Postgame Quotes: New Orleans Saints, Minnesota Vikings | 2026 NFL Week 5

Quotes from Head Coach Kellen Moore, QB Tyler Shough, S Jonas Sanker

Oct 11, 2026 at 07:24 PM

Saints Head Coach Kellen Moore

Opening Statement:

"Obviously a disappointing game for us. I thought our defense created a couple of turnovers, which were big in this game. Ultimately, we had three of our own doing and weren't able to play efficient enough football to give ourselves a chance to win that game. Not enough stability on offense to move the football against a good defense. We didn't do our part in sustaining drives and giving ourselves the opportunity to score points in the end. They played better than us and coached better than us. For our guys, it's about getting back to work. That's the path we have to focus on."

On what it's going to take to get past the adversity:

"You have to stick together through these types of storms. We have to get better. That's the thing we have to focus on. We are going to have to get better during the week and give ourselves an opportunity to play better football next Sunday. That's going to take all week long. Obviously, from an on-field, schematic game plan, we have to get better in all areas."

On if he was prepared for Minnesota's blitz:

"I felt like we had a plan. Obviously, the plan wasn't good enough. They did a great job. They got us in too many of those favorable passing situations. They were able to take advantage of them. We weren't able to get those done. Obviously, that's on me that we weren't able to get that done."

On his concern for QB Tyler Shough taking hits:

"We need to protect him better. I have to call it better and put ourselves in situations where we can play more mixed-down football and throw the rock and get into play-action stuff. We're just not able to do that right now."

On the consecutive losses at home and his frustrations:

"Obviously that's something we pride ourselves on playing in this dome and how special it is. To not be able to get it done is really frustrating
and disappointing. I think everyone feels the same way with the disappointment in it. We have to look at this, get better."

On pre-snap penalties:

"Pretty disappointing part of this game was the pre-snap (penalties) because they're under our control. That's with the different cadences and lining up. We have to line up on the perimeter and get set and give ourselves an opportunity there because we had three on offense. We had one declined at the end of the game. We had the one on special teams."

On what he changed from last week to start faster:

"We spent a lot of time on it with how we presented the openers. Thursday, we started practice with that fast start period to start practice off. We focused on the early part of the game. I thought our defense settled down to force the field goal. Then, we had the three-and-out, unfortunately. After that, I thought our guys fought back into that. I think we played some good football in the second quarter and put ourselves in a favorable position. We just didn't finish this game the right way."

On if the plan was to run the ball a lot:

"Yeah. Obviously felt like we had a plan to run the football and sustain that and stick with it. We will have opportunities in the pass game as we go. We just weren't able to sustain drives."

On if he feels like they are nearing a turn for the better:

"I feel like there are good moments. So much of this is, how do we sustain this? These games have ups and downs. We're having a few too many more downs than ups. Again, the defense, I thought they did an excellent job. They put a ton of focus this week on the ball and attacking that thing. To get the two turnovers was huge. I thought we had a really good drive in there to score a touchdown. A couple of fourth-down conversions, and we were able to sustain the run game for a lot of that drive. I thought that was a really good finish. Ultimately, it wasn't able to be sustained for the game."

On the 15-play drive that led to a touchdown:

"I think so much is first and second down, putting yourself in good third-down situations. Whether it be a penalty on a run or protection. They lead into those thirdand- longs, and we weren't able to convert those (on the day)."

On QB Tyler Shough:

"Tyler battled. Ultimately, we had a couple of turnovers. We'll have to learn from those. We'll have to get better. He's battling. He's the guy that's going to help us get through a little bit of the adversity we've faced these last few weeks. There's a healthy dose of football ahead of ourselves, and we have to focus on that. We have to focus on getting better to provide those opportunities."

On if playcalling is the team's issue:

"(We have) got to focus on doing a better job in that department. Obviously, we're just not getting it done in those situations, and I have to find a way to do a better job."

On the lack of points:

"We just have to find a way to score. It's one score at a time. Whether it's a onescore or multi-score game, we have to focus on one at a time. You focus on that task, and then you'll have another opportunity to score."

