HEAD COACH SEAN PAYTON (on QB-Drew Brees and him being a home run for the Saints after having shoulder surgery) * *
"I don't know if it weren't for the injury that we would have had an opportunity to sign him. When I got hired in January, we had the second pick in the draft, and the focus at that time is on free agency and certainly the draft. I think it was right after the combine that it became apparent that he was going to be available. There's obviously some risk with the injury that he had, and I think the decision on our part was really based on the person and based on what we felt like he was going to do to rehab the injury. He came in here on a visit, and then from here went to Miami. All of the things that we had hoped for obviously worked out for us, and for Drew. And he's someone that, probably a year ago at this time, heading into the first game of the season, wasn't at 100 percent still. But probably three weeks into training camp, we began taking him off a pitch count and he was working to full speed. He wasn't quite there yet, but to his credit, he has worked extremely hard at rehabbing the injury. One of the things that I think was important in our decision was really studying his history in high school. He played on a state championship high school team in Texas, and then when he came to Purdue with Joe Tiller, they had their success. I think it was three bowl games and a Big Ten championship, and then on to San Diego. And they were successful there. It's just kind of followed him, and I don't think that's by any accident. He's worked hard at it. Really, you could say the injury gave us an opportunity to sign the player, and we were fortunate."
HEAD COACH SEAN PAYTON (on it being like a fairy tale how it has worked out with QB-Drew Brees on the field and off)
"He's someone that endears himself to so many people. He does a great job in the community. He and his wife both are very active. He's the type of person that you would want playing quarterback for organization. So that, along with his play on the field, obviously is a plus for any organization."
HEAD COACH SEAN PAYTON (on WR-Anthony Gonzalez, TE-Dallas Clark and the versatility of the Colts offense)
"They cause problems obviously when you get into some of your one-back looks. When you take a player like Dallas Clark, and he can play in-line and then he can play in a flex position as a receiver, you have to make decisions philosophically how you want to defend those looks. And in Gonzalez' case, he's a guy that comes in, I know just from our evaluation, was very smart, detailed in what he did, with real good hands inside in traffic. What they've done, they being Indianapolis, has done a great job of is defining what they're looking for within their offensive scheme and then finding those players to fit that scheme. That's a credit to, obviously the success they've had, not just offensively; they've done the same thing on defense. But the variations of formations, you have to be able to adjust to, and if you're in base defense, you have to be able to adjust to those one-back sets where Dallas is lined up in different spots. And if you're in your nickel package, the same thing goes with Anthony."
HEAD COACH SEAN PAYTON (on with all of the Colts offensive weapons and protection, it's difficult to stop)
"I think it's a big challenge, and teams have struggled finding the right recipe. And I don't know that there is any perfect formula. I think tackling well and finding a way to put pressure on the passer and hurry up the clock in his head are all things that you hope to accomplish in a game, but it is a challenge. I think Peyton (Manning) does a great job in rhythm of releasing the football on time. He knows right where he wants to go with each defense, and does a real good job at the line of scrimmage getting them out of bad plays and putting them into the right play. So that's a challenge. It's a challenge working on it in regard to your scout team, and trying to simulate that up-tempo offense if you will. It's hard to duplicate."
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