HC Dennis Allen: No 'magic pill' to fix 2-5 Saints

First-year New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen spoke with reporters Friday coming off the 42-34 "Thursday Night Football" loss to the Arizona Cardinals that dropped his club to 2-5 on the season and made it clear can't flip a figurative switch to turn things around this fall. 

"There's not this magic pill, this magic formula," Allen explained, according to John DeShazier of the Saints' website. "I think we all live in the microwave society and we want to see things change right away. We're working as hard as we can to get it fixed, but yet, I think the process is, you've got to continue to work on it, continue to work it, continue to work on it. And as you do, the results may not be immediate but eventually, they'll come.

"Most of what I saw was in space (with missed tackles). I thought there was a little bit of leaky yardage at times in condensed areas, and I think that's something that hasn't been a problem for us in the past, but that's something that we've got to improve."

Jacob Camenker of Sporting News noted that New Orleans starting quarterback Jameis Winston hasn't played since Week 3 due to back and ankle injuries. On Thursday, backup Andy Dalton threw three interceptions, two of which were taken to the house for touchdowns. It's widely expected that Winston will get the nod when the Saints host the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 30. 

This isn't to say Winston was playing at an elite level before his setbacks. Across his three games, the 28-year-old connected on 73-of-115 passes (63.5%) for 858 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions. ESPN stats show his 33.3 total QBR on the campaign would have him 30th among eligible quarterbacks for that category.