Saints Head Coach Kellen Moore

Opening Statement:
"Really disappointing game for us. Obviously, I thought the Dome was an incredible night, incredible energy. We obviously did a poor job just preparing our football team. We really, in all three phases, did not do enough to win this game. Atlanta came in and played a lot better than us. I didn't coach well enough, play well enough, so obviously, it wasn't good enough. We're at where we're at. We're a 1-3 football team with some good moments, but not enough consistent football to be where we ultimately want to be. We have a lot of work to do. There's a path for us, but it's going to take a lot of work to get there. We've got to keep going."

On the slow starts:
"It is just disappointing. Obviously, not coaching it well enough, not executing well enough. They came out, went right down the field and scored. We went three-and-out and didn't score until the second quarter."

On if they have tried to shake it up to get a faster start:
"We have tried a number of different things. Obviously, we have to solve this. We have to find a way."

On if he has experienced slow starts before:
"At times, yeah. Every experience is going to be different. There are times where it is."

On the team's preparation:
"I just think, at the end of the day, they executed better than us. They played faster than us. They, obviously, ran the ball really well, created some explosive plays in the pass game. On our side of it, we weren't able to run the ball well enough. We turned the ball over, and that's a challenging formula."

On struggles with the run game:
"We weren't able to run well, and we weren't able to put ourselves in position to have the opportunities to continue to run it and find that ability to finally get it going. When you fall behind, you play in some different circumstances. Obviously, you are going to have to adjust the plan."

On the gravity and symbolism of tonight's game:
"We talked about it at the beginning of the week. They guys were fired up. I thought there was good energy. We just didn't execute well enough in the beginning, and they (Atlanta) got going."

On if there was a moment where he realized the team was not prepared:
"Again, we just didn't get it done. They started fast, and we weren't able to catch up."

On if WR Chris Olave is OK:
"Yes".

On if he thought about removing the starters:
"A little bit. Yeah. I appreciate our guys finishing and battling and continuing to fight there."

On why the starters stayed in the game late in the fourth quarter:
"Just trying to get ourselves an opportunity to just play some clean football at the end of the game."

On if he talks to anyone when his team is struggling:
"Obviously, you're going to have mentors, but more importantly, our group has to come together and find those solutions together. I love this group. This group is going to rally together. It's a really disappointing night for everyone in that locker room. Everyone is disappointed, but these are opportunities for us to come together and find a solution and play better football and coach better football moving forward. We get an opportunity to take a certain path, and we can look back at this as a real growth opportunity. That's what we have to focus on. We have to get better at it, though."

On kicking a field goal down 17 points:
"Long drive. We had a little bit of a missed opportunity on third down. It got it to at least a 14-point game, get the points and then, if we could make a stop there, then we could go. We'd obviously have to be really aggressive the rest of the way out. I know it felt like getting some points there got us back to a two-score game. By not going for it there, the rest of the game was going to have to be aggressive. Unfortunately, they went back and scored."

On the end of the first half and if he considered pressing for points:
"Trying to get points. Ultimately, we just didn't get it done and put ourselves in challenging situations. We did not want to give them a chance to have the ball before half and hopefully was going to steal some points before half and get points on the backend of it."

On if Atlanta's offense was what he expected:
"Every team is going to have flavors and some different things schematically. We had our opportunities and just didn't get it done."

On Tyler Shough's hand:
"It kind of swelled up a little bit. I think he got hit at some point in the game."

On if the hand swelling had an effect on his performance:
"I don't think so. He seemed fine."

On the QB pressure from Atlanta:
"There were some pressure situations. Obviously, when you're in more high-trend passing situations, it's going to be more challenging."

On potential for different offensive line combinations:
"We have to look at everything. We have guys who are battling and competing, and I appreciate the heck out of that. We just have to get better. Obviously, we are going to focus on just getting better fundamentally, and schematically, we will keep building."

