To a man, the Saints leaders say they don't expect any locker room fracturing despite back-to-back painful losses and the worst start to a season in 17 years.
Another thing they can agree on: It's not a feeling they enjoy.
"This shit does not feel good," said DE Cam Jordan after a 20-10 defeat at the hands of scuffling Steelers. "To be honest, we have to find our way or this is going to be the result every game."
Over the course of 10 games, the Saints have found a way to lose seven of them. There hasn't been one specific culprit, but there's always at least one common thread. In this game everything struck: zero takeaways on defense, two turnovers, missed tackles, and 10 accepted penalties -- six of which gave the Steelers a free first down.
It's the type of start that Jordan has never experienced to this point in his career. It's not a feeling he wants to have. But it's Tyrann Mathieu who summed it up best.
"Yeah, I mean, we're just not a good football team right now," Mathieu said. "So, obviously, it's a lot of self reflecting, but we've got to put one together."
It's a bit of blunt honestly that has unfortunately become the reality for a team that never won fewer than seven games in a season throughout the Sean Payton era. This year's squad will have to win four of its final seven to be able to say that.
But do the issues run deeper than what can be corrected in a week of practice? Injuries have been an ever-present issue, including the absence of three starting offensive linemen by the end of Week 10 (Erik McCoy, Andrus Peat and James Hurst). The team expects to be without Michael Thomas the remainder of the season, and hasn't had Marshon Lattimore since he went out with an abdomen injury in Week 6. Marcus Maye has missed multiple weeks, including this past game with an abdomen issue of his own.
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First-round rookie Trevor Penning is expected back soon and could bolster that beleaguered OL group, and veteran WR Jarvis Landry finally got back on the field after five weeks missed due to an ankle injury. He made a few plays, but it was the ones he didn't make that stood out, with a flag for offensive pass interference and a ball that tipped off his hands for an interception in the second half. Landry thought he deserved a DPI flag of his own on that play, but no dice. It was just another drop in the bucket of a frustrating and uneven season.
"We've got a lot of key players out, but we also have guys who are highly capable of stepping up and having a next-man-up mentality," Landry said. "But, like I said, penalties and turnovers, it's hard to win."
Asked if he was surprised by his team's struggles, Landry kept it simple: "Yea."
His head coach Dennis Allen also kept the answer simple when he was asked if he had any concern about the locker room splintering: "No."
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That resolve will be tested in the coming weeks. The reigning, but struggling, Super Bowl champions come to town this week in the form of the L.A. Rams. It's a group that still features superstar Aaron Donald, a player that is virtually impossible to block even at the best of times.
Whether they actually believe it, this team will also continue to point to an NFC South race that still leaves hope should they straighten things out and get on a run of wins. Allen doesn't expect that belief to leave his locker room.
"When you get in situations like these, you have to fight your way out of it," Allen said. "There's no other way to get out of it other than fight your way out of it. This is where you gotta lean on the leadership of the group. And they got to pull us through."
Time will tell.
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