New Orleans Saints Offensive Tackle Ryan Ramczyk
New Orleans Media Conference Call
Monday, September 18, 2019

Tampa has had a lot of success against the run this year, but in two games against those guys you guys have gone over a hundred yards rushing both times. What were you able to kind of do to get some success going on the ground?
"We came into this game wanting to run the ball. Like you said, we did it with success the first game and we kind of knew we can do it again. I think the offensive line as a whole, we played a pretty good game and we were just on point when we needed to be and got it done. Nick (Easton) did a great job filling in for (Andrus) Peat. We'll look to continue that this next week."

Just how important is that for the offense as a whole, when you're able to not just be one-dimensional and you're able to kind of hurt a defense like Tampa's in a couple of different ways?
"It's definitely big to be able to run the ball and be able to mix it up and kind of keep them on their heels not knowing what's going to be coming. It's nice (knowing) it's not going to be a come from behind shootout where we're passing every down. It's nice to be able to get that mix in there. It definitely helps us out. It helps everyone out."

You guys see a lot more Nick (Easton) than the rest of us. Did you feel like he was going to play that way yesterday after a week of practice and seeing him in training camp and all those things?
"We've always had a ton of confidence in our backups. So Nick we know he'd be able to step in there and play a solid game. We watched the film and obviously, (there's) things to correct from all of us, but overall I think we played a pretty good game."

Terron (Armstead) was saying yesterday that Nick (Easton) was pretty vocal and kind of excited to get back out there on the field, starting a game for the first time since 2017. Did you see that too?
"Yes, definitely. When we're out there he's encouraging and you could tell he was excited and ready to go. He definitely had a good mentality about getting the start and I think he did a great job. Whenever you can have a guy like that who is vocal and trying to get the team going, it amps us amped up too. Definitely a positive."

Can you describe just offensive line's mentality in general. I know the week before was really uncharacteristic for you guys and I'm sure you wanted show more consistency from here on out?
"That Atlanta game was not what we're about and something we weren't proud of at all. There's a lot of bad stuff that happened in that game and we looked at that film and corrected it. As an offensive line, like I said, we want to be able to run the ball. We want to be able to pass the ball. Two of the most important things is keeping Drew (Brees) protected, keeping him clean, and then being able to open up the run game. Week to week, that's something we take a lot of pride in and we try to hold ourselves to a really high standard in those two aspects. Like you said, it was uncharacteristic against Atlanta, but we're going to get on this roll and keep going and playing our game, playing our football."