BRIAN HOYER’S POST PRACTICE TRANSCRIPT ON SAINTS, STEELERS and JOSH GORDON

On the complexities of Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan’s defense:

“You just never know what you’re going to get. I know that Rob takes pride in game planning offenses up so we’ll prepare for what we see but we know that we’re going to get something that we haven’t seen yet. That’s where it comes to making sideline adjustments and seeing how he’s trying to play us.”

On telling any crazy Ryan stories in the past:

“No I didn’t get into any of those. I know a few of our guys here have a few though.”

On his confidence in rookie RBs Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell:

“We talked about it the other day that those guys did a good job filling in. Obviously we want (RB) Ben (Tate) to get as healthy as he can and get back but this league is all about the next man stepping up and in this case there’s two guys and I think that those guys showed that they can run the football in this league. I’m not sure exactly how Rob will try to attack us but I’m sure that those two (have) proven that on tape will have something to do with it.”

On him paying attention to the NFLPA voting on the new drug policy:

“I’m not. I think whatever happens, happens when they get a decision, and we’ll get to deal with it after that.”

On whether he’s been in touch with WR Josh Gordon:

“We’ve texted, but like I’ve said, I’m here to support him and keep those conversations between (him and me). We’ll see what happens.”

On if the Pittsburgh game helped him to feeling back to his old self prior to his knee injury last season:

“I think that it was good to go out and play a whole game and then try to get in a rhythm. Obviously we did that in the second half and we talked about that the other day, we just have to do better in the first half, covert on those third downs. It was a tale of two halves had we converted on a few third downs maybe it would’ve been a different story.”

On whether he was rusty in the first half of the game at Pittsburgh:

“No, I don’t think so. I just think that we were not executing.”

On whether he realizes that he sometimes speeds himself up in the pocket:

“Yeah, the one (play) that I’m thinking of off top-of-head is the third down when we were close to field goal range where it’s one of those where I felt that if I didn’t get it to him quick so I did speed things up a little bit. But I think that I did a good job for the most part of getting through my progressions and moving in the pocket with the time that was allowed.”

On how his knee responded to the first game:

“I swear that’s the best thing that feels (good) on my body right now. You get the usual bumps and bruises of just being hit, but my knee feels great.”

On the possible scenario of going into the home opener without TE Jordan Cameron, WR Josh Gordon and RB Ben Tate:

“I think that this game is unpredictable and you never know what the circumstances are going to be. Obviously those guys are key components to our offense. Like I said before, the next guys got to be ready to step up and I think that our guys are capable of doing it. I have a lot of confidence in everybody on offense and defense for that matter too.”

On if one of his strengths as a QB is identifying changes in the opposition’s defense:

“I think for me it’s always been a big thing for me to study the opponent coming up and I try to get every advantage that I can but when you’re playing someone who you’re not quite sure what you’re going to get and there are going to be some things thrown at you that you really didn’t prepare for. You just have to have to make those adjustments on the fly. I think that the best offenses (and) quarterbacks, they can do that. They can go to the sidelines and say ‘they’re trying to do this. Let’s change it up, add a new play or adjust something.’ You have to be able to be flexible and kind of go on the fly.”

On the team’s sense of urgency going into Sunday’s game:

“Our sense of urgency is very high. Obviously, coming off of a heartbreaking loss where we battled our hearts out in the second half and came within a few plays so we know how much this means and our goal this week is to be 1-1.”

On working extra this week with the rookie RBs on timing and handoffs:

“Not really. That’s something we do on a daily basis with ball-handling and I don’t think that I have a problem with either of those guys in that facet.”

On his mindset of trying to go toe-to-toe with New Orleans Saints’ QB Drew Brees:

“I think that you always have the same mentality. You always want to go out there with the idea that you want to score touchdowns, or if you can’t score a touchdown you want to get a field goal. I think that doesn’t really drive me. I think I have confidence in our defense and for me talking about Drew (Brees) he’s one of the quarterbacks that I have to watch because he is one of the elite guys and he does a lot of things really well. I’m an admirer of his and I don’t think that’s something that goes in my mind like ‘Oh, it’s going to be a shoot-out. We better score a bunch of points.’ Obviously they have a very good offense that’s well documented. But I think, as an offense, we worry about ourselves and just go out there and try and execute just like we always would.”

On the importance to play the second game at home after a tough road loss:

“It’s great to get back in front of our fans and that place will be rocking. To build off that momentum we had in the second half and really try to come out hot out of the gates and go from there. It will be fun for us to get back and play in front of our home crowd.”

On what the second half of the Pittsburgh game did for his relationship with Browns offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan:

“I think it’s exactly…we were right where we were. We have a good feel for each other. I met with him the other day, and we’re on the right track. We’re getting this thing down together, and I think that’s where we’re at.”

On if he and Shanahan we’re feeling each other’s styles out during the Pittsburgh game:

“No, I don’t think there’s time to even think about that. There’s so much other stuff that’s involved that it’s not something that I think about.”

On the other stuff going on during a game:

“I’m worried about what Pittsburgh’s doing. I’m worried about what the play call is. I’m not really worried about how things are…we had four preseason games. I know how he’s calling the plays, and we know the plan. There’s not much that goes into that.”

On if he ever thought that he would be taken out during the game:

“No, not at all. I think, for me, it was just go out and execute. Like I said to the guys the other day going in at halftime, as bad as it felt, when we watched the film it wasn’t…it was just little things. I think we needed to focus at one play at a time, and myself included. Sometimes, you worry about so much stuff you can lose focus of just that play at hand. I think that’s what we did in the second half is we just focused one play at a time. Obviously, they were hitting pretty quick. You don’t have time much to think about anything else, but that didn’t cross my mind.

On who his favorite quarterback are:

“Obviously, I think you guys know who I would chose No. 1, but after (Patriots QB) Tom (Brady) I really like watching (Saints QB Drew) Brees. I like watching (Packers QB Aaron) Rodgers. Actually just watching the film this week, Atlanta, you watch (Falcons QB) Matt Ryan. He’s a good guy to watch. Obviously, (Broncos QB) Peyton’s (Manning) up there. As a quarterback who is always trying to get better, you look around the league, and you try to watch other guys and see what they’re doing well and see how it helps them play in their respective games. Like I talked about watching Drew, he’s a guy who’s great in the pocket, and he has great footwork. That’s something that we kind of watch as a group to look and see how other guys do it and try to get better in that area.”