 Yeah coach, how are you going to help us out the game? We were leaving inside the Williams entry. Obviously Damian will continue to evaluate him, see what it looks like. He did come back into the game. Otherwise, there's obviously guys that are sore, that are playing a foul game, but we're pretty clean otherwise. Kind of the end of the last quarter and some of those decisions, whether it was the fourth or maybe some of the defensive calls. What's it at that maybe either you would have done differently or that you're where you think it broke down? Well, I think whether you want to lose, Mike, the biggest challenge is to be in a, if you really want to improve and you have the right mindset, is you've got to be objective and be honest. And it always starts with me, what can I do better? And there's certainly things every week that I can do better. And so you don't make the same mistakes or something you see that say, hey, we can improve on. I think the worst thing you can do is be defensive and not be able to look at things objectively. So that's always going to start with me, how we look at it. We certainly stayed aggressive and you got to give New Orleans credit. They made plays and some of their veterans, they made plays. Well, we stayed aggressive. We mixed in calls. We stayed aggressive on offense. We certainly stayed aggressive on defense. And they made plays and we got things we can clean up, leverage-wise or maybe we didn't get home here or there. And that's what the game came down to. They made one more play than we did late. And we'll continue to improve. And that's the thing. Week one, you go out there and you blast a playoff team and think that you got something and we won one more game in 2014, very similar in 2015. So we know we got to improve. Obviously not happy about the end result, but there was a lot of progress and a lot of good that came out of that game. What are some of the takeaways for you from that game? Which way, you know, positives or things that are critical? We can go both. We'll start. I'm watching to keep their heads up. The pass rose, I got a little more of this, but they don't, they want your with this. Well, I just want to make sure you answer the question. What you're looking for here. So obviously the positives, I thought the lines of scrimmage I thought we played pretty well for the most part. Wasn't perfect, but you run the ball 38 times for 200 yards, gave you a chance most weeks. Thought we kept markers pretty clean. Thought we did a good job staying in rhythm offensively for the most part and just kept changing things up. So please there. Not please is, you know, where the game usually comes out to and the NFL, especially against a good team, is situational. You know, you turn the ball in the red zone, you have a penalty down there. We'll get that stuff cleaned up. I got a bunch of questions about pits after a game. I saw he had seven targets. Yeah, we talked again. Yeah, you run the ball 38 times. You know, we held on the ball. I think we had over $400 of offense. It's not going to, you know, I think that's what, there's a lot of different ways to play, right? There's a lot of, you know, there's a certain way we play offense. Certainly other teams played a different way. It may be, you know, aesthetically more spread out and you may be a little more drop back, heavy and try to look all pretty with passing stats. We're just trying to win the game. He affects the game. I think the one thing that was very encouraging and I think Kyle, it's not just lip service in one of these preseason stories. He blocked really well yesterday and we're certainly going to target Kyle, but we also have other good players. So if you want to take him away, I was very encouraged by what I saw about Drake. You know, I thought OZ made some good plays and Hodg will continue to look to improve and get everybody involved in the offense. But Kyle had a huge impact on the game. Going back to what you were talking about a little bit before when you were talking about Marquez, he had said after the game that he didn't necessarily realize where he was on the red zone fumble. Is that something that's coachable or is that something that he just needs to know about? Here's a perfect example of that. So obviously the way he pressed it, again, it wasn't by him not trying to make a play. I mean, you know, it's things you can coach. I always say, as you're right, guys, you can pull back and guys, you got to make a call. And Marquez did everything he could to try to win the game. Obviously, no different than OZ and we got to be better with the ball. No doubt about it. But when he's got out of there, got out of the pocket, which he proved he can hurt people with in different ways too. Some design, some just, you know, if they don't drop back and sink, he can extend it. And he certainly did. And then when he cut up, that's what he's talking about. When to slide if he's already there. When you press the sideline, there's a play that actually, you talk about the effect Kyle had. The next series, get in there, change some things up. And we got a hold on first down, I believe it was first and 20. And Kyle ran a pretty good route. He got the penalty, you know, the way he set the guy up on the route, which we got the penalty, but Marquez also pushed it all the way to sideline. So that was a good in-game adjustment. Something happened. Try to correct it. And obviously we took the penalty there, but if you go back and watch that, you'll see what I'm talking about. When you go to the offensive line, like you said, and they kept Marquez pretty clean in the sacks, how much of that was schematically what you were trying to do versus them really maybe being more physical up front? I think both. Did I approach with Marquez? Do you worry not only from a situational standpoint, as you talk to him from a situational and health standpoint about sliding more? Absolutely. And as I said, I mean, trust me, I mean, and he did at times. And then he gets in there and critical third and three. I mean, I can't fault the guy's trying to win. And he went in there and put his foot in the ground. He's not scared. But yes, you want, you know, there's only been around him enough, been around this league enough to understand that a lot of fast guys out there and their intent is, and it's football. So we'll continue to evolve and be smart with it. But it's hard to fault him in that critical situation when he put his foot in the ground twice. One, he got him on third and