On the mood in the locker room:
"That locker room is disappointed, frustration. These guys put a lot into this and for us to not have a game like we expected, there's a lot of frustration in that. Our guys just have to come together and stick together. That's the path of the NFL. There are highs and lows in the league. These are challenging circumstances when you're dealt a 1-3 start, with the energy our guys have and the goals our guys have. We just have to keep going. You get to use these things as big-time growth opportunities, as challenging as they are and as frustrating as they are for everyone a part of this – fans, players, coaches, everyone a part of this thing. We just have to move on and keep getting better. We can't ignore this team. We have to learn a ton from this game. We're going to be back here on Sunday with one more opportunity in this stretch."

On if this feels different from last year's start in the first quarter of the season:
"I don't know. This one is just, obviously, disappointing. We have had some close games. This one just got away from us. They played a lot better than us. We're going to have to learn from this one and grow from this one. Again, this is the first quarter, essentially, of the NFL season. We are 1-3. That is just what we are. We have some opportunities ahead of ourselves. We obviously have to turn the page and play much better football."

On the path forward:
"Just playing more consistent football. Protecting the football, getting turnovers. Again, we are going to have to find that path for the consistent football that we need."

On his concerns regarding the lack of preparation:
"That's the part I'm going to focus on. How can we help prepare our guys for those situations? Ultimately, we're not getting it done, so you're going to keep looking back on what Monday through Saturday looks like and how we can keep improving that so Sunday can have a better formula. Again, there are moments that are good but just not enough."

On the game structure process:
"We go put them in and go through them on Friday's practice and Saturday and Sunday."

On correlations between last year's slow starts and this year's:
"We did a lot of studies through the offseason from a schedule and logistics standpoint, from an on-field standpoint. Again, we just have to find the solution."

On the energy of the Caesars Superdome pregame:
"Anytime you get to play a national game, those are big-time opportunities. It is just disappointing, obviously, for us. I know there are frustrations for everyone. We're all frustrated. We're all disappointed in where we are at. We're going to have to learn from this one and move forward and find some better opportunities."

On the magnitude of this game:
"That's a good question. Obviously, it's a really awesome moment when you play a nationally televised game. It's probably a little bit more juice in these games nationally with the build-up and all that stuff. You have to look at this as one of our games. Obviously, as disappointing as it is, we're going to have to learn from it. We're going to have to grow from it. We're going to have to keep moving because there are going to be a whole bunch of more games that are coming ahead of us. There are going to be opportunities that we can change this path very quickly."

On the 20th anniversary of Domecoming:
"I think this is a special night as far as Domecoming and Monday Night Football. It's something we certainly talked about throughout the week. I think our guys grew a great appreciation for it and understood the opportunity that was presented. I thought there was great energy in there. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get the juice continued just because they were able to get things going early, and we weren't able to catch up."

On the defensive problems:
"Bijan (Robinson) is a really talented runner. He made guys miss and got to the second and third level quickly. We weren't able to generate any turnovers. They only had eight third downs (attempts). Obviously, they were getting a lot of production on first and second down."

On the matchup facing Bijan Robinson:
"He's a talented player. He's going to make plays. Obviously, we weren't able to get it done."

On the penalties, specifically red zone defense penalties:
"There were penalties. I don't have any that stand out that I was necessarily saying were completely wrong. There are penalties that occur in the game, and we certainly had some."

On if this is an urgent situation for the team:
"I think we have to use this as a big-time learning lesson and launching point. We have to look at this as a great lesson, a very hard lesson that we have to learn. We have to move forward and turn the path. I know we have opportunities ahead of ourselves. I know we have the right kind of guys in that locker room to keep sticking together, to keep growing. We're going to find it."

On the discipline of the team with penalties in critical situations:
"I know we got a couple of defensive pass interference or holds, one way or the other. They're going to call those. They're going to call those when we have our hands in those positions. As frustrating as that is, that's what's going to happen."

Saints Quarterback Tyler Shough

On Kellen Moore's discussion about preparation and what they can do to clean up preparation:
"I don't think there's a lack of preparation. I think there's a lack of execution on some of it. We were prepared. I think the turnover early killed us, and we've got to be able to put some of those early drives together and score more points early on to get it going. As an offense, we knew exactly what went wrong and what went right. We just have to clean up those little things and take responsibility for that. I have to be able to put us in the right position to go out and do that. There's a lot to learn from. It obviously sucks, but we're going to keep going."

