The New Orleans Saints are 1-8 and just suffered their worst loss of the season. The word is frustration and it's being felt on all sides.
So what's the message from head coach Kellen Moore to the fanbase as the team works to right the ship? Here's what he said on WWL Radio this week.
"We are right there with the same frustration," Moore told Bobby Hebert and Mike Hoss. "We all want the same things. We’re all going for the same – the goals and aspirations, and so while it’s frustrating, yes, you know, we have to look at it from a tangible viewpoint, younger guys getting better, younger guys growing."
Hear the full, exclusive interview with Saints head coach Kellen Moore in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
The reliance on young players has been a theme of this season, with several rookies thrust into starting roles due to injury. That's included safety Jonas Sanker and CB Quincy Riley, while LB Danny Stutsman has been getting worked in for reps at linebacker. RB Devin Neal has stepped in due to injury to Kendre Miller.
Then there have been a few active decisions, such as rookie Kelvin Banks Jr. starting at Day 1 at left tackle and as of Week 9 rookie Tyler Shough taking over as the starting QB.
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"Sometimes we’ve got to navigate a few things and go through some storms and I think teams that go through these storms together, there’s a lot of examples about this throughout the history of the NFL and professional sports and you come out of it a really resilient, tough team that has a ton of success on the back end of it," Moore continued. "It’s never fun to go through a storm, but we’re unfortunately going through one and so, we’re going to navigate this. We’re frustrated each and every moment until we finally taste that success and we’re going to get there.”
The team made two moves at the trade deadline, sending WR Rashid Shaheed to the Seahawks for 4th and 5th round selections in the upcoming draft, as well as former first-round pick Trevor Penning to the Chargers for a 2027 6th round selection. The first move should allow for increased reps and usage for WR Devaughn Vele, who was acquired in a trade with the Broncos prior to the season.
"We have some younger players that we feel like we’ll certainly have opportunities moving forward that we’re excited about," Moore told WWL, "and you know, for Shaheed he’s going to go out there and I’m sure he’s going to play really, really well for Seattle and continue the success that he’s carried.”
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The Saints will look to get things moving in the right direction over the second half of the season, with their first chance coming on the road in Week 10 when they face a surging Carolina Panthers squad. Catch all the action on WWL and Audacy.
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MORE FROM MOORE
What's the biggest point of frustration at this stage?
“We’re just not giving ourself the opportunity to win a couple of these games. It’s obviously frustrating. These guys put all they can into this thing each and every week. We know how challenging this thing is from a player’s perspective mentally and physically and we’re not playing enough winning football. This game, we can make it as complicated as we want it to be, the fundamentals show up so many times, we have to be a much more fundamentally sound team and give ourselves a chance and when you look at it from an offensive perspective, we’ve got to be able to run the football, we’ve got to be able to sustain drives and give ourselves opportunities there."
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On taking the ball first/needing faster starts
“We obviously took the football with the intent of we’ve got to feel what it feels like to have a lead in a game. We haven’t had enough of those. We’ve got to start faster. We’ve got to execute at a higher level. I’ve got to find a way to create those opportunities for our guys, because obviously we’re not there. We’re not getting it done at the beginning of the games and we’ve got to find a solution.”
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On Tyler Shough's debut
“I felt like there was a lot of solid in his first start as an NFL quarterback. Ultimately we collectively did not get it done. I felt like he didn’t allow the circumstance to dictate how he played in a positive manner, he stayed steady through the whole thing. I think one big thing you always look at for quarterbacks is, you know, how they handle the pocket, I thought his eyes were up. I thought he had a couple of really good examples of stepping up in the pocket to make plays downfield, which is a big part of playing quarterback in this league. You can’t run back behind these guys, these edge rushers are going to get you. Before the end of the half, I thought that drive was phenomenal, him stepping up in the pocket, he found [Chris Olave] and then he found Juwan for the touchdown and so there’s certainly things that he can keep stacking and I thought he managed it well.”