three. The other one, you know, we were a yard short and we weren't clean with the operation on third and one. You know, obviously hindsight's 20-20. The way the game was going, playing the situation. Yeah, probably decisions, probably different next time. So. As it pertains to the fourth quarter, he's still possessible for nine and a half minutes and all that stuff happened. I mean, it's got to be more than just execution or a play-con, a combination of both. When you looked at the film, what did you see from both ends play-calling and execution? Yeah, I mean, I did everything could to stay aggressive, but be smart. I mean, you don't want to be reckless and go three and out and run 12 seconds off the clock. So you're trying to stay aggressive, being smart, giving yourself options, and I thought we did. You know, we certainly, we're not going to play in our fears and not being reckless. So we were able to move the ball and we don't convert a third and three. And so we got a punt and, you know, we lose leverage on a play and they make a play and we stayed aggressive on defense side of the same thing. I mean, we were playing our game plan. I mean, it wasn't all of a sudden, we got into some umbrella prevent defense or we all of a sudden got into goal line and tried to handle, you know, full back dive three times. But those critical situations were different. You know, not converting third and three, third and one. And then on the flip side, we had our opportunities and they made some big time plays. And you got to get once in credit. He kept swinging, got to him early, showed him some different looks and, you know, Landry makes a play. So Mike Thomas made some plays down the stretch and that was the difference in the game. Offensively, do you feel like your team was able to establish the identity that you want to see from them throughout the season, especially on that offensive line where there was, you know, you said at question marks and there were three in the five spots were up for grabs in the beginning of camp and they were able to go out and dominate like they did? Yeah, certainly, we made a lot of progress. You know, you're not obviously disappointed with the end result but there is a lot of good and progress. But the key is whether we have won that game or lost it, can we make the improvement? You know, it's probably easier to be critical after a loss than it is after you win. We certainly want to win. That's our objective every week. But please, very pleased with most part how they played up front. In the backfield, Tyler Algier was kind of a surprising act. Was he dealing with something physically? No, you just got to make the decisions. I mean, it gets down to the 48 and where you want to go heavy and a lot of it comes down to special teams. So, you know, some weeks when maybe we'll have five running backs up but when you have Avery and Keith who are good special teams players, you got to make that assessment. You know, where are you going to... I know 48 sounds like a lot but when you're putting that puzzle together, you know, you're going to have your three specialists up. So it's really about getting to 45. And we felt like we wanted to go heavier more in the interior of the line. With the way the game plan was, we wanted to go heavier tight end and then Kyle ended up playing a significant number of snaps. Drake played more snaps than... And that's a credit to Drake. I mean, the guy, you know, missed a couple of weeks, practiced pretty well. And, you know, he was rolling. We kept him in there. And so some other guys we dressed didn't play as much as we anticipated and it took away a little bit from the back. But we'll reassess that and look to do, you know, once we put the plan in for Sunday. Were you surprised with how good Drake looked just physically out there? No. What's encouraging is when you do a lot of the work in the pretty draft and it's the way you got to spend so much time on this. It'll never be perfect. There's always the things that can come up but we were pretty confident in the player and the person we were getting and the mindset he has. And that was really encouraging. There's a lot of details and stuff that we could clean up but it was encouraging considering that he really hadn't practiced in a couple of weeks. Coach, after the game, obviously it's emotional. You mentioned two or three times what the media had said, preseason rankings and everything else. I mean, obviously that has nothing to do with what happens on the field. No, I don't. Okay, so is that just an emotional response in that moment or? Yeah, it's, you know, obviously you're frustrated when you lose, especially that type of game. That wasn't an indictment on anybody in the crowd. It was more of a, and I could have certainly framed it differently but it was more of like, hey, this team has made progress and we're here to compete. And yeah, it wasn't an indictment in the crowd and yeah, I can be better. He talked about being objective. You know, don't let frustration and make some grand vague statement. That's really not what my point was. More of this team has made a lot of progress. We finished games last year, ironically down in New Orleans and we got to clean up stuff in the four quarter but it starts with me. And to that end, you focus so much on preparation for game one. You change things the way you did in the preseason. What showed up on tape that you did well that you, you know, actually said, we're going to prepare this way? Yeah, I think the way we came out and played and established the lines of scrimmage, I mean, that's where, you know, we've made camp hard. I mean, these guys got a lot of reps and so they're ready to go. And I certainly think that would have shown up. Now the flip side is we got to make more plays in the four quarter and we got a chance to put the ball game away late in the third. You know, it's frustrating, it would have been to kick a field goal when you turn the ball over now in there. You know, you look back and that's probably the difference, right? There are three more points at worst. And those are the things we got to clean up and it'll always come down to situational. I thought, here's another encouraging thing. You're ready to go. Thought we handled the end of the half really well. You know, we kicked a field goal. We were able to talk about playing in all three phases and we knew they were getting the ball. They deferred, so we couldn't double them up but we were able to end the half with a really good series