On his hand getting hit in the first quarter:
"Yeah, I took a helmet or something to it. I think it was just bruised up, so it should be good. I was able to play the rest of the game."

On if it was tough to grip the ball or throw:
"No. It was just part of it. It didn't affect my right hand, obviously, so it was just something to deal with."

On his disappointment considering the day's circumstances:
"It is extremely disappointing. It is embarrassing. You can't say enough good things about the fans showing up and the entire process, what this game meant, and we fell short as a team to not get that win. That was our mission. That was my message, and we did not win. It was a team loss. We've got to do better on all fronts. As an offense, we have to start faster when we are going against another really good offense and be able to do our part. We've got to do a lot better there, and it starts with myself."

On the mood in the locker room:
"Disappointed. More than anything, you lose to the Falcons like that, especially on a Monday night game, and it sucks. You can't say "Oh, man that doesn't suck." It definitely does. But I do know as a team that we're extremely close and that we're going to keep going and keep our eyes forward. We have really good leadership, and our leadership admits that we've got to get better. We have to get better, watch the film, and evaluate that. There's no hiding that. But at the same time, it is a long season, and there are a lot of games yet to be played where we can do that. There's nothing set in stone. We know that, and that's the best part about this business is that we're going to keep climbing."

On how concerning lack of execution and questioning of preparation process are together early in the season:
"There are things that are fixable. More than anything, there's going to be football stuff that happens. The defense is going to make some plays, but how do we limit the mistakes so that they're not too big for us to come back from. Little mistakes are going to happen—that's fine. We're not perfect. But how do we not create turnovers or put ourselves behind the ball too much to where you can't come back from that. That's on myself and some of those blitz looks. Some of those different things that we can get rolling faster. More than anything, we've just got to limit those smaller mistakes that compound into bigger ones. So we'll do that."

On if it was important for him to stay on the field today:
"Yeah. 100%. I'm not ever going to come out of the game if we've got a fighting chance, and obviously the game got away from us, but it shows our mindset as an offense. I do not care what the score is. We just have to be able to put it together. We knew what to do, and we just got to execute it better. We're going to do that."

On how he avoids feeling like the team squandered an opportunity after the win at the Ravens:
"No, we squandered an opportunity. But we've got more opportunities. It doesn't matter. We've got to learn from this opportunity that we definitely squandered. We have to get better from it, but it hasn't changed what next week against the Minnesota Vikings is. We're going to take advantage of that and keep going. Two things can be true. You have to take it on the chin, and we will see them again and keep going."

On what he takes moving forward after the close losses:
"Yeah, it's a huge opportunity. One, you get to find out who we are as a team. I think there was a quote by the Boston Celtics coach (Joe Mazulla) about adversity, and there's not really that much adversity when it comes to the NFL or NBA, but once you face adversity, and you start getting some losses or start having some reality checks, that's the best part about it. Now we get to come together, keep going, and figure out who we are. You have some adversity early on, and it's great. We're going to keep going. I think at the end of the year, you are going to look back and say, 'Man, that was a tough one, but we kept going, and we learned from it.'"

On if the adversity now feels different than the adversity last season:
"I think as a team, the closeness of us and the culture that we have, it hurts more because of that. But at the same time, we also understand that it is a long season that we can continue to grow from. I think more than anything, in some losses it was a little bit more like, 'Oh, man, there's not much to say there.' I think more than anything, we know that we're a couple plays away from some huge wins. That's part of it, and how do we find that razor-sharp edge of getting those plays done?"

On the process of addressing the locker room:
"Yeah, it's everybody. Me, Chase (Young), Cam (Jordan), all the leaders are talking to our guys, talking to everybody. I think we have a good dynamic. We talked about it in the locker room—being honest with the tape and being honest with yourself. It goes for everybody. Then also keeping your eyes forward and understanding our mission and continuing to go that way. That was our message, and that's going to continue to be our message."

On if this loss is tougher considering how well he's connected with the city:
"Yeah, I love New Orleans. I love this place, and you see the energy, the passion of everybody, and the culture behind this place. It sucks whenever you don't come through on the field in that way, especially against our division rival. It hurts me. I don't want to feel like that ever again, so I'm going to continue to prepare and execute and do everything I can so that we're not feeling like this as a city. But it's something to learn and grow from. There's a lot more to be had, and we're going to go get it."

