Alvin Kamara spoke to his teammates after last week's loss because he didn't like where the mentality of the New Orleans Saints was headed.

The running back encouraged them to "get their swag back" and regain their pride after the 42-34 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Kamara said he has been on some of the best offenses in the league during his six seasons in New Orleans, and one common thread was the players' attitude and confidence. He wasn't seeing that in this team, which has given the ball away more than any team in the league and is one of the most penalized as well.

"Even when we were down, it was never like we were looking at the score," Kamara said of the Saints in past seasons. "It was like, 'Well, all right, s---, let's go play football.' ... We haven't really been playing like that. It's been ... just of a little bit of a panic, a little bit of a, 'Oh s---, we're down.' Like man, we don't play like that. I still don't have that kind of mentality."

Andy Dalton will be the starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints going forward, Dennis Allen says.

Jameis Winston participated fully in practice for the first time since Week 1, but the Saints will stick with Dalton due to his performance over the last four games.

"Andy's gonna get the start again this week [against the Las Vegas Raiders]," Allen said. "I feel like he's played well. Offensively, I feel like we're in a little bit of a rhythm. We've been moving the ball effectively, we've scored points. And so we're gonna continue down that road with Andy as the quarterback."

Dalton has completed 63.4% of his passes for 946 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 4 interceptions. When asked if the decision was based on performance, Allen called it "an offensive decision."

"And what I mean by that is in the last four weeks ... we're one of the top offenses in terms of moving the ball, we're one of the top offenses in terms of scoring points," Allen said. "And that's really the name of the game. So we're gonna continue doing what we've been doing. We've gotta do a better job of protecting the football. And if we do that, I think we can be highly effective offensively."

Alvin Kamara addressed the New Orleans Saints after their 42-34 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night.

Tre'Quan Smith said Kamara told players that everyone needed to hold themselves and their teammates accountable for the mistakes that have caused them to start the season 2-5.

"AK said, 'We've got to find our spot.' This losing mentality, that's not Saints football. We're not used to it," Smith said. "We've got to really police ourselves, hold our own selves accountable, hold our teammates accountable."

Smith said the Saints haven't been in this position after making the playoffs every season from 2017 to 2020 and just missing the postseason with a 9-8 record last year.

"It's a feeling we're not used to," Smith said.