you can do to help that pass rush from the front end?

A: That's a good question. We definitely, like I was saying earlier, we just make sure we execute at a high level in key moments in the game. Third down, you've definitely got to be able to execute, also in the red zone and also at the end of the game in four-minute and stuff. We weren't executing at a high level, somewhat because on the back end but also on the front end, it was a group effort like you said. We've just got to be able to put all that together and it starts off in practice by preparing, making sure we practice hard and making sure that when we get to those situations in practice, that we execute a high level, so that when we get to the game, nobody's really over-thinking it. It's just happening naturally.

Q: If I can just quick follow-up, when you say execute, are you talking about holding the coverage a little bit longer, playing better angles – what specifically?

A: I think it's a little bit of everything. Us on the back end, we definitely need to be able to hold the coverage a little longer, but we also need to be able to pressure, too. When it doesn't happen right, it's hard to point the blame at one person in particular. But of course, when everything comes together, just like on the pick play, it came together because we also got a good pass rush. It made Taysom Hill throw a pass that wasn't directly on target and helped me make a play. So, things like that where they come together, you make a beautiful play. When it doesn't come together, you make a mistake. We've just got to continue to put a group effort together and put it all together.

Q: At one point did you start thinking about the Cowboys and what do you think about their receivers? Obviously, you haven't done a lot of film study yet, but they're a division opponent, so you know those guys.

A: I started thinking about Dallas a little bit after the game. Not directly after the game, kind of like when we were on the flight, but I'm not going to start preparing until today. We already know about the offense. It's very explosive. They've got a very very good running back. They've got an elite quarterback, elite receivers, so they can score in many different ways. Definitely going to get started on that today.

Q: Big picture, how much did the win mean to you guys as a team and how much confidence does it give you that you can compete with Dallas on Sunday?

A: It meant a lot for us because we knew if we lost, we were going to be 0-4. 0-3 was terrible, 0-4 would've been worse. It was definitely a momentum booster for us, a morale booster for us and I feel like it gives us a little bit of momentum. Dallas is definitely a tough opponent, so we'll just have to prepare as hard this week just as we did last week.

Q: As a defensive player, when you watch your offense finally have a game like that or really a fourth quarter and overtime like that, how eye-opening was that? How exciting is that as a player on the Giants defense – a defense that carried you guys through your most positive games last season – to watch this explosion from your offense?

A: I wouldn't say that was the first time we'd seen them really explode like that. I feel like when we played Washington, they played really really well that game. They put up a lot of points. Even when we played the Falcons, we were down Shep (Wide Receiver Sterling Shepard) and Slay (Wide Receiver Darius Slayton) got hurt and then other guys stepped up and helped with the workload and they played pretty well. So, I don't think this was the first time we've seen them explode, but I'm definitely glad we won the coin toss in overtime and they went down there and scored. I think we all had confidence that they were going to go down and score, just the way we were playing and how we were reacting and just how energized we were. I think that was really the whole thing. We were just confident in that overtime drive. You see that from good teams and that's what we want to be. We want to be a good team.

Wide Receiver John Ross

Q: Just kind of a big picture question for you, what did yesterday do for the team's confidence after starting 0-3?

A: I think going forward it kind of showed us what we can do as a team if we play together, and we finish games together. I think that's big for any team in this league. I think we did a pretty good job of showing that once we stick together, we play through every down, and we stick together, and we fight together, that the outcome will be basically based on what we've done all week. We'll continue to work hard, take coaching, and continue to fight together.

Q: Can you just take us through that touchdown catch or fumble recovery, or whatever it's technically called? Can you take us through what happened there?

A: We kind of got what we were looking for. DJ (Quarterback Daniel Jones) put a great ball out there, and I just had to go get it. That was pretty much it. It was a great call by the coaches and I just wanted to make a play.

Q: Obviously, you wound up missing quite a bit of training camp with your injury, and then you missed the first few weeks and you only just started practicing this week. So, how big was that for you to get out there and kind of show what you can do after missing so much time?

