Wednesday, October 9, 2019
(On him and Demario Davis both being from Brandon, Mississippi) “He’s not a kid on the Saints, that’s a grown dude over there. Demario Davis, I was actually talking to him a little bit yesterday. He’s a guy that went to my high school, I looked up to him. I remember he came back and talked to us when I was in high school, always been a great role model, so it’ll be a lot of fun to play against him.”
(On his opinion of Leonard Fournette’s postgame locker room speech) “Yeah, it was good. We have a lot of guys that are all in right now and we’re coming up just short, but that’s not going to stop us from keeping pushing to keep moving this thing in the right way.”
(On the challenges that the Saints present defensively) “They’re a very good defense. They’re very, very tough up front. They have a good D-Line, athletic and smart. They’re all vets at linebacker. And then one of the most talented sets of DBs we’ve seen, so it’s a good challenge and I think one we’ll be ready for.
(On if he’s disappointed to not be going head-to-head against Saints QB Drew Brees) “I hope to meet him, that would be cool. He’s a great player, and Teddy Bridgewater’s been playing great as well, so not much slack there. So, we have to come out and be ready.”
(On if he had met Payton Manning before the Week 4 game at Denver) “Yeah, yeah. Met him a couple times. Worked the Manning Camp and then he came and talked to us as a team this summer, so it was good to get to see him again.”
(On what getting TE Josh Oliver back will add to the offense) “He’s one of the faster guys. There’s a reason we drafted him as high as we did. He’s a big guy, can really move. I think it’s easy to forget about the kind of stuff he was doing when he was healthy. He was stretching the field vertically for us and we’re all excited to get him back out there.”
(On the chemistry he had with Oliver during training camp) “It was good, it was good. [I] hit him on some deep crosses, some seam balls. He’s a guy that he’s just going to have to get back into the swing of things. And it’s not an easy thing to do, but I think he’s in a good place mentally.”
(On how QB Nick Foles has helped him the past few weeks) “It’s been awesome. He’s been in every meeting, helping with film. He’s been on the sideline. He’s been great with in-game stuff. Just always bringing positivity and then just a different perspective, helping there.”
(On what the referees tell him after he takes low hits and on how he works through those plays) “Usually you have to complain a few times to get them to call one, so that worked last time. So, hopefully we’ll get it the first time this next time, so we’ll just have to see.”
(On if he doesn’t get calls because he is a rookie) “These guys, they have a hard job. It’s not an easy thing to see, so hopefully we’ll be on it and next time we get it, they’ll throw the flag and we won’t be getting hurt.”
(On why they struggled running in the first half at Carolina) “I don’t know, they’re a good defense. They had a good plan for us. I think we were trying to go a little side-to-side and they we’re disciplined in their gaps and they were moving good. We made some great adjustments and Leonard [Fournette] just kept pounding and we ended up making stuff happen.”
(On the importance of getting off to a fast start) “It’s huge. And that’s one thing [Head] Coach [Doug Marrone] has been kind of preaching on is starting fast. And that’s one thing, we’re glad to be back home for a game. It’s a lot easier to start fast in your own building. You know the energy is going to be there and we just have to jump out early, and that’ll help us a lot and that helps out everybody.”
(On what they can do going forward to eliminate turnovers) “We’ve taken every measure in practice. Focusing on ball security. Always having somebody ripping at the ball. Trying to do whatever we can to get it right. It’s something we’re not just going to think is just going to go away. We’re going to actively fight it and try to get better at it.”
(On if there’s a fine line between ball security and trying to make a play) “It is. I mean you can do those things, but in the Denver game, the touchdown, I was scrambling and I had good ball security. So, we just have to get to the point of where that’s – it’s not something I’m thinking about, it’s something I can just, that’s a habit I have.”
(On how Fournette helps play action) “It’s huge. Anytime we can get the linebackers sucked in, or get that eighth guy in the box, it gives us one-on-ones on the outside, and I’ll take our guys one-on-one with about anybody that we go against, so that’s huge for us.”
(On if Fournette sucking the defense in during play action led to the first DJ Chark Jr. touchdown in Week 5 at Carolina) “Yeah. They were playing man coverage and DJ’s [Chark Jr.] fast and he’s going to outrun most people, so that’s what happened.”
(On if he will play with a brace for the rest of the year) “I don’t know, it’s something we’ve kind of talked about. It didn’t really bother me the other day, so it may be something. A bunch of guys do it on that plant leg, so we’ll see how it goes.”
(On if the brace feels strange when he wears it) “No, no. Once we got into the game it felt good. [I] ran around a little bit. I had some runs and it felt alright, yeah.”
