New Orleans Saints 38 - Indianapolis Colts 27
DEREK CARR: Gosh, it feels good to fricking smile. Let's go.
Q. (Inaudible).
DEREK CARR: Yeah, it was good, especially in the red zone. We had been moving the ball. Whether we threw it, ran it, didn't matter, we did it in all kind of ways today, and that's exciting for us. So it feels good, and it's exciting. Some of the stuff we talked about over the weekend and all that kind of stuff we did better, got to the end of the game. Like I told you earlier this week, I think we're getting better, you know. And I'm just happy that the fruits of that showed up. You never know how long it takes and all that kind of stuff. Now the work is just being consistent with what we're doing.
Q. Do you think all the talks helped lead to this?
DEREK CARR: I think so. It was needed, especially for myself. When I'm at one place for nine years, if I get banged up or hurt something, everyone in that building knew I was playing that Sunday. If I got upset or something like that, they knew where my heart was coming from and all that, and I could rely on that. Whereas I'm in a new place and new things are happening, you gotta prove yourself; you gotta help guys understand where you're coming from, help guys build the relationship. And I just felt like that was something the Lord put on my heart to do better this week, and I thought some of that showed up today, and try not to be so emotional if a bad play happened, just hey, keep it pushing and talk about it and move on. I was really proud of how we handled that kind of stuff, too.
Q. You did show some emotion after a couple of those big plays.
DEREK CARR: Oh, yeah. The exciting ones. I've always said, like I always told you all, I try my best to stay here, but sometimes on those big plays I get really excited. Even on runs, I see someone's block, I just go nuts. I just love that stuff. So that part I was good with, but the negative stuff I just try to be more upbeat and positive knowing we still have a lot of game left to play. And so I thought we handled our body language and those kind of things better this week.
Q. (Inaudible)?
DEREK CARR: Well, you know, Pete trusted us again with that. It was something that we talked about that we liked during the week. And had we got to that situation, I told him going into those last couple of drives, I was like, Pete, that's the call I like, because he's always asking me. It's not like it's a new thing. He's always asking. I was like, I like this one. And, honestly, I was even thinking Chris, you know. But the safety stayed more on this hash and allowed Shaheed versus Press to go win and make a huge play for us, and what a day that guy had.
Q. (Inaudible)?
DEREK CARR: I think, well, we won. That always helps a lot of the things look better, you know. And we did better in the red zone. We were moving the ball right now, and I say for the past couple of weeks we've been moving the ball well, but we finished today. And like I had told everybody before, like I told you guys on -- earlier this week on Wednesday, I feel like we're getting better. Even though the whole world was falling down, I was like inside our building, we are getting better. We're communicating. We're talking about things. And I thought that that showed today, and that was the thing, too. It was like me and Jameis were talking, like it's cool that we won this game, especially after the communication and conversations that we had relationally and all those kind of things, to see it come to fruition today was cool.
Q. (Inaudible)?
DEREK CARR: Like I had said before, I was at one place for nine years. If I was hurt, no one even asked if I was playing. If I came -- if I yelled or if I was upset or if I did something, they knew where I was coming from, and I felt like it was really important for me, in a new place, that I felt the Lord put it on my heart like I needed to describe what I'm thinking, what I'm saying, communicate better, and not just rely on nine years in a place that wasn't this place, you know. And so that takes time. That takes relationship, but like me and A.K. said, like we were standing on the sideline, we knew it would take time, but our demand won't change. Like we want it to happen now.
Q. (Inaudible). How much of that early on may have led to some struggles and some criticism and some realization that, hey, things are different and I'm going to embrace it.
DEREK CARR: Yeah. A lot came together today. I thought we finished better in the red zone. We've been moving the ball, running it, throwing it, however. But it did. To go whatever we went percentage wise in the red zone was great, and that's huge for us. And so just like I said before, I'm in a new place, but I can't rely on almost a decade of just like, what do you mean, like why do I even have to explain myself? Like I knew it was important for me to just have those conversations so people could understand my heart and where I'm coming from. And it's never personal. Like I genuinely love all my teammates. I'd do anything for them. So I'm just happy we were able to win so that that could come to fruition.
Q. (Inaudible)?
DEREK CARR: Yeah, yeah. So it was just a play we had liked during the week. It was a great plan by R.C., Pete, D.J., and the offensive staff. They're like, hey, we like this look and this route, and I said, well, me too. And there was a play at the end of the game -- Pete always comes up to me, hey, I'm thinking this, what are you thinking, what are you feeling, and that was a play in the fourth quarter I said that I had liked, and he went to it, because he came up with it. So it was good.
Q. Was there something about your processing today that was a little quicker? Do you feel like you were getting rid of it quicker or feeling it quicker today?
DEREK CARR: No. I felt like -- I just felt like we finished in the red zone today. I felt like we've been moving the ball really well for a couple weeks now. But I wish I could say yes to you to help you. I feel comfortable, you know, in the sense of running, playing quarterback and all those kind of things.
Q. (Inaudible)?
DEREK CARR: I mean, we have a lot of playmakers, and I thought Pete did a great job of just putting us in positions. And you get a guy like A.K. in space on matchups and those kind of things, and getting Chris on this route and Shaheed on this. I thought they did a great job, great plan, and our guys executed the plan. I thought we executed the plan. But I thought all 11 guys at a time -- and there's mistakes out there. You can find those all the time. But I thought, for the most part, all 11 guys played complementary to each other on offense. A.K. can run a great run -- run a great route, but if I miss it, oh, well. It goes that way for everybody, but I thought we complemented with each with good plays after good plays.
Q. (Inaudible)?
DEREK CARR: Yeah, I mean, I can't believe he almost had it. I really gave him a chance. And looking back at it, I was like I could have -- A.K. probably felt I could have got that one to him, too. Give him another one. But Juwan down the middle, that's a throw we've made in training camp and in practice and things like that, so I felt comfortable cutting it loose, and he still almost had it. But having him back, he made a big third-down catch for us on a little end break, five yards. That was a huge play for us to keep the chains going. It was great to have him back for sure.
Q. Just for confidence and momentum and all those things, is this one you need I a game like this?
DEREK CARR: I can help you with this one. Yes. I think yes. I think it was good because we have a lot of young players. We also have a lot of guys that have played a lot of football. And usually when you play a lot of football, you know how this thing goes. If you just keep working and everybody's doing the right thing, you'll end up having a day like that. But sometimes some guys that haven't experienced much of that and they're like, gosh, what's happening. And I thought today was a great example of just us continuing to work, us continuing to trust and come together, which we're still going to keep doing this week, keep coming together, keep trusting each other, keep just trying to do our job. It's that simple. But, yeah, I felt like we needed that because I thought we did a great job of end a week going like this so then the fruition of it, having points, having yards and all that, it feels good.
Q. One more for Derek.
DEREK CARR: Thank you. Always protecting.
Q. (Inaudible).
DEREK CARR: Oh, we've seen a lot of great things from A.T. in practice. I mean, he's an amazing receiver, an amazing talent. His scout team cornerback abilities are very poor, though. He holds the script in his hand, and sometimes he doesn't get that part right. But he's a rookie, so I gotta give him a hard time. But I think the world of A.T. I really do. I think he's a great player, and he has a chance to play in this league a long time.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports