NEW ORLEANS SAINTS COACH SEAN PAYTON
"It was good to get a win. There's still a lot of things we've got to work on. We had almost 100 yards in penalties, nine or ten penalties. We're struggling covering kicks and punts. There were a lot of things that were sloppy that we've got to clean up. Fortunately, we still have more time left and more preseason games to evaluate these guys."
(On what he was happiest about) "I thought we had some good tempo early on and I was pleased that we were able to score early. I thought we did a good job on third downs in the first half and I thought that was important. We had pretty good balance, when you look at runs and passes and yardage I think we were pretty close to fifty-fifty."
(on Chase Daniel) "What I wanted to do was give him a lot of reps. I'll try to do the same with Patrick (Ramsey) next week when Drew (Brees) comes out. I think it's harder when you continue to split them and at some point I wanted to see how he would do with the first offense, and then how he would handle it with the second offense. There were some good things. His job is to move the football and score and to his credit we did that. And yet his job is not to throw interceptions and his job is not to let the play clock run out so there's a lot for him to work on, but the repetitions, you really can't simulate especially for a quarterback when they are live and so I wanted him to get a lot of snaps and play. There will be a lot of good tape for him. That will be a good experience for him."
(on Chris Ivory and P.J. Hill) "I thought they did pretty good. We'll look at the tape. There are a couple of times they got off their landmarks and we took a minus play, but they ran hard. I thought there was some hidden yardage there and I thought they did some good things. We'll see on the video."
(on Adrian Arrington) "He plays in the base, he plays in the nickel, and he comes inside with that second group. He knows the packages well, he knows what to do, but we'll look at the tape. I think the big play versus cover-2 down the middle of the defense sparked us. He's been pretty steady in this camp which is a positive."
(on Reggie Bush's TD between the tackles) "A lot of it is similar things we've done before so from a play type it was nothing new. You can't just run him outside; you have to have balance with the holes he hits. I thought he did a good job."
(on the offensive line) "I thought we got off the ball pretty good. I thought we protected pretty well. We had a good mix of run and pass and I think it's a pretty good defense we played just having practiced with them a couple days so I was pleased how those guys played. Once we watch the tape we'll have a chance to grade it out, but I thought we had pretty good balance and those guys handled the protections well."
(on seeing improvement in fundamentals) "I did think we tackled better. The penalties just stick in your gut the wrong way. One series we've got them third down, we're off the field and personal foul, the next play there is 12 guys on the field, the next play we're in the neutral zone and single handedly allowed them to move the ball down the field. The kicking game fouls also, those are the things that tell you that you have a lot of work to do."
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS PLAYERS
27 S MALCOLM JENKINS
(On creating the turnovers) "We always want to get turnovers especially since we know our offense is going to put up points. The more times that we can get them possessions will help the defense out a lot."
"(On shoring up the tackling tonight) "We had a few missed tackles here and there, but it was much improved from last week. The key is to just keep getting better every week."
32 RB P.J. HILL
(On if he was pleased with his performance) "I was. I feel like I need to do a good job on special teams as well to make this team. I felt like I did that today. I will check out the film on Monday and see the results."
(On the offense clicking tonight) "It did. Chase (Daniel) came in and did a good job. You have to give a lot of credit to the guys out front. We wouldn't be able to move the ball without them. I felt like we did a good job. Of course we made some mistakes, but we will tweak them after looking at the film on Monday."
77 G CARL NICKS
(On establishing the running game) We try to be physical with everybody we play. I think we set a good tempo early on by getting four or five yards a carry. We used our physicality.
(On the offense bouncing back from last week) "Last week we were frustrated we had some three and outs. We played consistent tonight with some long drives and it was a lot better than last week."
9 QB DREW BREES
(On the swagger being back this week) "The first preseason game we were working out the kinks. Young guys are getting their first opportunities in real game action. You just try to fine your rhythm. I thought this week of practice was a lot better than last week's. The tempo at practice was a lot faster and a lot more upbeat. This week we practice against the Texans, so that can be an attribute to it as well. This is what the pre-season is for working out the kinks and identifying the young players."
(On Chase Daniel's play) "I was r proud of Chase. He has worked extremely hard. He has done that throughout the whole offseason by the time he has committed not only physically, but mentally studying the offense. He's had success despite the odds throughout his entire career dating back to high school. He makes plays and wins game. There as to be something to be said for that despite his size. I've been down that road before, so I know where he is. He just has to keep humble, go out there and do it again.
