On the problems Saints QB Drew Brees presents for their defense: "Drew Brees is a real smart quarterback. He's got a good arm and he gets the ball out on time. He's good at recognizing coverages and seeing blitzes and stuff so we've always had trouble playing him."
On whether anything about the Saints offense surprised him: "Not really, I turn on the film and it looks like fast break city. Those guys are just flying around the field and he's just dumping it off left and right. I pretty much expected that. [Saints head coach Sean] Payton, he's always had great offenses over the years and it's pretty much the same as it always has been."
On Saints RB Mike Bell running for 145 yards last week: "That was a little different. The thing is that they still had the big plays. They're still throwing the ball deep and that made a difference—the way Mike Bell is running the ball. Who knows? they could come in here and try to do the same thing, try and run the ball all over us. We just have to be on point, they're real balanced.
On whether it is difficult to prepare for a team that has three strong running backs: "Absolutely, that's another facet to the game. They've even had sets where they put all three running backs on the field at the same time. You just got to go out there and try to stay disciplined and work on the stuff we did all week and go from there."
On Brees being similar to Cardinal QB Kurt Warner in his ability to read the blitz: "He's a lot of the same. If you look at [last year's NFC championship game], I'm pretty sure it's going to be a lot like that, where they're going to try to get the ball out quick and try to recognize the blitz and dump the ball here and there and let their playmakers make plays. We've just got to go out there, we got to rally around the ball, tackle well and go from there."
On whether mixing the blitzes up against a quarterback like Brees is effective: "You can try that but chances are he's going to see it. It's still a blitz and sometimes we'll just have to play coverage and let our front four get there. But, if we have to blitz, no matter if they see it or not, guys have to get there."
On how defenses generally play against young, inexperienced quarterbacks: "You tend to think that maybe you can rattle them, maybe you can confuse them, all those things. [QB] Kevin [Kolb], he's seen some of the best defenses over the last few years. I mean he's seen our defense, he's had games against the Ravens and he's played well. We all have confidence in him. We're not worried. He's got to step up. He's got to do his thing and we believe in that."
On Saints depth at wide receiver: "They have a lot of good receivers. You have of course Marcus Colston who's a big target, can make a lot of plays. You have Devery Henderson who is a speed, speed, speed guy. You have Robert Meachem, who is coming into his own; he's fast. You know, Lance Moore. They have a ton of weapons over there. They even use [RB] Reggie Bush as a receiver too. It's almost like you kind of pick your poison and see what's going to happen. But we have guys in our secondary that can cover too. We're not scared and we're not going to back off or anything like that. We're going to play aggressive. We're going to still do what we do and we'll just see who comes out on top."
On defending a team that can both run and pass effectively: "As a secondary, in games like this, you have to think pass first, let our front seven handle the run and go from there. Obviously, if they're running the ball it makes our job a lot tougher. If they can handle the run, then we should be fine."
On whether the Saints passing game sets up the run or vice versa: "I think maybe teams were underestimating their run. Maybe the Lions did underestimate their running game. Maybe they're thinking with [RB] Pierre Thomas being injured, that whole thing, and maybe were focusing too much on the pass. But, like I said, as a secondary I'm not worried about it. They've got guys that can go and they've got a guy that can get them the ball wherever they are, so we just got to handle that."