On the turnover to start the second half:

"Disappointing sudden change in the second half that started with a turnover. Again, all three phases, we have to play more consistent football."

On LT Asim Richards coming out of the game for a series:

"He's OK. That was a planned third series, one rotation opportunity. We had a few guys rotate in there on a few occasions."

On the reasoning for that rotation:

"Through the week, we felt like we could give (Mason) Murphy one series there and give ourselves a different opportunity there. He's been practicing well. He earned that opportunity, and we would let the rest of the game play itself out."

On toying with the rhythm on the offensive line:

"I think we spent all week going into that plan. I don't think it was anything we did impromptu. We talked about it. We spent the whole week focused on that. I felt those other guys earned an opportunity to hop in there and contribute to our football game"

On why just one series:

"One series, and then we will let the game take its course from there. Then we will see how the game goes. That was kind of the focus there."

On kicker Daniel Carlson:

"We just have to look at that. Obviously, we missed an opportunity there. We just have to get better there. We'll certainly look at it."

On illnesses with two players that did not play today:

"We'll see. We had a few guys that got sick that weren't able to play in this game with [Nathan Shepherd] and [Vernon Broughton]. A few guys battling through that, but guys had opportunities to play, as well."

On if illnesses are a concern going forward:

"We had two guys that weren't able to play. The other guys maybe have something, but they battled."

On if he had a message for the team postgame:

"Sometimes you go through storms. Inevitably, storms end, but we're going through a little bit of one. You have to stick together. You have to focus on getting better. You have to focus on what's moving forward. More than ever, our guys had to rally together. We know what these times create. There are a lot of challenges in these settings with these times when you've missed an opportunity a few weeks in a row. There is football ahead of ourselves that can be really good football for us, but we have to focus on the task, get better. When we are presented those opportunities, we have to take advantage of them."

On the pressure he feels to right the ship quickly:

"We have to get it right. I think our guys put a lot of work in this week as far as starting fast. There are a few moments there. We created two turnovers, which was great. I think our guys did a really good job there. We didn't protect it enough. We had three turnovers, and you create a few turnovers against a defense like that that plays really good football. It's going to be hard."

On if RB Alvin Kamara's back limited him today:

"No. He played."

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Saints Quarterback Tyler Shough

On what stood out today and what it means for moving forward:

"Yeah, we've got to put an emphasis on a lot of the details early on, in those early downs. There were too many times where we had penalties, putting ourselves behind the sticks, and that's exactly what the Vikings' defense is really good at. We're not in advantageous situations, and now we're trying to play catch-up ball. I felt guilty of that myself on that first interception, trying to make a play. It was a critical mistake, and we've got to be better all-around with those details. We were prepared and ready to go, but at the same time, we can't win when you put ourselves in those situations."

On if he saw the defender on his first interception:

"No, I completely just missed the throw. I was trying to lay it over him. Just a missed throw. It was a critical mistake. I threw it right to him. Just got to run out of bounds. I learned a lesson, and I know I can't do that. That's awful. But at the end of the day, we just keep battling and keep going. Take it on the chin, like I said. We've got to fix up those earlier situations."

On if the Vikings surprised him or if they resembled what he was expecting:

"It was obviously very difficult. They presented a lot of looks. That's what they're extremely good at. I feel like we were ready for all those looks. We just didn't execute in some of those moments, and now we're in 2nd-and-20 or 3rd-and-15. Those odds aren't really in your favor for those situations. We've got to be in those 3rd-and-5, 3rd-and-6, 3rd-and-3 ranges, where we can convert and dictate the tempo. We had a couple of good drives and moments, but I don't care who we're playing. We've got to be better there. Especially against that team, they're really well coached and played really well."

On what would be an effective counterpunch against blitzing:

"It's a combination of getting the ball out of your hands and having those rippers whenever we get them. They're ready for those situations where we're getting quick ones. We had some good opportunities. Then, obviously, that one there at the end—the corner did a really good job just reading the double move and ran underneath it. They were really well prepared for those moments, and we knew what we were doing. We just have to execute earlier so we're not in these situations where we're kind of against the eight ball."