On his thoughts moving forward to the Vikings:
"Yeah, just got to reset. Like I said, we're going to watch the film tomorrow, be critical, be honest, and then flush it. It doesn't change anything for next week and how we get ready to go on the short week. It's part of it, and we're going to be ready."

On the boos during the game:
"Fans understandably are upset. We had some opportunities that we didn't take advantage of, and you're playing the Falcons, and you lose like that. I mean, I'd boo too. That sucks. But we want to get everybody going. That's part of it. You have to have the energy of the crowd, and we're going to need them next week too against a really good team. That's the best part about New Orleans, man. You feel it, and we feel it too. We're going to keep going."

On what the Falcons were doing that made the run game challenging:
"We just got behind a little bit too early, so now we're playing drop-back ball. Can't move like that in the NFL, no matter who you are playing. We have to be able to set that up better and sustain those drives earlier on to get the run game going."

Saints Wide Receiver Devaughn Vele

On the offense's performance today:
"There are a lot of things that we have to fix. We started out slow. We talk about starting fast and we didn't do that. We lost the ball as well. There are a lot of things here and there. There was a lot of emotions this game. Obviously it was a tough loss for all of us. We have to build off it. There was a lot of good and a lot of bad. We just have to keep working."

On the emotions of the game tonight:
"It is frustrating. We owe it to the fans with the Domecoming and everything. There was a lot of meaning with this game and I feel like we let them down. We just need to go back to the drawing board and correct our mistakes. I still have a lot of faith in this team. We are going to make sure that we do the right things. We are going to build off it."

On if they did anything to get offensive traction going:
"I feel like at times we couldn't get the momentum going. It is a credit to them. They played good defense. I feel like at the beginning we didn't start fast. Turning the ball over and starting slow is hard to come back from. We have to minimize those mistakes."

Saints Edge Cameron Jordan

On the disappointment:
"I hate that we had a slow start. We got punched in the mouth early and look at the response. It's one of those games where we weren't good on offense, defense or special teams. You look at the second half and are ready to fight back. When you play a division rival it's like playing two games. When you have the Falcons coming into our building, you have to be ready. They had an early score with Bijan (Robinson). At that point with 60 yards on the ground, we have to figure something out. They had almost 200 yards rushing (205). That's on the defensive line. When you have a ground game like that, then you have to tell the defensive line to tighten up. Our secondary had to come down and try to focus on the run and then that's when they have their way. They had their way tonight. It's embarrassing."

On if he can pinpoint on why it was hard to stop them:
"Without sounding redundant. A 60-yard (59) touchdown. We didn't shut down our run defense. Our run defense did not show up to play early on. A 60-yard touchdown. From there, they see that their zone schemes are working, so they relied on that. For whatever reason, we couldn't tighten up our gaps. Our gap integrity has to be at a premium especially when you have a top tier back like Bijan or any running back the way that we were playing. It just wasn't good enough."

Saints Tight End Juwan Johnson

On expectations after this game tonight:
"Football is not always what you expect it to be. It is a good thing that we have 17 weeks. We have to stay encouraged. We have to have the mindset that this is not a defining moment. We can't take a step back because the rear view mirror is smaller than the front mirror. So, let's just keep it there."

On speaking up on what happened:
"Nobody has to speak for it. Nobody says we have to step it up. Everyone knows that. Go make plays. Make this happen. We start with turnovers. We start with shooting ourselves in the foot. It's all obvious. We know that and we all have to be intentional about it. We play smarter ball and the results are different. These are all things that we can control. The outcome will be the outcome. We just have to control what we control and let the results speak for themselves."

Saints Cornerback Quincy Riley

On if they were surprised about the play action game:
"We weren't surprised. We feel like we knew what they were going to do, but we just have to be better. Keep your eyes open and be ready to defend anything that you are going to get."

On if he can put his finger on what hurt them tonight:
"No, we just feel like we didn't play our best game and they played one of their best games. Congrats to them."

On if the running game opened up everything for them:
"I mean we know that they are going to get some runs off. We just have to be better all across the board including the run game and pass game."