Payton tells the truth about poor Saints performance vs. Eagles

While LSU’s Ed Orgeron is known for his “tell the truth Monday” starts to the week during the season, Saints heead coach Sean Payton adopted his own version of that approach in his conference call with media, not mincing any words about his team’s very poor performance in a shocking loss to a poor Philadelphia team Sunday.

Payton said his team prepared properly for Jalen Hurts and Philadelphia but did not execute defensively, offensively or in the kicking game.

“I didn’t say the team wasn’t prepared,” Payton said. “I said, ‘man, we look flat.’ We didn’t look ready to play and that’s a reflection on me and it’s upsetting. I’ve got to do a better job making sure. I don’t think we played well in any phase. I’m watching it again right now. Offensively, it’s sloppy. The screen game, the naked, the run game, it looks awful.

“Defensively, they’re still running. The quarterback’s outside the pocket. All the things we didn’t want to allow to happen happened in that game. We can’t kick a field goal early in the game two weeks in a row. That’s a problem. That’s where we start.”

Payton knew that the Eagles would look different with Hurts at quarterback but said that was no excuse for his team’s poor play.

“It was a completely different type of attack offensively,” Payton said. “There were a handful of things we probably would have done differently. We didn’t handle the quarterback run, quarterback contain. Obviously, when you give up 240 yards rushing, there aren’t a lot of things you did well.”

Would a different approach to the Eagle offense have been more productive?

“We were slow playing the zone with the ends,” Payton said. “The more upsetting element, there were some times with a five-man rush, we were rushing to contain and we didn’t do that effectively. That should be easier to do when you’re rushing five to keep the quarterback where you want him. We didn’t do a good enough job of that. Obviously, we didn’t get enough good work at it.”

The Saints had a shot late with an onside kick that hit an Eagles player. Craig Robertson had a chance to recover it but did not, which Payton confirmed.

“I talked to Craig,” Payton said. “He’s honest as the day is long and he was right there. He’s the one that we thought recovered it. He said he was close but he didn’t get it.”

Taysom Hill ran just five times for 33 yards. Was there or is there any thought to letting him run the ball more?

“A lot of it is the look you’re getting,” Payton said. “We ran it once with him on fourth down and were caught short. A lot of it depends on what type of defense we’re getting and what we’re willing to run. There were a couple of plays, zone reads yesterday. He handed one off to Alvin. A lot of it is predicated on what you’re getting.”

Payton said he felt Hill played “alright” but had issues with elements of his performance.

“He’s still slow on a few decisions,” Payton said. “He’s to the wrong side of the field a few times, relative to making decisions and I don’t like the fact that the ball was out (fumble) again. The screen pass I’m watching right now needs to be out quicker with a little bit less velocity, a little bit easier. They’re rushing. There’s a blitz he’s faced with. Back up and just dump it off to the running back. There’s some things that he’s got to clean up.”

Would Payton like to see Hill make a quicker decision to take off and run when the designed pass play isn’t there?

“There’s a clock in your head relative to the down and distance and typically on your normal, early downs, you’ve got to feel pretty soon when your time’s up and your going or when you’re staying with the read.”

In the offseason, the Saints invested in former first-round draft pick Andrus Peat, signing him to the tune of five years and $57.5 million dollars with $33 million guaranteed. The investment, which was questioned by many at the time, remains questionable.

“Listen, Peat’s got to play better,” Payton said. “He’s got to play better.”

On the offensive line performance overall, Payton was not pleased.

“I don’t think anyone of them played particularly great but we’ll keep working here,” Payton said.

With regard to whether Drew Brees is close to returning to practice and possibly being ready to play for Sunday’s game at Kansas City, Payton, as expected, played it close to the vest.

“We’ll see,” Payton said.