On miscommunications with receivers:

"Yeah, there were just a couple of miscommunications there with the receivers that obviously we can't have. At the same time, I feel like we were ready for those moments. We just didn't click at that time. I take responsibility for all those things. I've got to be able to relay that to them, and I can always put it in a better spot. Those are some momentum-changing plays, and it starts with the details earlier, with penalties and all those things that now we're in those situations that we wouldn't have been in."

On how the Vikings defense affects those miscommunications:

"No, I feel like that's something that was obviously unique, and that's essentially what they're good at: causing a lot of communication. We've got to communicate at the line. We had some stuff there we had to clean up, and I've got to be able to distribute it a little bit quicker there in some of those moments. But I think that's something we can learn from when it comes to playing our style of football, just getting up there and let's go after it. There are things to learn from, but more than anything, there's a huge emphasis on those early details of communication so we're not in those situations."

On the second interception trying to double-move him but he didn't bite:

"Yeah, that's exactly it. 3rd-and-13, we're in that situation where we've got to go get it. They were ready for it. We were supposed to run a different route earlier. I probably saw that one and got to get it out of my hands and give him a chance. Really good play by him, just knowledge of that. 3rd-and-13, not a really great situation when you're down. They kind of know you're expecting a shot there. We had everything we wanted, and the communication was good. He just made a play."

On frustration on three straight losses at home:

"Yeah, it's extremely disappointing. We feel the city and everyone coming out and supporting. We had some moments there where we're really in it, and we kind of let it slip. There's got to be an emphasis on those details. We're going to learn from this. We're going to have two really good opportunities to go on the road and focus on how we can get better ourselves. More than anything, we want to come back with some vengeance. Whenever we're here in the (Caesars Superdome) Dome, we've got to play better."

On if defenses successfully anticipating the play after seeing it once happens often:

"It depends on the situation. Obviously, they get an understanding of the types of routes you could run in certain scenarios is part of the chess match and part of the game. We are expecting certain coverages, too. He just made a good play on that one. He understood the scenario. We've got to be better on earlier downs so we're not in those long-yardage situations trying to go get it. There's stuff to learn from, and they made a good play, and we've got to be better earlier on, and that starts with myself."

On if uneven time of possession makes it difficult to get into a rhythm:

"Yeah, it's tough because we had early on, three-and-out. We put together a good drive, but we only had a couple of possessions there. It's tough whenever you're waiting for a while. We've got to be better with those details when we get that opportunity. We can control some of those things, for sure. We've got to be able to play complementary football as a whole team. I think we're kind of leaving the defense out to dry a couple of times, and we've got to be able to handle that better."

On the team's sense of urgency considering this is not the position they thought they'd be in:

"No, no. This is not where we envisioned ourselves—where we feel like we're capable of from a unit standpoint. We feel like we've got everybody we need in the building. If anything, it comes down to a sense of urgency with our preparation and details. I think some of our processes have been good, and some of the stuff hasn't bounced our way. We can reevaluate some of our processes currently in some of those situations as far as preparation-wise. But more than anything, we were ready to go, and we understood the mission. They're an undefeated team right now with a really good defense, so we understand it's not going to be easy, but we have to understand that we can control a lot of those mistakes. I think that's going to be our emphasis going forward: learning how not to lose the game before we win it. We've got to not shoot ourselves in the foot."

On why the details aren't consistently on point:

"There are situations where we can be a little bit more dialed in. More than anything, it's continued reps with all the guys. It's a new challenge and a new defense every single week. There's different things that may come up, and it's about how we handle them. There are going to be mistakes, but how do we limit those and not make them drastic in some of those situations. I think that's going to be our goal moving forward."

On only getting up with his right hand and if his left hand is bothering him:

"No, it wasn't bothering me. It was just kind of a habit, probably throughout the week. I was not trying to put a bunch of weight on it, I guess, but there were no issues throughout the game. It didn't really affect me that way."

On handing off to the left and using right hand:

"Yeah, just more of what I've been doing throughout the week from a reps standpoint, just as a precaution that way. It made it easier in some of those situations. I'm going to continue to get better and better each week."

