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On how big of a challenge it is to deal with the crowd noise in New Orleans with an offensive line that has not played together much: "It's a challenge within itself, just going down there and going up against (Saints QB) Drew Brees. But, you know, this is the time for guys to step up. We feel good about our game plan. We know it's going to be a tough environment and that's what the NFL is all about."

On what he sees in terms of the makeup of this team and how he believes they will respond: "I think our guys are very resilient. We've just got to continue to persevere in all situations and make the most out of the opportunities that we've got now. Keep working, keep fighting hard week in and week out and, you know, just forget about all the outside distractions. Play for one another, play together, play for our coach."

On the report that he believed some assistant coaches wanted him benched: "That's absolutely false. Coach (Reid) and I never had that conversation. Everything we talked about in that room was personal; it was man-to-man. But that never came up."

On whether he is concerned about how other coaches view him: "Not at all. My coaches do a great job of getting me prepared; putting me in the best position possible and I've got nothing but the upmost respect for them and they know that without me even having to say that on camera."

On how excited the team is to get to New Orleans and try to turn things around: "We're excited about this week. We're excited about this game. I think it's important for guys to come out and just enjoy the game of football. We know how tough it was when we got into it and now we're in it. You've got to cherish the moment, take full advantage of it, have fun at the same time and continue to keep pushing. You've got to want to get better and you've got to be destined for greatness in this game. And that's everybody individually and that's what makes a collective team effort to win football games."

On whether his attempt to play his style of football once again will lead to more turnovers: "No. Absolutely not. That's not what I'm talking about. It's just, I think I've got to play my style of football (and) at the same time, still take care of the football and not be reckless with it. Be aggressive; the way we played last week, we've got to be us. We've got a personality as a football team and we've got to let it show."