(On practice)
"We had a good practice today."
(On if Brian Griese threw in practice)
"He didn't throw today. He might try it tomorrow. Jeff [Garcia] and Luke [McCown] took all the reps and Josh [Johnson] took some also."
(On who is taking the practice-field reps with Barrett Ruud sitting out)
"Adam Hayward and [Matt] McCoy are both taking reps in there."
(On the high number of penalties)
"We've really looked at it hard. We've probably over-looked at it. They're not exclusively false starts, although the last two games we've had seven or eight false start penalties, which is uncharacteristic, inexcusable and unacceptable. It's a lack of concentration. We get enough plays, we have enough practice time. It's just got to be cleaned up or we'll have to make some changes in our lineup. Not to be disrespectful to anyone, but that's fundamental.”
(On long third downs)
"The conversion rate in the NFL in third down-and-10-plus is incredibly low. And the conversions that you do see on film are wild, freak plays. It's a scramble, it's a jump ball, it's 'how did they get that in there.' It's got to be around 10 percent, if that. It's just not high. It's just hard. So once we get to third-and-11, I just decided I'm going to let Coach Olson call the plays and I'll take some of the other calls.”
(On if the long third downs have mostly been the results of penalties)
"Yeah, we've had a lot of penalties. We've had some unsuccessful first-down runs, too. We won a game against Atlanta in the first half when we had some stuffs, and now it's second-and-10, second-and-11. But that's every team in football. We can overcome that. We can overcome an incomplete pass. But we won't overcome negative-yardage plays.”
(On how Garcia looked in practice)
"Good. He had a good practice today. He took all the reps for the most part, and Luke took the backup reps. You've got to witness it. You guys didn't see him at training camp; you aren't here watching practice. There's a certain functional ability that he has between the tackles, a creative element that he has. When he has it, you can tell he has it. And he had it today and I was really, really pleased with how he performed out there."
(On Jake Delhomme)
"He's a great competitor. He's a very clutch performer. He's the best when the chips are on the table. He hangs around, hangs around, hangs around, and just when you think you've got him, he shoots you dead. He just jumps out and gets you. He's just a great clutch player and he's a tough dude, man. He's a tough guy and I've got a lot of respect for him."
(On if he remembers a play that Delhomme made against the Buccaneers as a Saint in 2002)
"Yeah, I sure do. He's beaten me a lot, Jake has. He came in off the bench, I think. Aaron Brooks got hurt and [Delhomme] made a big play to seal the victory. Two years ago, we had them down by two, the game Chris [Simms] got hurt in, and he made a scramble. He beat us in Carolina on a last-second throw – twice, I believe. I tip my hat to him. He's a great pro football player. I've got a lot of compliments for him."
(On if he sees this game is especially big)
"Yeah, I do. Again, I never look at life as make-or-break. It's all overdramatized to me. I try to look at it realistically. It's a hard league. It's hard to win any ballgame. It doesn't matter what analysts say, no disrespect, it's hard to win. If you just check the scoreboard out every week there are surprises. No team is capable, in my opinion, to do what New England did. That was an unbelievable accomplishment. Yeah it's big, big. It gives us a chance to get a tie for first place in Week Six of the regular season. It also knocks us out two games [with a loss]. We don't want to do that, that's for sure."