On if his left hand is broken:

"There's—I'm not even sure if I can answer that— it was kind of banged up a little bit this week. It didn't really affect me, though, like I said."

On his mindset to "flush" the turnovers he causes:

"I think we did a good job of resetting. We just had some penalties where now we're behind the eight ball, and it's tough sledding. I'm guilty of some of those situations, where I'm trying to make a play on that interception, and I just missed it, and that's a critical mistake. I can't do that. Then you have some other scenarios where we're driving, and the drive gets stalled out, so now we have to punt. It's really tough when you're playing that style, and we've got everybody we need. It's about how we keep chugging away, chugging away, and then there's a big one. Again, these are things to continue learning from, and I'm continuing to learn from them, too. There are moments when we're having the right style of process and play, and good things can happen. But there's some moments where we've got to shore up those little things because then the negative stuff arises."

On why they've had first and second-down struggles and how he's addressing that:

"There's a balance between trying to be in a good play, based on what they're presenting, and also running what we are good at. That is the challenge every single week, and it shifts depending on what the flavor of it is. They obviously did a really good job. They're really well coached, and they had a good plan. We had a good plan, too, but there were too many times when we got a penalty or maybe just an even-yardage play—nothing crazy—and now we're in a long-yardage scenario where that's what they're really good at. I think some of that stuff isn't going to be a perfect drive. We have to be able to put ourselves further down the field in some of those situations and get ourselves into better scenarios."

On him speaking to the team in a pregame or postgame losing circle:

"Yeah, I think there's an aspect of we've got to reevaluate how we're coming in the building every single day from a details standpoint, but there's also a matter of continuing to learn, and we're continuing to climb. We took a step in the wrong direction today, I would say, but it's not a matter of—like I said last week—we need to completely flip the script, and we need to change who we are. It's not that at all. I'm going to continue to elevate how we prepare as an offense and how we continue to go. That starts with me, too. By no means is there a matter of needing to cuss people out or do things like that. We need to continue to do what we're doing from that process. We have the right people in the building, and we have the right process. Now, let's put it together. We're going to get that cleaned up, and it's going to start with all of us."

Saints EDGE Cameron Jordan

On containing the quarterback when he extends plays:

"You know what he (Kyler Murray) is? He is a gamer. Since he got to the league, and it is no different today. He is a gamer. He is a hell of a competitor. Going in, you know he doesn't have an escape pattern. He gets out. We tried to collapse the pocket, and we collapsed the pocket, then let him escape the pocket. There was success there. You've got to tighten up some things. In between the tackles, there were some yards there. We saw some success on defense. Ball's out twice. Wish we could have had it a third time. We have got to be better."

On three straight losses and the team's record:

"We're 1-4. That is not good. No, it's awful. We are sitting at a 20 percent win rate. That is not good. The only positive is we've been here before. We know how to get ourselves out of it. Not great. There are years here that I've gone undefeated. You've got to bring that same energy back. First of all, we've got to find a way to win, so I'm not even worried about just being at home. In the sky, in the alley—it does not matter. Learning how to win together. Being more disciplined."

On the team's morale and moving forward:

"Don't worry about morale. Look, when you're losing, we're just trying to figure out a way to win. Morale is—we'll take a temp check after we win. We're going to put our heads down. We're going to focus on our next opponent, whoever that is, and then we're going to focus on whoever's after that. At the end of the day, we played a good first half and not a good enough second half. At the end of four quarters, what's the scoreboard tell you? We had momentum going in at halftime. We lost momentum coming out of it. We can't do that. We've got to be able to find a way to sustain energy from. It would be great to get a lead and never look back."

Saints Wide Receiver DeVaughn Vele

On the team's performance in a close game at half:

"You have to give credit to the defense. We have got to play complementary football in all three phases. I don't think we did that. We've got 11 weeks. I feel like once we start playing complementary football, things will fall into line."

On his confidence that the issues can be corrected in the coming weeks:

"Obviously, I have the upmost confidence. It's not even just saying that to be arrogant, but we know what we have to do. All these guys are competitors. It's not like we want to lose every single game. Guys are trying to do the right things to start getting this train going. You've got to trust in the coaching, trust in the game plan and trust in the guys in this room that we can [turn it around]."

