Everything Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said after loss to New Orleans Saints

Everything that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said after the Cowboys lost 44-19 to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Transcript courtesy of the Dallas Cowboys media relations staff:

On if he felt the offense was pressing during today’s game...

It was hard to say that we were pressing. You’re trying to play complimentary football and if your defense is struggling to stop a group, you want to do your part and score us downs and come back. We weren’t able to score touchdowns but were able to move the ball up and down the field. I can’t say that we were pressing necessarily. Going from last week to this week, there were some things that we wanted to get better at. We got better at third downs this week, but now it’s the red zone that I think we scored some touchdowns. It makes the defense feel a bit better, and it’s a while different feel within the game for both sides of the ball.

On the week-to-week nature of the league, in comparison from last week’s performance to this week...

It’s the NFL. I talk about it each and every week. No games are played on paper. As far as riding a high, I know that I wasn’t personally and I don’t think the guys in the locker room necessarily were. I talked about how much meat we left on the bone offensively. That’s simply why you can’t listen to other people’s opinions and then read what you guys write, respectively. You all may have put this team more on a high than what we should’ve been. Now, we just simply have to reset. We’ve got to respond. We’re not going undefeated, it hasn’t been done in 50 years. It’s about getting back to it and finding a way to respond, to put the best team on the field next week.

On his assessment on today’s run game...

I have to watch the tapes. The game kind of got out of hand a little bit there where we’re forced to just throw the ball. A lot of times when I hand off the ball, I carry my fakes, so I can’t tell you if it was the back, the line, or what it may be. After I watch the tape, I could give you a better assessment. When the score is that way, you can’t continue to run the ball. We had a drive there in the second half and that one drive came out. I know it ate up a lot of the clock. They get the ball back and the third quarter is ending. At that point, you realize we have to score fast if we want to come back into this thing.

On where they missed Jake Ferguson the most today...

Everywhere. I guess you can say that those young tight ends did a good job. Simply, they did a good job. As I’ve said throughout the week, Jake’s more than just a tight end on Sunday. He’s an aggressor. He brings a physical nature to this group. He’s got a mentality that other guys feed off of, that’s very contagious, but those other guys did play well. They did their job and stepped up. The made some plays, but (the game) just got away from us.

On his emotions when Zack Martin went out injured and came back into the game...

I’m not trying to think about all of that. When he goes down, wishing the best for him. But then when he gets right back in the huddle, you forget that he’s injured. With a guy like that, he’s a competitor and he’s going to do whatever he can do to get back on the field. Thankful that he was okay.

On his what happened during the play of his interception...

Great play by him (Saints’ Tyrann Mathieu). We’ve got another crossing route right there. He did a good job of covering yhat and playing through that at the same time running and making that play. So, credit to him. That’s on me. I can look CeeDee off more or get back to that first drive in the second window, that’s one of those.

On if he was surprised about the team’s defense after talking about how great the battles are during practices...

It’s surprising, but it’s the NFL. I’m thinking it’d be nice to be doing that on our side of the ball more than I’m worried or critiquing our defense. Obviously, that’s (the Saints) are a good team. Alvin Kamara has looked damn good. Derek Carr put the ball where he needed to. That offense is rolling right now. We’re two games in, but I’m not naïve of their stats of their nine straight. They walked into this game and continued on that. Credit to the play caller over there and to that teams of coming out and being ready on a noon start. It made it tough on our defense, which made it tough on the whole team. I’m trying to get there with our offense.

On his interest in seeing how the team reacts to this loss...

I’m confident. I know I can go in there and set the example of how we’re going to move forward, how we’re going to respond and how we’re going to approach this week. Understanding it’s a process. I already echo it in the locker room how we’re not going undefeated. Coach McCarthy said that at the end of the day, wipe that all behind. We’re going to learn from it. Can’t wipe it until we’ve learned from it. We build off it. That was a good team. They started fast, two weeks in a row. You have to give credit to them. Understand that this is the NFL once again. For these young guys, it’s a message to not necessarily listen to the outside noise or how good people are going to make you after one win. That’s one thing that I’ve grown to realize, especially in this organization when you’re playing on national TV every week. You are the Cowboys and the attention that we get is, if you lose, you’re down here. If we win, you’re way up there. None of that really matters. It’s about for us to trust the process, trusting one another, responding each and every day to get better. I know that we have the guys in there that can do that. The coaches and the staff put a lot into the emotional intelligence, I guess you can say. I’m excited to get back to work tomorrow and turn this page.

