Jake Delhomme Quotations

We still want to control the clock. Hopefully we're a smarter team now.

When we came in here a couple of games ago, basically I lost the game for us. It was basically the opposite of today.

When we came here a couple of months ago, I lost that game for us. I threw two picks in the first three series and it was 10-0. When you play from behind, it's different than when you play with the lead.

When we came a couple months ago, basically I lost the game. It was nice to come back and get on top this time. They're a good defense, but we stepped up to the challenge.

Wow! I don't know who he is, but my God. We have racehorses back home ... maybe I can order a muzzle.

We want to run the ball, ... I think that is our blueprint for success. And we do that pretty well.

We're 10-5, and nothing has been clinched yet, but we still control our own destiny. If we had to say, 'We hope this team loses and we win,' that would be hard. But we don't have to worry about that. If we can win on Sunday, then we can worry about who we play and where in the playoffs.

When you can hand the ball off as a quarterback, you have so much of a better chance to win.

Let me tell you, when I'm under center do you think I care about the No. 17 on my chest? It doesn't mean a thing. I was No. 11 in high school, No. 12 in college, No. 9 with the Saints (earlier in his NFL career). I mean, it's just a number.

Oh, yeah, we heard him. I've got horses back in Louisiana and I wish I would have had one of those horse muzzles to put on him.

Numbers might look pretty, but at the end of the day it's all about what happens on the scoreboard.

Peyton would tell you that, too. Eli is a big, good-looking kid who can throw the ball well. The thing that separates Peyton is his work ethic and how he prepares himself. Eli went to Ole Miss and did pretty darn well without the best cast around him. I think he'll do just fine. He's just a very good athlete who can throw the ball extremely well.

I was praying for our defense to get the stop,

If we can win on Sunday, then we can worry about who we play and where in the playoffs.

I am here to play football, I am here to have fun, ... I don't take advantage because I was put on a good football team.

Certainly, I would like to get him the ball more, but if you force the issue then it doesn't do any good,

Basically, I lost that game with the two picks. It's nice to come back and get back on top.

Basically, I lost that game for us. I threw two picks on the first three series and it was 10-0. It was the opposite of today. When you play from behind, it's different than playing with a lead.

I'm a little more reserved than (Smith) off the field. On the field, I get pretty animated. But he's a -- I don't want to say brash -- but a confident person, and he'll tell you if he doesn't like (something). And he means it.

I'm all for it. Whoever we can get in there. But if it's still Stephen Davis or Steve Smith, that's fine with us, as long as we have one more point than the other team.

I feel great. I felt fine on Monday, actually. I was fine after the game. I remembered every play. I had an appetite. No headache. It was just a good hit.

I can't say I'm surprised, ... (Stefan) made some plays. Late in preseason games, if you're in his situation, that's what you have to do. That's all I ever played in for my first six or seven years in the League, and you've got to take advantage of it. You've got to run around and make some plays and that's what he did.

I don't think anyone was as down and disappointed as I was,

If what we're doing can make them happy, we better do all we can. We're playing a game. They're fighting for their lives.

He had the option of running a hitch or a takeoff (route). By the time I planted to see if he was going to run the hitch, he just ran by the cornerback.

He has a knack. Anybody who catches over 300 passes in college has a knack for finding the right spot.

He is a Pro Bowl receiver. I think what he has done this year kind of really shows what this team's about. We've asked him to block like a tight end this year and he couldn't care less as long as we're doing whatever it takes to win.

He has so much power, he keeps on moving and grinding those legs. It was beautiful to watch. He just kept on going.

He (Favre) was awesome, I was just honored to be on the same field as him.

To come across the country on a short week to win and fight back the way we did, ... it was pretty nice.

He's a very -- I don't want to say brash -- but a confident person.

He's gonna be very good. I've always known that. He's just in his second year and when things start going bad for you, sometimes it just continues to go that way.

He's a special player. We say that every week.

Hopefully, we can have a good drive, maybe get some points, a touchdown instead of a field goal,

He's playing great right now, ... He's doing some good things, but I guess it gets a little overshadowed by our 1-2 start. I know it bothers him that we're 1-2. He's not one to be satisfied just because he's playing well. He knows he can get better and he wants to get better, and he works at it. That's what I love so much about him. He's a competitor.

He didn't quit on the play. I think that just kind of sums up our team.