Saints Safety Jonas Sanker

On the emotions of losing after his touchdown gave the team the lead:

"Yeah, no, I mean, losing sucks regardless. It definitely hurts. I felt like we really had something going there. Felt like we were going to be able to kind of turn it around. Generally, ever since I've been here, we've always been a team that's really good at finishing games. We start to come alive and come together. But yeah, it's tough losing one like that."

On the team's postgame message following the loss:

"Yeah, kind of a similar message. Felt like we responded a little bit, but obviously it wasn't enough. We kind of have to just keep that same approach of looking in the mirror and finding ways to get better. But at the same time, not becoming like, pointing fingers, getting down, or having that self-doubt. I think that's really important. Obviously, last year, I think we started like 1-10. That was definitely a similar situation where we had a decision to make. We could either fold or come back and keep playing hard, and we were able to do that. So I think now it's all about being able to start that kind of uphill trend a lot sooner. Obviously, I think we are going to be able to do that this week."

On his fumble recovery touchdown:

"Yeah, it was a screen. I kind of just set the edge. MJ (Martin Emerson Jr.) made a great play, punched the ball out. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. After that, as soon as I picked up the ball, I just knew nobody was catching me from behind. I wasn't really too worried."

On the defense's struggles on third down:

"Kyler made a lot of really good plays with his legs, able to keep plays alive. It's tough to cover some of those good receivers they have for that long. But outside of that, I think we were really able to limit a lot of the explosive plays when Kyler was kept in the pocket. I think it's not just on the D-line. It's kind of on the group as a whole because there's also situations where we got them on third down and we give up a touchdown in the back of the end zone and we got a guy almost double-covered. We've just got to find a way to make those winning plays, I think. The whole defense has to take responsibility for that."

On the defense's mentality following turnovers:

"Honestly, I don't think it's tough at all. I think it's all perspective. If you really love the game, our defense is really big on the situation never matters. What's our identity as a defense? Who do we want to be? I think when you have that approach, the rest doesn't matter. You're able to go out there and play the same way every time you touch the field."

On his confidence in the team's ability to turn the season around:

"Because I know we got the right guys, and we've done it all camp. We did it the whole offseason, and we've handled it personally before. I think last year was kind of a testament to that, just how we can handle adversity and still bounce back. I think our offense for sure has shown how explosive they can be, how dangerous they can be. Our defense has shown, when we're all on the same page, how we're able to change the game, make those winning plays. But we've just got to do more on both sides of the ball, special teams included."

On Head Coach Kellen Moore's postgame message:

"Kind of the same thing I'm saying now. We've got to learn from it. There's a lot of good that was out there, but at the same time, we really got to fix those things that can't happen, that we can't let hurt us in these big games."

On whether it was the longest touchdown of his career since high school:

"Yeah, definitely. I mean, no, probably not in high school because I played offense in high school, so I had a lot of touchdowns in high school."

On the defense's sense of urgency moving forward:

"Yeah, super big, super big sense of urgency. Starting games fast, that's really a big one. We had a practice this week where the first period was a team period. I think that's just kind of trying to emphasize that we've got to get rolling right away. We can't play every game from behind. And then also just really emphasizing the takeaway culture, just punching the ball, finding ways to change the game. I think that kind of showed up today. But yeah, I think that sense of urgency. And, Like Coach Kellen was saying, there is positive in moments like this and things like this, but it's less about how much positive you have and more about not letting the Saints beat the Saints."

On the emphasis on starting faster in practice:

"Yeah, no, that was kind of what we'd done before, but you could feel the energy from the coaches and just from the whole area, everyone there. We really got to start fast. We're making this a big, big emphasis. I think that was really good. I think that did help us today, just coming out a little faster. I think we were able to get some big stops on defense, obviously giving that touchdown. And I think, was this the first game we were up at halftime? I mean, yeah, I think so. So I think that goes to show a lot. We were able to get rolling quicker today."

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Check out the game action photos from the New Orleans Saints game against the Minnesota Vikings for Week 5 of the 2026 NFL Season on Oct. 11, 2026 at Caesars Superdome.