METAIRIE, La. -- New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough said Wednesday that he shares the same frustrations of owner Gayle Benson, who a day earlier called the team's 1-4 start "unacceptable."
"She wasn't saying anything that wasn't already known, and she did a really good job of highlighting the expectations, and we have those same expectations for ourselves," he said.
Benson, in a rare public criticism of her team, told the Greater New Orleans Quarterback Club that she won't make excuses for the Saints' play or "accept this level of performance as our standard."
Shough said members of the team saw what Benson said -- "I mean, you obviously see it. It's all over social media" -- but noted the comments won't change their daily process.
"We can't let it regardless, because we win a game and you're the greatest people ever, and you lose some games and it's the worst thing ever," Shough said. "So I've said it before: We're going to have a really good chance to go on a run here. I think it starts with controlling what we can and all of a sudden the narrative changes, or not and we continue to slip and we've got to find a way to control that."
Benson cited shared blame between Saints coach Kellen Moore and general manager Mickey Loomis for the team's struggles.
Moore said Wednesday that he had not met with Benson to discuss what she said. When asked if he took her comments as a declaration that the team needs to show better results soon, he added: "I just think it's where we're at."
"We're 1-4," he said. "We missed a few opportunities right there. ... We all want the same thing. And so we're all shooting for that. We all got the same objectives and we just got to get better moving forward.
"We got great guys in this building that are doing everything they can to find the formula, and all we can control is moving forward as far as playing better, coaching better, giving ourselves the opportunities moving forward. And so I think our guys have the right mindset against the NFL. There's ups and there's downs, and it's about navigating those and getting better moving forward."
The Saints visit the New York Giants (3-1-1) on Sunday.