10 QB CHASE DANIEL
(On his touchdown pass to Adrian Arrington) "We had run that earlier in the game, but the coverage wasn't there. I had to throw it away. We were able to come back to it again and it was perfect coverage. He is a tall guy and I took advantage of him against the safety. I made the throw to where he could up and get it and he did the rest."
(On playing tonight) "It was awesome. I was able to go to there and do the best I could. I didn't really to look over my shoulder as much as I have in the past. It was fun to go out there and play and have some fun."
HOUSTON TEXANS Head Coach Gary Kubiak
What are your thoughts about your team's performance today?Not very good. I don't know if we really stopped them other then when Danny (Clark) had the pick. We had a couple of turnovers and were struggling to stop them, so it makes it even worse. We are obviously disappointed as a football team. We ran three plays offensively and were down 14-0 because of a turnover and a long drive. Against a good football team like that, you have a hard time making that stuff up. I am disappointed, very disappointed.
What about Trindon Holliday?We are trying to find out if he can play with his thumb. We put him back there, and he practiced all week, but obviously it is a problem. If he can't hang on to the ball, we need to find somebody else to do it. He is obviously struggling with the thumb in fairness to him.
What are your thoughts on your return game otherwise?I was real impressed with Steve Slaton going back there. I was real impressed with (Sherrick) McManis, I thought he looked good. Jeremiah (Johnson) goes back at the end. I think we have some options there. Those guys are going to get more opportunities now. They gave us some good field position, especially in the second half.
How do you think the defense played today?Well, it kind of looked like the first three games last year. They ran for 198 yards on us. They controlled the football game by running the ball. They were excellent on third downs. Until the end of the game, they were eight for 13 or 14. They were controlling the game. They had the ball 40 minutes, and we had the ball 20 minutes. In this league, that is called getting after somebody. They got after us. Give them credit; they did a hell of a job.
What are your thoughts on your ground game?I am looking at Arian's (Foster) numbers. You are averaging over 4.6 (4.7) yards a carry, and that's good. We just didn't carry the ball. I think we ran 39 (43) offensive plays and I think we had 26 (29) passes and maybe like 14 runs. Something like that. There was no balance there. I thought Arian had a couple of nice runs, but he has to hang on to the football.
*What injuries did the Texans incur today? *Danny Clark looks like the biggest one. He has some type of knee strain
* Are you concerned about your injury situation?*Yeah, it's a problem. We were basically down a wide receiver going in to the game. We didn't play any three wide receivers in the second half. Linebacker is a big problem right now with our football team. We brought in a young man, but in fairness to him, we didn't want to play him in this game. He had only been with us for a day. It was tough getting through. Hopefully, we can heal up a little bit before we move on.
Do you know the severity of Danny's injury?No, I don't. I know he is the most significant of anybody that came out of the game. How bad, I don't know.
What are your thoughts on how Dan Orlovsky played?I think he continues to do some good things. I am hard on quarterbacks. I think you need to do good things all the time, not some of the time. He has got good numbers coming out of the game and everything, but I know there are two or three plays that he has got to make for this team to win. I will get on him to make those plays. I want him to be great. He continues to progress.
HOUSTON TEXANS PLAYERS
DE #90 MARIO WILLIAMS
"We just didn't come out tonight with a sense of urgency; I really don't know what happened. We had a lot of intensity while we were here all week in practice against the Saints. But for some reason it never translated onto the field.
"We did have a lot of opportunities out there, especially early, to capitalize on their mistakes but we never did finish. For example we had them a few times in third-and-long situations and then the next thing you know they converted the play and got a first down.
"We all have to take responsibility for what happened out there tonight. Even though it's preseason we have no excuse for all of the points they put up early. We have to figure out a way to make stops when we have the opportunity to do it."
RB #20 STEVE SLATON
"It is really hard to explain what happened out there tonight. I thought we started off well offensively but it never ended up in a lot of points. And playing against their offense, you have to keep up. And that just didn't happen."
"As coach said, we had a great week of practice getting ready for the game. But we now have to regroup and play better these last few pre-season games as the regular season is right around the corner."
QB #8 MATT SCHAUB
"I know you'll never tell from the scoreboard, but I felt we moved the ball really well. I was glad to get a lot of reps tonight as we were in there for most of the first half. But the Saints did put a lot of pressure on me and I had to release the ball earlier than I thought. And you saw that one sack."
"I don't think we have to panic. We still have two more preseason games to go and I feel we will be ready for the beginning of the season. I know a lot of us here in the locker room feel we could have had more intensity, but I'm not worried. We had a great week of practice. Now all we have to do is make sure we are ready once the real game begins."
