WASHINGTON REDSKINS QUOTES

* *

REDSKINS HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

"I really thought that our football team, to say the least, played awfully hard throughout the game. We played a good football team today, as you can see. They never gave up. They kept on coming back. It takes 46 guys to play extremely hard to come away with a victory."

(on the play of the defense, especially late in the game) "Since we started OTA's, we have had a lot of guys working extremely hard throughout our practices, throughout preseason games. It really didn't surprise me that they played like they did today. They played extremely hard. They made a bunch of big plays out there. Obviously, (there were) a lot of heroes out there today."

(on the play of Robert Griffin III) "I thought that Robert did an unbelievable job to play the way that he did in the first game in the National Football League. The poise that he played with and some of the throws that he made (were great). Just to execute the offense in this environment (was impressive). You can't hear the snap count. At times he was a little off. He kind of bumped into the running back a couple of times. They (the Saints) threw a lot at us. (There were) a lot of blitzes. They are a very well-coached team. To come away with a win and the way that we played is a big plus for our guys."

(on if the Saints defense was off balance) "That's what you try to do. You will have to ask their defense for sure. We obviously do a lot of things to try to keep people off balance. That's what you try to do offensively. Obviously, Robert presents a big problem. He can run the football, and as you can see, he can throw it. He made some plays."

(on Pierre Garcon's injury) "The top of his foot was bugging him. He could have come in. The x-rays were negative, so that is a positive. He was sore enough not to come back, which is disappointing because he had a heck of a catch in the beginning of the game."

(on Pierre Garcon's ability) "I'm glad that we've got Pierre on the football team, to say the least. He's a big play guy. He's big. He's strong. He is 215 pounds. He is in that 4.4 range. He can block. He wants the football, so we gave it to him early."

(on keeping Drew Brees under 50 percent accuracy) "First of all, he is so good. It is amazing to me some of the plays that he makes. Playing from behind, his ability to stay poised, his footwork, looking at the field and being able to avoid the rush (are just some of his skills). We played well enough to win. You've got to get some turnovers. You've got to find a way to beat them, especially in this environment. And you've got to do it as a team. Forty-six guys have to play well."

#10 QB Robert Griffin III

(On today's game) "It was a lot of fun out there. I think everyone was comfortable with the game plan that we had coming in. We did a lot of things that we hadn't shown in preseason. I think everybody executed it to a T. Us being able to adapt the offense, it is harder for them to do things and (we can keep them off guard. I thought everybody did a great job."

(On whether Washington had New Orleans confused) "I think that they would just see the look and think of what was coming from what we had done on previous plays, so they were kind of out of place for our adjustments. I don't think they were necessarily confused. I think they thought they had it right but we would hit them with something else. That's what you've got to do. Defenses do it to offenses; you think you have it figured out and then they do something different. We had some adjustments at halftime, but I went out on the field and they didn't do what they did the first time. They got us a couple of times, we got them a couple of times, and thankfully we came out on top."

(on what it was like coming on the field with the Redskins offense for the first time with over 70,000 fans screaming) "It was definitely loud, first of all. You can feel it in your body, the loudness, and it's crazy. The guys told me it was going to be like that. It was the loudest place I've ever played in, but why not? It's New Orleans, Louisiana and it's the Superdome. We came out, played big on a big stage, and did a good job."

(on how important it was to get his confidence up on the first drive with the short passes) "I think it's great for any quarterback to get a couple of easy passes at the beginning of a game so you can get in a rhythm instead of going out there and chucking it deep every time. Sometimes you can do that, like we did in some preseason games. It was definitely great. They were just giving us some looks, we never called screen or anything like that. It's just another wrinkle in our offense that worked the first couple of plays, then they started playing it, which opened up a lot of other stuff."

(on his first NFL touchdown) "They blitzed on that play and I was hot. I was looking to throw to my hot receiver but he got covered. Pierre (Garcon) was the primary receiver on that, so I had enough time to look back to him and throw it to him. One thing receivers don't like to do is run across the middle for a long period of time. Pierre ran across the middle, caught it, and did a good job finishing the play. I commend him for that. This is actually the ball from that touchdown; they gave it to me. My first touchdown in the NFL."

(Could this debut have gone any better for you personally?) "We could've scored a few more points. Nothing is ever perfect; there are some plays I wish I could have back. Falling down on a keeper, fumbling in the red zone when we had an open guy for a touchdown, all those things. I'm not going to be a Debbie Downer. We won the game so I am going to be happy about that.

(on now that it's over if it was as special as he thought it would be playing in front of so many family members for his NFL debut) "It was phenomenal. It's good to be around family. I miss that, being away from everyone. My parents were extremely happy to see their family as well. To have them in here cheering and to see all the Redskins fans show up to the Superdome was pretty exciting."

(on the play of Aldrick Robinson) "He did a great job. We all know that Aldrick is a guy that definitely stepped up through the OTAs and preseason. He made a lot of big plays for us. He definitely did a good job of making sure that he was ready. Pierre had a great game early on, and once he was sidelined we had to have a guy step up big, and Aldrick did that."

"My mind was really clear going into this game. I left my phone in Virginia, not on purpose. I just sat in my room and watched some TV, had time to think about things. The one thing I try to do is not stress about anything or to go out and try to prove anything to anyone. I just go play and have fun; this is a game that I have played for a long time. The guys in that locker room, I'm still a rookie to them. After this game they told me I'm not a rookie anymore."

(on how this memory stacks up with all of the others?) "It's at the top. You can win a high school state championship or get there a couple of times. You can win a bowl game in college. But to get to the NFL, the pinnacle of it all, and win your first game playing against a Hall of Famer in Drew Brees. At the end of the game he told me he was proud of me. That's big for him to say that after they had just lost a game. I respect him for that and this is definitely number one on my list."

#11 WR Aldrick Robinson

 "Robert (Griffin III) did great today. He went out there and executed the game plan, that's for sure. And that's why we won the game.

(on his touchdown in the first half) "I knew I was going to get it. All I had to do was catch it and walk on into the end zone."

#46 RB Alfred Morris:

 "As the game went on, I felt a lot stronger, and I'm glad they were calling my number a lot - especially in the second half. That's something I've been working on; to get stronger and stronger. That's my will, to go out there, work hard and not be stopped."

#20 CB Cedric Griffin

 (on forcing a fumble by WR Marques Colston) "It was just a good play on my part to go for the ball. I went right after the ball and it popped out. And from there a lot of guys went after the ball and it went out for a touchback. It was a big play."

"He (Colston) was running a slant pattern toward the goalpost and (I) just came in with an uppercut and got the ball loose. It was a great play by him (Colston) to catch the ball but it was a great play by me to make the turnover and change the momentum of the game.

#91 LB Ryan Kerrigan

 "It was a real team effort out there. The offense held for ball for what seemed forever and that was awesome because we always felt rested. For us to hold them like we did in the first half was great. They (Saints) scored most of their points trying to catch up so for us to come down here and leave with a win in our first game of the season is great."

"I thought he (Robert Griffin III) played great; and (had an) awesome performance. He lived up to all of the hype - he's as good as advertised. I mean how many great plays did he make out there?"

#88 WR Pierre Garcon

(on his 88-yard touchdown) "It's a play we work on all of the time and we got lucky. They (saints) got out of position, Robert threw a great ball, I caught it and ran. The end zone looked real far away, I looked on the screen a couple of times and said 'gosh'. But I made it and it worked out great for us."

(on the significance of the play) "It was a big play - a game changer and gave us the momentum. It was a great call by the coach and we caught them out of position. It worked perfect - just like we drew it up."