On assessing his play during the past two weeks...

My expectations are crazy high. So, I’m not going to give you a great, maybe a realistic answer. I’m seeing it well, putting the ball where I want to. That one interception is going to get at me, just because Tyrann made a hell of a play. Did a good job of playing through one route and getting to the other. Outside of that, there may be a few throws that I want to get back. But as far as seeing the defense getting to the beginning of the offense and what I want in the position and in the plays that we want to, I feel good about it and confident that we’re going to continue to get better as a team.

On if he saw improvement in the offense this week...

For sure. Talking about last week, just being able to convert more third downs and I know that we did that. We’re able to keep the ball. We had a lot more plays than we did last week and that’s a testament to that. But, we want to score touchdowns. Outside of the big one to CeeDee, we got in the red zone three times, I guess. Going 0-3 in the red zone, you’re not going to win games that way. Not against an offense that’s rolling like that. We have to find ways to get in the end zone.

On drawing comparison to Green Bay playoff loss last season...

I’m not comparing last year to this year. We’re talking two completely different teams, honestly. Talking whole different defensive coordinator. You’re talking new players in different positions, particularly on offense. You’ve got two young rookies playing. We missed Jake (Ferguson) today, who had three touchdowns in that game. So there’s no way to even go back and compare that. Maybe because we got beat, got away from us fast and we were here at home. But completely different and separate and I wouldn’t waste my time if I was y’all trying to compare those two.

On New Orleans’ defense...

I just didn’t convert in the red zone. I think is the biggest one. They didn’t throw anything else we weren’t ready for. They gave us some looks that we were prepared for. Maybe not quite brought the Blitz, bluffed out of a couple. We were still able to get some first downs. But then we got in the red zone. Short arm to throw to Zeke and hand gets free in my face. Misconnection with CeeDee (Lamb). Pulled the fourth down, probably could scramble trying to trust in the young tight end, wanted to use his body and put it away from him. That’s somebody I don’t have a lot of reps on. I put that one on me. As I said, probably could have gone into scramble mode. But just a few plays out there and as I said if we get in the end zone, I think we’re talking a different game and damn sure different feel to this game.

On lack of big plays...

That’s a good question. I don’t want to say you have to be perfect. Everybody’s got to do their job and trust their job and understand that’s where the big plays come from. Part of it for me, I think maybe it’s felt like I was at this point last year. It was a lot later in the year when I did it, but going back to using my feet more, whether it’s scrambling, extending the plays to look to throw the ball down the field or maybe just going and getting a couple yards and getting down. I wouldn’t say it’s about being perfect, but understanding that I do have that ability and that is a huge part of our offense. Got to bring it to life, I think.

On the mentality as the team returns to the Star and prep for Week 3...

I enjoy the process. I love the process. That’s why I love this game. I’ll hang with the family today, enjoy them, not take that for granted by any means. Fortunate. Get to be a long day of that. Got a little daughter and a family who doesn’t know I just lost. That helps. Then just being able to enjoy evening and then turn the page and early morning tomorrow, back in there getting a workout in. Getting the guys. Make sure everybody approaches the building with the right mindset. It’s fun. I truly enjoy that and look forward to it and making sure that I lead the right way and set the right example.

On conversations with CeeDee Lamb after missed connections...

Simply just trying to communicate. Maybe those misses, maybe what he saw, what he thought versus what I did and then, honestly, just finding a solution. Great communicator CeeDee (Lamb)is. As I’ve mentioned before his expectations and standard for our connection and this offense are just as high as mine. No matter what the route is, neither of us are happy unless it’s a perfect play. It’s just about being more clean. As I said we missed some time. Everybody knows that but we have to have those communications to substitute for the time missed.