by the defense. Avery got a decent return. Drake catches one going out the backside of the coverage and then we hit Kyle and there was no panic if something, we work all the time. And that's, to me, that signs of progress of a good team understanding situational football. Clearly, the fourth quarter will continue to work and clean that up. You talked about for months, really, about managing Cordero and his reps and your practice. Was Sunday the amount of carries he got, was that more due to Damien's injury or was there some part of it that you're just gonna let him go? Well, I think that's what you, that's why, you know, there's so much preparation and obviously it's football, right? That's what makes it fascinating. There's so many games within the games and when you're setting up things logistically with your game plan, and that's always there is. I say it before, you know, one guy goes out, you have to be willing to adapt. So give and take, you know, he's not superhuman and touched the ball 65 times, although, you know, I'm sure he'd tell you he'd want to, but so when you know you're gonna be shorter back here, you may have to adapt and there's something you may take off in the passing game because now he becomes the primary guy and so that's, to me, that's part of coaching, end game, what's your solution? It's all planned ahead of time so if this happens, where do we go? And you gotta have enough to be able to do that and you gotta have the right players and coaches and that's what we did yesterday with him. He told me after the game that ideally it's more a combination of him and Damian than what, obviously, we saw. Yeah. Is it more of a balance than in your head? It depends on the game plan, it depends on the game plan but your game plan, you have to, like that example right there, you gotta be willing to adapt. Damian couldn't go for most of the game, he tried to go back in there late on a situational play that was a little nuanced that obviously we didn't execute but so you gotta adapt and so C.P. And he ran really well. I mean, he ran as physical as I think I've ever seen him way he finished runs and it was great to see. Would you tell the guys about turning the page? Yeah, I mean, that's the thing on Mondays. You gotta be able to be objective and tell the truth and I'll always say this, it always starts with me. You know, we're gonna hold everybody accountable. I hold myself accountable. So whether you, I think the biggest lie in the NFL is the overreaction on Mondays. It is. And cause a lot of times you win and you don't play really well and you know, you can rationalize a lot of things and feel good and then objectively it's such a competitive league that if you don't take care of the details the things that you know will come back around if you don't clean them up on Monday then shame on you. And so, so that's been the message that we gotta keep making progress. It's one game. Obviously it's disappointing how it ended but you gotta give New Orleans credit. They got good players and good veterans and they made plays down the stretch. We didn't and we gotta be better next time. But to let this something like that when you lose to sit there and say, you know, what was me or you act like a victim? None of us are victims. You get, we get to, I get to coach pro football. I got the best job in America. It's not lost to me and it kind of sick is when guys get up there and act like victims because they get criticized or whatever. No, I'm lucky as hell to be working for this franchise and coach football. And same with the players and we'll have the right mindset and come back and get better. Coach, you did have France and Bernhardt up. Sure, we had him. See that? Yeah, we had him up. Yeah, you had him up. What was the decision on that? Was it just looking to go heavy on the team? Yeah, well, I understand that. There's not, sometimes guys don't get in. Again, you can dress 48, right? And a lot of times you make a decision. Guy may be a backup on special teams. He may be your fifth wideout. So that's why you go with him because of the depth in certain areas. And if he plays a lot, then like if we had a receiver goes down, go down, then obviously Bernie would have had to go on there a little bit more. Felipe with some of the other stuff that we had in the plan, but that was the decision. So we'll be the same next week. We'll see about Wednesday and late in the week once we get the plan. Yeah, just wanted to check on how Richie Grant showed up on film in his first start. I thought you could feel Richie. I thought one thing, obviously, we had to plug and play different guys and that slot nickel corner spot last year. And I thought you saw Richie's versatility at times. I thought he covered pretty well when he had to go down there, which was an improvement from last year. But you can feel Richie. I thought, played fast. I think Hawk too, like all of us, it wasn't perfect, but I thought Hawk and Richie, you could feel. And just looking ahead now to the Rams, what will be some of the early preparation teams that should get ready for them? Yeah, they've obviously got a jump on us, right? They played Thursday night. So we got to make sure we're ready to roll. I know Sean will have that team ready to go. They'll be focused then. We'll get the L.A. Rams best shot and that's what you want. You want to play the best and you want them to be at their best. That's the competition. And so we know we got a challenge. I'm sure Sean will have those guys ready to go. You know, they'll be out. Sure, they'll probably break out no huddle and they may play a little more, man. They got good players and good coaches. Speaking of coverage, real quick, are you surprised how much they went after Michael with AJ on them as well as he had them for the most part in the stretch in the fourth quarter? Do you see anything on tape where AJ? A lot of it is where the ball was going to have to go. He was going to have to get that ball up and down based on our call. And they'll take that match up and AJ will be better for it. There's two really good players going at it. And hell, the first one, I mean, he just ripped that thing into the helmet and he looked back and the ball goes through it and Mike Dom's a good player. And he made the play. It'll only make AJ better. We got all the faith in the world on AJ, but that's a competition in the NFL. I mean, that's what obviously didn't go the way we wanted, but that's probably what the fans pay to see. See good players go compete.