The Fallout: No sweeping changes, messaging monotony, Derek Carr likely to return

Let’s start with the giant elephant in the room: Nobody got fired after the Saints’ sixth consecutive loss. Nothing got burned down. The messaging was mostly similar to the previous losses in this miserable streak.

And we didn’t expect anything different. Not yet. Not while the team was still without starting quarterback Derek Carr in Sunday’s 26-8 loss at the Chargers. Nick and I discussed that at length in our postgame show Sunday night, then again during the members-only Overtime session afterward.

But this column is called “The Fallout,” so I figured I should start with the fact that there wasn’t any on Monday. Not yet.

Will that change if the streak reaches seven on Sunday against the team with the worst record in the NFL, the 1-7 Carolina Panthers? If Carr comes back and the Saints still can’t win? Perhaps.

As of now, though, here were some of the highlights from the Saints’ Monday-after messaging:

“Consistency and attention to detail.” Those were the two words Dennis Allen kept coming back to during his media session on Monday afternoon and his WWL radio show in the evening. And he said that’s on both the coaches and the players to fix.

“I think us as coaches, we gotta be more detail-oriented in terms of what we're teaching, how we're wanting guys to do things, holding guys accountable to doing those things, the little things the right way,” Allen said. “And then it's incumbent upon the players to focus in on those details and be able to execute those details. So I think it's a combination of things.”

Allen gave a similar response when asked if he liked hearing running back Alvin Kamara suggest the need for a players-only meeting.

“Obviously you want your players to be accountable to what we need to do to be able to win. I mean, I think this is not a player thing, it's not a coach thing. It's an ‘us’ thing,” Allen said. “And I think we all together have to do a better job.”

Allen correctly pointed out that the Saints did a lot of things better in Sunday’s game than they had been doing in the previous three weeks – namely running the ball (21 rushes for 117 yards) and stopping the run and tackling (the Chargers had 29 carries for 122 yards, but 49 of those came from QB Justin Herbert).

But the Saints were worse than ever when it came to sabotaging their own drives with offensive penalties. And they were just as bad as ever on defense when it came to allowing explosive plays, including a 60-yard touchdown pass and a 45-yard pass.

“We have to as an offense, as a defense, in the kicking game, we have to eliminate the negative plays,” Allen said. “Look, not every play is gonna be a home run. And you’re not gonna stuff every play on defense. But what we have to eliminate are the big, negative plays. We gotta eliminate the sacks, we gotta eliminate the negative runs, we gotta eliminate the penalties, we gotta eliminate the explosive plays on defense, we gotta eliminate the poor decisions in the kicking game. Because that’s really the thing that’s been holding us back.”

Linebacker Pete Werner agreed that the defense did show some positive things that “we didn’t necessarily see the past few weeks.” But when they allowed it to add up to 26 points nonetheless, he said, “That’s just not us.”

And Werner agreed with Kamara that a players-only meeting or something like it could be necessary.

“I think so, just because when you see these consecutive losses, it turns back to accountability,” Werner said. “Accountability with players and just personally within yourself. You gotta look at yourself in the mirror and you gotta figure it out, you gotta get it done, and we're not. So the coaches are gonna help with that (but) it's gonna be the players. The players at the end of the day are going out there and performing. So it's gonna start with us.

“We just gotta expand (on the positives), just keep attacking, staying together. And as long as we stay together, we’re gonna find our light at the end of the tunnel.”

Alright, we’ve now reached the “look yourself in the mirror” stage of this recap. So, as I said before, it’s still the same messaging that we’ve been hearing since September.

As for Allen’s job security specifically, he was asked following the game if the team’s first six-game losing streak since 2005 has made him feel a need to have more conversations with general manager Mickey Loomis or the front office.

“We have conversations every day. So I don’t feel any more sense of having to have these conversations,” Allen said. “Look, I think we all understand that it’s a results-oriented business and we need to play better football. I think we all understand that.”

Allen followed up Monday night on WWL by saying: "I don't think we look at things the same way that maybe people outside our building do. We're not focused on looking in the rear view mirror on what happened in the past. We're focused on, ‘What are the things we can control, what are the things we can change?’ And that starts this week with going to Carolina and getting a win."

‘OPTIMISTIC’ THAT CARR WILL RETURN

Allen said Carr had another good throwing session Monday that included about 50 throws. And “I would expect him to be back out at practice on Wednesday, and then we’ll go from there and see what his availability is for this week. But I’m optimistic about it, I think.”

Carr has now missed three games with his left oblique injury, but this week was always a hopeful target. And with the struggles of rookie Spencer Rattler in the role, it’s even more likely that the Saints will want to turn back to Carr as soon as possible.