Just talking to some of those guys, you could almost kind of see hurt in their eyes because it's been a long, long year for them. We have no idea what they've had to go through.

I thought because we had never run it out of that formation at all -- I just thought it was the perfect call.

I was encouraged, very encouraged -- we'll leave it at that.

I thought that could have been a jump-start for us to get something going, but we just didn't. We didn't do anything else after that.

I think we had a good, productive camp. You think about it, wow, it went by fast. But it was tough, and I mean tough going against the defense every day.

It happened. They did a great job that game. Certainly, we spotted them 10 points early on largely in part to a couple of important decisions by me. Certainly, we had to play catch-up from then on. And when you have to throw the football and the defensive line can just pin their ears back and go, it's not a fun day sometimes.

I was just praying for our defense to get a stop, ... He was awesome tonight. I'm just honored to be on the same field with him.

Last week, we were 9-4, but you could have swore we were 4-9. That's the mindset our players took and our coaches, too. We didn't play well last week and we wanted to come back and answer.

I saw No. 27 on him. I hadn't seen it all day because there's not many times you get one-on-one.

I saw (Thompson) was covering him -- when I saw that I gave him a signal that I wanted to go there. Steve put on the burners and took off.

I saw 27 was covering him. I hadn't seen that all game long. So I gave him a little signal.

Rod is starting to play a little bit more; it's nice to get anyone involved.

Steve has the option of doing a hitch or a takeoff. The safety came down and Steve ran right by the cornerback. I threw it up and Steve did the rest. He's a special player and he showed up again today.

Stephen has unbelievable vision. That's why the lineman love to block for him. If he sees it, he hits it. There's no hesitation. He hits it and goes. Look what he did a couple of years ago. If we can get him back, he makes us a better football team.

Look at Washington: They were so dominant two weeks ago and then they struggled last week. You have to be ready every week. Hopefully, we can be one of the better teams in the N.F.L. But that's easier said than done. If we continue working the way we are and trying to play smart football, hopefully we can be one of those teams. But there's still a lot of season left to be played.

I still remember how, before that game, you could see the haze in the sky from the smoke. It was weird ... I remember getting under center and we sent 'Moose' (Muhammad) in motion that first play of the game, and the field was bouncing. I guess it was the trays (that hold the turf) or something. That's when you knew it was just a game. And it just seemed like it was over in a blink of an eye.

It doesn't get any lower than this. There was no doubt we were going to kick the field goal and win the game. You don't want to have to look your other players in the eyes, because you let them down.

I think this team was confident going into week one. We're a team that is confident, but not a cocky football team. We work hard and we believe that we'll go out and play well on Sundays. It's starting to carry over now, so hopefully we'll keep it up.

That was a great play. I had Nick Goings for a touchdown. When I threw it I thought touchdown all the way.

We just believe we can get it done some kind of way,

You just want to come back and play well for your team.

You just have to believe. You just have to concentrate on your job.

We couldn't get much going and some turnovers early killed us.

We had opportunities. It is frustrating. We only put up 20 points and that wasn't good enough today.

Yeah, we think we have a chance to do some good things but if you ask 31 other quarterbacks around the league today, I bet they feel the exact same way as I do. They feel like their team will do something special this year. That's part of it. That's part of our game. Pretty much, we're all starting on an even playing field.

You know, we practice with it (noise). We practiced it out there today (Wednesday). I scream at the top of my lungs so that they can hear the snap count in practice. We work at it, but I think the biggest thing is just concentration.

We needed to come in and get a win and we did that. We answered the bell.

We answered. That's the biggest thing we did today, was answer every time we really needed to.

We answered. That's the biggest thing we did. Every time they got close, we answered. That was huge.

When you spot a team like that 10 points out of the chute, it's going to be a tough hole to dig out of. A couple bad plays early on and they really got after us. We had to throw the ball a lot in the second half and they teed off on us. Offensively, it wasn't one of our best performances. We need to try to learn from that film and learn from what they have done since.

We did some good things, ... I'm disappointed that we settled for three field goals, but it was great to end the half the way we did. To score seven points was huge after the Browns touchdown.

We came in Monday and watched the film, and now we have to move on. The positive thing is that we don't have to scoreboard watch if we take care of our business.

We owed the Saints twofold. They kept us out of the playoffs in last year's final game, so the payback was doubly sweet. If a certain two of our cheerleaders can double their pleasure, why can't we?

