WR Jason Avant
On the offense's issues in the red zone: "It's a problem with this team every week, so we've got to just correct it, play disciplined and hopefully we can score some touchdowns. It was just bad things going on at the wrong times. We have good possessions getting into the red zone and, basically, melt down there. We've got to make some plays. We have some plays to be made when you watch the film and it's just getting to them and being able to protect, block, catch. Those type of things."
On the mood of the team at this point in the season: "I think it's upbeat. We're definitely disappointed. Coming back, short week, it definitely gives you an opportunity to try to take out some of your aggression on the Cowboys. I think that we're upbeat and still kicking, still moving and trying to eliminate as many distractions as we can and come together as a team."
On whether there has been a lack of focus on offense: "I wouldn't say it's always a lack of focus. It's hard to put your finger on it. When you watch the film, sometimes you look at it and you're like, 'Man, are we really losing this game?' It's just bad plays at bad times. I don't necessarily think it's a lack of focus. I think that guys are trying to do the right things, but sometimes the ball bounces their way. Plays in the red zone hit off of a guy's hands and the guy intercepts it. It's those things that we've got to try to eliminate. On good days, those passes are just imcompletions."
On how much the injuries on the offensive line have complicated things for the offense: "It definitely has affected the team. But we're expecting guys to step up. We're not looking at it as, 'Woe is us.' We're not tanking it or having anything like that. We're trying to focus and make the guys that we have in there better and everyone else around them has to do their job just a little bit better and try to make up for some of those key players that we (are) missing on the offensive line. But the guys that we have are capable. We just have to be able to put them in good positions and help them out as much as we can."
LB DeMeco Ryans
On whether the team can turn things around: "Of course we can. It's the halfway point in the season and there's still a lot of ball left. This easily can be turned around."
On what he has said to his teammates about turning things around: "Just keep believing in one another. Keep believing in everybody. Continue to do your job and do it all out. You have to do it with all your might and play for your team."
On the plethora of missed tackles from members of the defense: "You miss tackles. It's football. Some games everybody (misses) tackles so you just have to have that pursuit and everybody getting after it so when one guy misses everybody cleans it up for the other guy. Missing tackles, it happens. But you can't let it leak for so much yardage that it did on us which hurt us."
DE Darryl Tapp
On whether it was difficult to watch his team play on TV on Monday night: "(Family) does (come first). This is my family too but I went and talked to Coach Reid and he sent me away. (He said), 'You've got to take care of this. This is your first one.' I was happy to go but I definitely missed being out there with the guys."
On whether he was able to watch the game on TV at the hospital: "I kind of did. I was watching it, then I heard (my wife) going through contractions so it was kind of a bit of both."
On what he was thinking while watching the team struggle on TV: "Got to pull it out. It's kind of the same mentality when you're on the sideline. Somebody has to make a play. The Saints were a great team. We already looked at the mistakes that happened in the game and have to try and get those corrected and move forward to Dallas."
On why it seems like the same mistakes keep occurring: "I wish I could tell you. If I knew we wouldn't have had the situation. Only thing we control as players and as coaches is our attitude and effort. We're going to continue to work at that, be in the right place at the right time, and make plays when we're there."
LB Mychal Kendricks
On how frustrating the past four weeks have been for everyone on this team: "I think it's been very frustrating. It hurts us right in the heart. You just have to keep working, keep pushing, and keep it coming. Get right back to work."
On whether sometimes players try so hard to make plays that they forget fundamentals: "You get that a lot. Anytime that things started happening the way they did (on Monday), players want to make plays and get out of their specific job. It works against them."
On the importance of having a division game to help turn the season around: "It's important, just like any game is important. We're getting back to work, and everyone's here, head on right and ready to go. It's important."
DT Cullen Jenkins
On why things have not gotten better for the defense: "It's hard standing up here in front of you trying to find the right way to express everything and say the right words. It's tough. We're still not out of it, and we still need to keep our heads up and stay focused. At some point, you know it has to equate to turning it over to game time. We have to have a level where we can step up from practice until game time. Right now, we're practicing hard through the week and doing better during the week than we are during the games."
On how closely the team monitors morale heading into the games: "Really close. You've seen it in a lot of teams. I've been on some teams that really haven't been the greatest and when things start going bad, you have to make sure that guys know how to win and you know how to put it aside. That's the biggest thing. If the guys aren't staying positive and don't know how to fight through adversity, then things can spiral downhill fast."
On whether a win in a division game will propel this team to where it needs to be: "Big time. One of the things that we have had the past couple of years is the way we host the division games, the intensity that we have played within them, and the way that we've come away with wins. I think it'd be a great way to get this thing turned around would be a win in our division."
On why tackling has been an issue for this defense: "(We're) just not doing it. Tackling isn't something that you can practice much during week. You're trying to be smart with your players and you want to keep everybody healthy. We still practice approaches and some of the fundamentals of them. There's got to be want-to. In a game, at some point, experience and the simple things that you have done since day one have to take over."
RB Bryce Brown
On whether there is anything new the offense can try to improve in the red zone: "When you get down into the red zone everything happens a lot faster, holes are a lot smaller, (and) pass lanes are a lot tighter so all those things we can fix. Those things we can go out and spend a little more time (on) with the quarterbacks and the receivers. Since we're involved in the passing game as well, just staying after and just doing the little things. We just have to come together and figure it out."
On whether it is a different game once a team gets into the red zone: "It is. Statistics show that and we all know that holes are going to be smaller, lanes are going to be tighter, and we just have to be more precise and play with more precision when we get down there and execute more. That's all."
On his long run on Monday night: "It was a toss-sweep. As I said before, I feel a lot more comfortable out in space. I really feel like it allows my natural ability to show. That was it. I can't really say much more than that."
T/G Dennis Kelly
On what can be done before Sunday to make sure Vick will be protected going forward: "Just do extra work. Commit to doing that extra film work. Even working together a little bit trying to build some continuity. It's a big thing with the offensive line and if you can just do the little things to try to build a little bit of the rhythm with each other would be great."
On what caused a lot of the breakdowns along the offensive line on Monday: "They brought a lot of pressure and I think it led to us having a lot of miscommunication. There was confusion on who was getting who, where was the MIKE backer and things like that. That's where we have to build that rhythm, get that continuity that I was saying, and just have the trust in each other to know that we're going to know the assignment before we have to call it out."
