Head Coach Mike Macdonald Recaps The 44-13 Win vs. The Saints

Mike Macdonald (0:00)

All right, great to see everybody. Obviously, very pleased with our win. Really, really just proud of our process right now, the guys' attitude, our approach every day. I think the coolest thing about our group is we're not satisfied. We know we have room to grow as a football team. We talk about being a decisive, shocking, relentless. I thought we were those things, but I also think, especially on defense, there's room for growth, where we can learn from some of those extended drives. We'll look at the penalties to see what went wrong there and if it was cost of doing business or if it was on the other end of the spectrum, but overall, just a great team effort, man. Guys played extremely hard, played together, complimentary football. Our offense was efficient, would have been great to not give up the ball there at the end. Defensively, we played hard. We did a great job and really the story of the day, honestly, is our special teams unit. I think Dave told me they're responsible for 30 points directly.

It's some pretty high-powered stuff. Those guys deserve a lot of credit. Gave JR a ball, a game ball.

Tory Horton, just a phenomenal game as well. D'Anthony Bell with the punt block, just great all around. I'm really proud of it, but now we got to go back to work. We got a game Thursday. We got a great plan to get our bodies right and our minds. We got to move on quickly because the game is coming fast. What do you got?

SPEAKER_2 (1:25)

Do you say that in mind with the Thursday game? How nice was it to be able to rest a lot of starters for the last couple of weeks?

Mike Macdonald (1:30)

Yeah, that was critical. We played a lot of plays on defense in the first half, which is a good problem because of how quickly we're scoring. But that's one of the reasons we were getting guys out a little sooner than probably would have in a normal game.

SPEAKER_3 (1:44)

You say you're not satisfied. Your defense gives up 13 points.

SPEAKER_4 (1:47)

What are you not satisfied with right now?

Mike Macdonald (1:49)

Well, I think when they moved the ball, we will look at it. But from my perspective, we made some decisions that we've been making smart decisions in those moments. A couple of those penalties that extended drives some of the execution on third down. So there's room to grow.

SPEAKER_5 (2:05)

Coach, you talked a lot about trying to build on leads. So how do you feel about there? There's just that first couple of minutes, the first quarter, just that flurry there.

Mike Macdonald (2:14)

That was great. It's great to start the way we do.

Again, our process, I think, is good. We got to stick to that and believe in it, double down on it. The principles that have got us to this point. But that's how we want to play football right there at the beginning of the half.

SPEAKER_6 (2:34)

There's a lot that goes into punt return. What about Tory's game makes him so good in that role?

Mike Macdonald (2:40)

I mean, just how he's attacked the whole process since he got here, you know, we had ambitions for him to be our punt returner. And we're talking about countless, countless reps and hours of preparation. And he's playing really decisive right now. And I can't wait to watch the play on our punt return unit and who sprung blocks and how we set the whole thing up. So I can't tell you exactly what happened in that play. But anytime you spring a return like that, there's got to be some critical blocks that have to be executed. So we'll see those and I'll give them a shout out next time we get together.

SPEAKER_4 (3:16)

Like in your growth process, your offense seems like they begin to score early. Can you just talk about that, how their maturity as well?

Mike Macdonald (3:23)

Again, it's an emphasis on how being decisive is knowing what to do from the get go and Clint and the crew deserves a lot of credit on how we start our openers and that's important, how you start games and having a clear idea of what you're trying to execute, try to get done.

SPEAKER_5 (3:42)

From a depth standpoint, D'Anthony going out and getting the blocked punt also had a tackle for loss, Ty making a couple of big plays out there. How do you feel about those guys' contributions getting thrown in there?

Mike Macdonald (3:53)

Yeah, I'm a broken record here, but this is why we operate the way we operate. I think you felt the strength of the 70 today and really proud of those guys. Again, it's hard to stay ready when you're not in a prominent role, and these guys have done that. Derry and Kendrick, again, a phenomenal game. But D'Anthony is playing really fast right now. Ty played a solid game.