NEW ORLEANS -- Observed and heard in the locker room after the New Orleans Saints 41-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers:

Blunt assessments: There weren't many players left in the Saints' locker room after a long news conference by coach Sean Payton. The veteran leaders who did stay to face the fire all used the exact same word Payton used in his opening sentence: "Embarrassing."

Quarterback Drew Brees and offensive tackle Zach Strief also mentioned professionalism. When asked what he meant, Brees explained that the team obviously isn't doing a good enough job of handling the ebbs and flows.

"I think one of our problems is we don't appreciate how difficult it is to win in this league," Strief said. "I think guys on this team feel that you can show up, and it'll happen. And that's on us [veteran leaders] for not teaching that."

Effort to be scrutinized: Payton shot down the notion that the coaches may have "lost" the players, saying that wouldn't explain the ups and downs, including a big win last week at Pittsburgh. But he said it's fair to ask whether the team has relaxed too much after big wins.

"We're not that good [to do that]. That's painfully obvious," said Payton, who added that the players should be concerned about how coaches see them more than the other way around.

When asked if it's too late in the season to consider personnel changes, Payton said, "Absolutely not" and said the film will show who was putting forth the proper effort.

Lofton on shoving Newton: Curtis Lofton said he had no regrets about shoving Panthers quarterback Cam Newton to spark the end-zone brawl that spilled into the tunnel in the first quarter. Newton was taunting Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan at the time, and Lofton said, "I don't take kindly to that. I saw it as straight disrespectful. ... I'd do it 100 times out of 100."