We run the ball pretty effectively. When we've had opportunities to throw it, we're getting one-on-one opportunities and we have a guy that we think is pretty special with the ball in his hands.

You ask any defensive coordinator and they will tell you they believe a quarterback will get antsy and want to go down the field. It's tough but it's the biggest thing with this job -- take what they give you.

Tonight and tomorrow are going to be tough, but we've got to move on. We've got 15 more games and they come quick, real quick. We can't sit here and sulk because we've got a good football team coming in here next week.

There is something about guys that either don't get drafted or get drafted late and have success. You really kind of pull for those guys. We were lucky enough to get chances. Kurt Warner is the same way. Marc Bulger and that guy from New England (Tom Brady).

We had to come into the NFL almost through the back door.

This team has been here before. Guys want to make plays. Guys don't have big eyes in the huddle.

We go on the road, it's just us. You have to believe. It's going to be loud, but we concentrate on our job. Coach (John) Fox does a good job with that.

You have to give them credit. That's a good football team. They were the best team in the NFC all year and they played better than us today. That's for sure. They dominated the day today.

We moved at that fast pace in camp. We got a lot of things done. It wasn't like that first year when you're putting in a new system, where it was like, 'This goes in today.' You will have some mess-ups along the way, but overall it gives you the chance to, I guess, dive deeper into the offense. And it's quicker. That's what makes it fun as a player.

When I talked to you guys after the game on Sunday, it was just one of those things where, if you've ever played a team sport, you're down, ... Certainly, I was extremely down. But things get put into perspective. When I get home, I have a little girl and get to spend time with her. It doesn't take away the pain, especially when you watch it on film. But that's the NFL. I don't mean to make light of it but I'll probably throw another one before my career is up. That's just part of it. It's going to happen. I've slept well the last couple of nights. You have to move on. I try to put things behind me. I'm not saying it's not a scar or anything, but you have to learn and move on.

We feel we're a solid team. But going out and doing it is another. We have a good team on paper, but if you can't play between those lines on Sunday it does you no good.

We expected to move at a fast pace, and that's how coach Fox likes to practice. That's what's fun. ... You will have some mess-ups along the line, but you can move at a faster pace, and dive deeper into the offense quicker. And that's what makes it fun as a player.

We expected to move at a fast pace, and that's how coach Fox likes to practice,

We didn't make enough plays. We knew it would come down to the wire. It came down to the last seconds, and we didn't make enough plays. That is what's frustrating. We were close, but close doesn't get you anything in this league.

I've been following him since he was at Southern Miss,

I've been a supporter of Boys & Girls Clubs for years and it's a cause near and dear to my heart.

You see these places (on TV), and it just hits you right in the heart, ... You try to do what you can money-wise or clothes-wise to help in any way. We just play a game. For these people, it's their life.

The way that you get people not to roll with Steve is you run the football effectively.

This division is going to go down right down to the wire because (a lot of teams) still have to play each other. We just need to worry about ourselves right now, not anybody else. That's kind of nice.

They tried to take Steve Smith out of the game, which they did a bit, but that opened up things for other people,

Amazing, isn't it? We're 10-5 and nothing's really happened yet.

It's just total focus, a business trip. I mean, if we lay an egg on Sunday, we have six months to do whatever we want to do. This doesn't happen often; to get in the playoffs is hard. You better cherish it and you better take advantage of it.

It was by far, ... the biggest game of my life and my career.

I tried to get the ball out of my hands quick today.

It sucks, ... Sports-wise, nothing worse than that. You can't put it into words. As a player, you don't want to look your other teammates in the eye because you let them down. There ain't nothing worse than that.

Football can bring you the highest highs and the lower lows, and it doesn't get any lower than this. We had a good drive going, there was no doubt that we were going to kick the field goal and win the game. I made a bad throw, and the guy picked it off.

It's been a long journey. It's been fun. Never did I ever dream when I signed here that we were going to go to the Super Bowl our first year and the NFC Championship game two of my first three years.

That's part of being the local guy, ... If you are the local guy in Louisiana, I know those fans, they love their local guy.

The biggest thing was just (get) our defense to stop them,

It wasn't a revenge game or a get-back game, because that was a long time ago, ... This was just a big win for us.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about that game. And not a day goes by that I don't want to get back there again.