Sean Payton Holed Up in His Room For Three Days Watching Netflix After Loss to Rams

This is the opposite of how he reacted after the Minneapolis Miracle.

Saints coach Sean Payton addressed the media on Wednesday for the first time since New Orleans lost to the Rams in the NFC championship thanks in part to the now-infamous non-call on Nickell Robey-Coleman and revealed how he tried to get over the loss. 

Coach Payton just like #Saints fans after the NFC Championship loss. Stayed in his room for 2-3 days, watched Netflix, and ate ice cream. @FOX8NOLA pic.twitter.com/aa5qwDL1EO

— Garland Gillen (@garlandgillen) January 30, 2019

“I would say, honestly, after the game, for two or three days, much like normal people I sat, probably didn’t come out of my room,” Payton said. “I ate Jeni’s ice cream and watched Netflix for three straight days. There’s certain vices your gravitate to. For me it’s probably sugar.”

If that’s how “normal people” react to adversity, Payton’s response when New Orleans lost to the Vikings on what became known as the “Minneapolis Miracle” was decidedly not normal. Payton said he spent the next two days gameplanning for the Eagles, as if he was getting his team ready for the NFC championship. 

“You get over the tough loss. Everyone has different ways to do it. We came back after that game, we met, we began a procedure of evaluations,” Payton told Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. “And look, on Wednesday and Thursday, we had the Philly cut-ups. I game-planned Philly like we were going to play them. Because I wasn’t ready to stop game-planning. So, like an imaginary ‘let’s pretend that didn't happen.’ It was just my way of dealing with it, I guess.”

The Netflix and ice cream strategy is healthier—at least mentally.