As for other injury updates: rookie receiver Bub Means will miss some time after suffering a high ankle sprain, and it’s too early to put a timetable on the hamstring injuries for CB Marshon Lattimore and RB Kendre Miller. Allen believed that Lattimore aggravated the same injury from last week while Miller’s hamstring was the opposite leg from his training camp injury. Either way, more bad news – especially considering how well Miller was performing in his limited opportunities.

‘EXPLOSIVE’ PROBLEM

The Saints have now allowed seven plays of 45-plus yards in seven games this year – a problem that started way back in Week 2 and has practically been a weekly occurrence ever since. (A 65-yard pass at Dallas in Week 2, a 65-yard run and 61-yard pass against Philadelphia in Week 3, a 50-yard pass at Kansas City in Week 5, a 55-yard pass against Tampa Bay in Week 6.)

They’ve allowed 24 plays of 30-plus yards.

The two latest transgressions didn’t involve as much missed tackling as the others. Alontae Taylor was in good position on the 60-yard TD to receiver Ladd McConkey – and Allen said he thought it may result in an interception when the ball was in the air. But after some hand-fighting that bordered on a possible push-off, McConkey separated from Taylor to make the catch around the 35-yard line, then made safety Tyrann Mathieu miss en route to the end zone.

On the 45-yard catch to Josh Palmer later, he simply got behind rookie CB Kool-Aid McKinstry, who appeared to possibly expect some safety help on the play.

“I think that’s a young player not fully understanding how that coverage is being played,” Allen explained.

DEFENDING SHEPHERD

Defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd has been widely criticized for his unnecessary roughness penalty when he held onto Justin Herbert’s lower leg too long after a throw while trying to pull him to the ground. But both Allen and Werner defended Shepherd, insisting there was no malicious intent and that he was just trying to make a play without knowing if Herbert had released the ball yet or not.

“I went back and looked at that play again after seeing the comments, and I don't agree with them,” Allen said.

HAENER'S SELF REVIEW

Haener finished 9-of-17 passing for 122 yards with no touchdowns or turnovers after replacing Rattler in the third quarter Sunday. And he scrambled twice for 10 yards.

Haener showed some flashes but ultimately fizzled. He missed a deep attempt to receiver Chris Olave when he expected Olave to turn his route one direction and Olave expected the opposite.

“It went where I wanted it to. You know, time on task with Chris. He’s expecting the ball to be at one spot. I'm trying to throw the ball into the alley to the near hash. And he’s thinking middle of the field to the hash,” Haener said. “So at the end of the day it’s on me, Chris runs great routes, and I gotta be better at putting the ball where he’s expecting it to be.”

Haener said he felt like he did a good job of staying poised and controlling the game – and not trying to worry about big-picture concerns like how his 20 minutes of play would lead to the team’s long-term evaluation of him.

But Haener said he was obviously disappointed in the lack of results.

“When I come into a game, I want to cut it loose and I want my team to feel my energy and try to have an uptick in energy. And I felt like I tried to do that today,” Haener said. “In those situations you can’t just be a manager. You gotta go try and make some throws and try to create a spark and energy. And I missed a few. And I’ll continue to look at that and try to be better.”

ESB OVER MVS

Allen said one of the reasons that newly-signed receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling wasn’t activated yet in his first week with the team was because veteran practice squad receiver Equanimeous St. Brown had earned the opportunity to be elevated for another game.

“We felt really good about EQ. He's been a part of the program, and I thought he went in and played well – in particular in what he did in the run game in terms of his blocking, his effort,” Allen said.

Both should get a chance to play in the wake of Means’ injury.

WORTH REPEATING

Allen was asked by WWL analyst Bobby Hebert about the lack of “great” young players on the roster in line with the level of aging players like Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis and others. He didn’t sugarcoat his response.

DA on elite young players on WWL radio: "I think we have some good young players. I don't know that we have any great young players, or at least we're not in that position at least yet. I think we still got some young guys that are developing that we hope can continue to get…— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) October 29, 2024

Allen on Rattler after his three-game sample size: “A young, developmental quarterback that I'm encouraged and excited about, but not quite there yet. You know, he needs a little more time in the oven, you know what I mean? A little more time to grow a little more, time to develop. And that'll come. And I would say the same about Jake Haener. Him coming in, he's done some good things, he's worked extremely hard. I thought there were some things that I was encouraged about, and yet it hadn't been quite what we needed it to be to be able to win some games there.”

Guard Cesar Ruiz on whether the team can keep up the energy we saw throughout last week at practice and at the start of the game before the wheels came back off again: “You gotta come in and keep that energy regardless. That can’t just be because of your circumstances, that’s gotta be who you are. And I’m gonna continue to be energetic and bring the energy every week because that’s who I am. And I know it can be hard in these types of situations, in these times. But it’s important (to realize) that things aren’t good right now, but it’s not Week 17. We’ve got more games to play.”