New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has defended left tackle Charles Brown after his performance against the St Louis Rams on Sunday.
Brown was taken off in the third quarter of the Saints' eventual 27-16 defeat having been dominated by Rams pass-rusher Robert Quinn for much of the game.
However, despite making the decision to withdraw Brown, Payton believes that it would be harsh to single out one player from what he felt was a poor team performance.
"In fairness to him, I think there were a lot of other things we didn't do well in that game. We didn't particularly run the ball efficiently. Defensively we really struggled, giving up some big plays. You know, you had the one pass [that] goes up the sidelines with eight guys watching. You have a couple long runs, missed tackles," Payton told reporters.
"The kicking game, we can't kick a field goal. You know, we have one blocked, which was a low trajectory kick. The other one we just shanked to the left. We get an onside kick against us. We're alert all week for that possibility.
"So it's hard to just say or pick out one specific player. Obviously when you're at left tackle, it becomes more glaring. But we'll put a lot of thought into the best approach this week as we get ready to play Carolina."
Payton also revealed that he was thinking of making changes for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers, which could see the Saints clinch the number two seed in the NFC.
Barney Corkhill
