HEAD COACH MIKE SMITH
Opening statement:
“I was really proud of the way our football team came out and performed today. The preparation was very good throughout the week. I thought that the coaching staff – offense, defense and special teams – did a very good job in preparing these guys. We did a good job and we went out and executed. We did a very good job of putting pressure on the quarterback, probably the best that we’ve done all season. We had five sacks, two recovered fumbles and the two picks.
On the Kemal Ishmael forced turnover:
“It was a critical play in the ball game. We talked about attacking the ball and winning the turnover battle. That was a big-time play. He went in, raked the ball out and created a turnover. We talked about winning the turnover battle and we were able to get that done today.”
On the pass rush:
“I thought we did a good job of mixing our pressure and our four-man rushes. When we had the four-man rushes, we were getting some one-on-ones. You’ve got five or six guys in the protection and some guys are going to get doubled. When you get the one-on-one, you have to win. We got some wins today off some one-on-ones. I thought that we did a very good job in our pass rush plan and how we were going to try to move the quarterback off his spot and it worked today down here in New Orleans.”
WIDE RECEIVER JULIO JONES
On his injured hip:
“I felt OK. I know that I needed to be out there with my teammates. I missed last week. Before the game I went out and ran around. I felt pretty good. I’m not 100 percent, but it was good enough to go out there and get the W. … I can’t put a percent on my health. I just know that I’m not 100 percent.”
QUARTERBACK MATT RYAN
On the defense:
“Our defense played an unbelievable game. … I’m so proud of the effort they gave and with the way they executed out there. They were the reason we got it done today.”
On Julio Jones:
“You can’t say enough about what Julio did today. Obviously, he’s been hurting the last couple of weeks and for him to gut it out and play the way he did today, I think that speaks volumes about his great toughness.”
WIDE RECEIVER RODDY WHITE
On the division race:
“We want to be in the playoffs and we want to get a home playoff game. … We don’t feel bad about our position. We feel really fortunate and next week if can get us a win, we’ll wear our division hats and move on.”
On Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis, who predicted a Falcons’ funeral:
“I’m not going to talk about him because he didn’t finish the game. If you are going to go out there and talk about funerals, arranging funerals and bringing in flowers and doing all that stuff, you have to finish the game. So, if you’re going to be doing all of that, you have to at least finish the game. Unfortunately, he didn’t even play the whole game.”
SAFETY KEMAL ISHMAEL
On his big play:
“(Dezmen Southward) did a good job of holding him up and not letting him cross the plane. I was just making an effort play. I felt that we held him and the ball came out too clean. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that it was a fumble.”
CORNERBACK ROBERT MCCLAIN
On his late interception:
“I felt his hips dropping. I felt I could undercut it. I made a break and I was able to get two hands on the ball.
On the pass rush:
“It works both ways. We have to cover well in the secondary for the quarterback to hold the ball and they have to rush the quarterback. All 11 players on the field contributed to everything that we did on the field. We all did well as an entire defense.”
DEFENSIVE END JONATHAN BABINEAUX
On the pass rush:
“I think the key to the game was getting (Saints QB) Drew Brees off his spot. We came in the game with the mindset of getting him off his spot. We did a good job sometimes. It was a one-game season for us. We came out here and played our tails off today. Even though the game didn’t start the way we wanted it to, it ended the way we wanted it to.”
On Ishmael’s strip:
“That was a huge play in the game. They were going down the field and had a huge drive. I think it was like a 90-yard drive. We were able to get a big turnover by Kemal. That was huge for us.”
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