A: It's very big, given the numbers that we have and the guys who went down, we needed a few people to step up. I was thankful with the opportunity granted to be one of those guys that had to step up.

Q: This has probably been your story your whole career, but what impact do you think your speed and (Wide Receiver) Kadarius Toney's speed and elusiveness had on (Running Back) Saquon's (Barkley) big game? With you guys out there, it certainly looked like the Saints couldn't put as many guys in the box as other opponents have been putting in the box against Saquon. Did you see that? Did you feel that impact?

A: I look at it a lot of ways. We've got a lot of really good players in my opinion. Not just saying me and Kadarius, you've got (Wide Receiver Kenny Golladay) 19 out there doing a great job. You've got (Tight End Evan Engram) 88 out there doing a great job, (Tight End) Kyle Rudolph too. All those guys are making plays. So, I feel as if it's hard to focus just on me and Kadarius when you've got so many other guys who make plays as well.

Q: I just mean the speed element. I don't think it's a secret to anybody that you two are the fastest guys on the offense. I'm sure that's been the case everywhere you went, so I was just talking in terms of 'speed kills.' I assume defenses have to play you differently than they do other receivers. Is that true?

A: I believe so. I think that's something that's hard to coach against. Once you utilize it, it's something you have to really hone in on. I think what me and Kadarius can do opens up a lot of things.

Q: Did it matter to you if it was a touchdown catch, or a touchdown fumble and recovery? Does that matter to you?

A: Not at all. It put points on the board, that's all that mattered. As long as it was called a touchdown, that was all I was focused on.

Q: Obviously, the deep shot is something that you want to be known for with your speed, but you had two other catches which kind of showed different, a comeback and a slant. Was that important to you as well to show that, 'Look, I'm not just a guy they can use on a go route, but I can do everything, and I deserve to be out there because I can do everything?'

A: I feel like every facet of my game is important because I have to continue to show why I should be in there for multiple reasons. I've always said this, I never want to be a one-trick pony. I don't want to go in the game and the defense is like – I think I went in yesterday, and the defense was kind of waving back, like, 'Get back.' I kind of want to be more than that. So, for me to go out there and make those two plays, it felt good. It felt good to put us in a different position and help continue moving the ball in different ways, and not just all the way down the field.

Q: Along those lines, as far as setting it up for everybody else, how much do you see them almost respecting your speed like you said, and it sets up the rest of your route tree and being able to take advantage of that because they're almost sitting on your speed?

A: You can kind of see it, even early in the game. I think, there's no secret that I'm fast, so I would expect when teams put out a scouting report, or whenever my name is called, the first thing they think of is speed. So, I expect to kind of get a softer coverage a lot of times and for guys to play deeper.

Q: Was that always a part of your growth as a player that you knew if you could become a good route runner that you could take advantage of those things as you progressed?

A: Absolutely, that's kind of what I like to work on in the offseason. Trying to add different elements to my game more than just speed because that can easily be taken away with different coverages. You want to get better at some of those short-area yardage things.

Q: I'd imagine that was the first career touchdown for you with one shoe on, but can you just go through what you were thinking there, and how quickly you recognized that you needed to pounce on that football?

A: I'm all about the ball, so I just felt that no matter what it was, whether I was down or not, I wanted to make sure that I ended up with the ball. I wanted to leave no question, whether someone else tried to recover it or not, I wanted to make sure I got on it, no matter what it was. I thought it was a catch, but I just wanted to make sure I got up with the ball no matter what.

Q: An overlooked aspect I think of not just your game, but also all the receivers' games, is the downfield blocking for the running game. I was just wondering if you could talk a little bit about that and the pride you guys take in that? How much does the speed help with that?

A: It helps a lot. We try to get guys' eyes turned and down the field. The biggest thing is when you have someone as talented as (Running Back Saquon Barkley) 26 back there, you never know. You want to make sure you block as much as you can, as long as you can, because you never know where that ball is going to go when that ball touches his hand. It's always critical for us to take pride in that because that ball can start left and end up right and you never know. We just want to make sure we try to take our man out as best as we can.