METAIRIE, La. -- The highlight of Drew Brees' press conference Wednesday came when the New Orleans Saints quarterback answered one question about a theory from the "panicked mob," then another reporter followed up by saying, "Can I ask another panicked mob question?"

"Sure," Brees said with a laugh. "Let's go. The sky is falling."

Brees was good-natured while answering those particular questions about whether his arm strength is diminished and whether the Saints' training camp practices at The Greenbrier resort made them too soft. (The short answers: No and no).

Brees said he understands why fans are looking for such big-picture answers after New Orleans' surprising 1-3 start. But he said the team can't -- and doesn't -- think that way.

Drew Brees said "areas where we can get better," but that the sky is not falling. Derick E. Hingle/USA TODAY Sports

"I would say that because of how important all this is to all of us as players, as a community, as a fan base, as much as the media is a part of our game now, that everybody always wants a reason. Something or someone to blame," Brees said. "And I think sometimes you waste your time searching for that stuff as opposed to just knowing that if you continue to do things the right way, good things will happen. …

"We're not trying to create problems here. Just because everybody wants to know, ‘What the heck's going on? What's wrong? Why are you 1-3? The sky is falling. Oh my gosh.' Hey, we're gonna keep doing what we do. Yes there are areas where we can get better, absolutely. But we're also gonna continue on the path that we started this offseason."

Brees was one of many players who exuded that confidence Wednesday that the Saints will be able to work their way out of this early-season funk -- starting with Sunday's home date with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Although players and coach Sean Payton have said that they can't just rely on their past success, it can still serve as inspiration.

They know they have the talent and track record to succeed if they work hard enough and execute properly.

Even newcomer Jairus Byrd pointed Wednesday to the different "vibe" in the Saints' locker room, where there is a noticeable winning culture. He said it wasn't always like that during his first five seasons with the Buffalo Bills.

Linebacker Curtis Lofton, who began his career with the Atlanta Falcons, agreed.

"I've been in systems where I knew going into the game that a lot of things were flawed and we didn't have a chance of succeeding. But it's been proven that this system works," Lofton said. "We're not doing anything different than we did last year. We've just go to go out and just play."

That doesn't mean nothing has changed, though.

Payton said earlier this week that the Saints are playing like a 1-3 team right now and they can't expect different results without making changes to the process. He backed that up Wednesday with some tweaks to the practice routine -- including a spirited offense vs. defense competition instead of the traditional work against scout teams.

Certainly some game-planning tweaks will follow, as well.

But no one believes a drastic overhaul is needed as much as a dedicated effort from each individual to improve their own level of play.

"I'll be honest with you, my approach is no different. It's no different now than it was nine years ago," Brees said. "When you step into the building, it's time to work. Prepare as hard as you can as well as you can. … The mindset of, ‘Every time we get the ball we're gonna score, and every time we step on the field we expect to score 40 points,' none of that stuff changes. … I have a routine. I know it works, I'm gonna keep doing it. I'm gonna stay aggressive."

As for that question about his arm strength, Brees was a little taken aback.

"Ummm, I really don't even know how to respond to it to be honest with you. I mean, I'm not sure what would lead anybody to believe that," said Brees, who has not completed or attempted as many deep balls as usual this year -- though he did just complete a gorgeous 46-yarder to Kenny Stills at Dallas, and he leads all full-time quarterbacks with a completion percentage of 71.4 percent.

Brees, 35, acknowledged that age will have an effect at some point -- mostly, he said, with recovery time. But he said, "I don't feel like there's anything I can't do now that I could do when I was 25 years old. So I really don't know how to answer the question."