HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN
(On whether Luke McCown's interception was a bad quarterback read) "No, he was waiting for the receiver to cross the defender's face. It was a full blitz. We had a poor route run in that situation. It's too bad, very much too bad."
(On what went into the kicker decision at the end) "We thought about it long and hard and obviously Matt Bryant was the guy we wanted to look at in that situation. It was very close. Todd France hit a long kick earlier in the game and we wanted to see Matt Bryant in that situation."
(On whether anything was learned about the kicker position from tonight's game) "I think we have two pretty good kickers. It's a competitive situation. Both guys seem to kick the ball off pretty well and outside the last desperation field goal, they have been able to make some pretty difficult kicks."
(On what he thought about Carnell "Cadillac" Williams) "Good. I thought he was OK, you know. We had an eight or nine-yard run called back with a holding penalty. He's going to be a guy that is there for us. I am excited about him. He is the least of my concerns."
(On Jacksonville coming out strong in the second half and whether that was disconcerting) "Yeah, it is. I think they had two long, well-sustained drives and they converted way too many third downs tonight in succession. (David) Garrard is a great, young prospect at quarterback. His mobility, much like Luke McCown's mobility, is a factor in these games. That ability to scramble and make something when nothing is there is certainly a great trait to have and Garrard hurt us tonight."
(On whether there were any good surprises in tonight's game) "There will be good surprises. There will always be a silver lining in a preseason game if you look at the film hard enough. (I am) very disappointed obviously in the penalties on two of our four first-half possessions. I thought we misfired on a couple throws at the end of the half, that should be slam dunk routine completions and that also hurt us in another scoring opportunity. When plays are there to be made, they have to be made. Our third-down defense was not good tonight and we had some penalties on special teams and two on offense by wide receivers for crying out loud that are inexcusable."
(On what he thought about the offensive line) "I don't know. I will say this, I really credit these guys. Most of these guys played the whole game. I am proud of the effort. I will look at the tape and see what we have. Jacksonville's front is formidable and well-known in this game. They are a challenge. They are a handful. But without (Derrick) Deese, and without (Jeb) Terry and (Matt) Stinchcomb and a couple of other guys, I tip my hat for these guys for sucking it up and playing hard. At the end of the day, that is what we want first with our offensive line, tough guys that are finishers and we will also take a couple big, strong Pro-Bowl stallions as well later."
WR MICHAEL CLAYTON
(On how the offense played) "We were able to do some things. We need to play better as an offense, but we were really satisfied with what we were able to do today."
(On whether there were any positives today outside the final score) "We have a lot of guys who have not really played in this offense a lot. That says a lot about the guys we have on this team and the pride that we have. You are not going to win every game, but you want to give it your best effort."
(On the other Bucs receivers) "We are very pleased. The young guys are coming on strong. The veterans like Ike Hilliard, Joey Galloway, and I help run the ship. I think it is something for the offense to rely on to make big plays this year. It's all positive right now and I don't see any decline from last year. Everyone is focused."
QB LUKE MCCOWN
(On the game) "Any chance you have to go in there and make some plays to try and give your team a chance to win; you have to go in there and look for good things to happen and I'm trying to make some good things happen."
(On the interception) "A miscommunication by myself and Chris Davis, the receiver. I thought we had an all-out blitz, and that he was going to go in there a little quicker; he may not have seen the blitz. It's a miscommunication and we can't have that between myself and him. That's on both of us and we have to fix that this week because when we're in there late and the game is on the line, we obviously can't have plays like that."
(On the pass called with five seconds left in the game) "Great call by Coach Gruden. We had an opportunity and that's all you can ask, just to give ourselves an opportunity to at least take it into overtime. We did that, but just came up a little short this week."
(More on the interception) "It was a costly mistake of miscommunication between myself and the receivers. We can't have that at the end of a game. We weren't on the same page with what we we're seeing in the secondary. I felt like it was an all-out blitz and he [Davis] didn't see it that way. It just comes with time."
WR PARIS WARREN
(On his thoughts on the touchdown play) "I just made the best of my opportunities. I was in on a lot of running plays, doing a lot of blocking and I finally got my chance. I had to make the best of it."
(On whether he thought he could score when he turned the corner) "I thought if I could keep my balance and beat the last guy that I could make it in and I did."
(On competition for the receiver position) "You definitely have to limit your mistakes and make sure you know what you are doing. For me, I think special teams is one way I can secure a spot, and I am doing everything I can to make sure that I am in the locker room this year."
DT/DE ELLIS WYMS
(On hitting QB Byron Leftwich) "I got a good hit on him. You have to keep pressure on the quarterback to get a sack so that he can't just jump back in the pocket."
(On playing tonight) "It feels good to play. You can never get enough of what you love to do."
C JOHN WADE
(On playing in preseason games) "Just work, sometimes you just have to work."
(On whether there is usually more preparation done for the second game) "There is, but everybody is different. I go until they say I'm done and I don't expect anything else. Until Coach sits you down, I don't expect anything else."
(On how the offense and Carnell "Cadillac" Williams are progressing) "Well, without seeing the tape. I have to be honest with you . . . he's a great back with all the right tools. I mean, it was his first game in action. I don't know, we'll just flip the film and see what holes were available to him or not. Obviously, I don't think it was that many. I mean, he didn't break out at all, but until I see the tape I can't give an accurate (account), but as far as him as a back, he's outstanding. You have to have holes to run through. We'll look at the tape and evaluate it and look at things we need to clean up and move on."
LB DERRICK BROOKS
(On his feelings about the game) "We didn't play perfect. We had a chance to go out and stand up after the sudden change. We responded by not giving up a touchdown. So that's a positive thing. We still have things to work on. We have some holes we have to plug up, but again, we did some things to build on."
(On the team's progress) "Again, the film will tell [if there was any progress]. We are still building. We aren't trying to put the roof the house until it's ready. We did some good things, laid some more bricks to build a house."
(On his near interception) "There are no excuses, I should have caught it. I hate that. I probably won't sleep all week. I don't drop interceptions. I dropped two in training camp, and I have to get that problem solved before next week."
QB BRIAN GRIESE
(On the game) "We didn't get as many points as we wanted to. We got the young kid (Cadillac Williams) some touches, which was good. I thought he ran the ball hard. As far as we are concerned, we need to put more points on the board."
(On Carnell 'Cadillac' Williams) "It's good to see him out there. I'm glad he got the chance to get the butterflies out and not only run the ball, but work a little bit in protection. It was a good day for him."
(On the offensive line) "They came out and played well. They gave me some time to throw the ball, which was good. They gave us some running lanes. I thought they did a good job."
DE SIMEON RICE
(On how it feels to be out there playing at home) "It feels fantastic. There's still a lot to do. You don't want to get overzealous. You have to understand it's going to be hard and I expect it to be hard. I'm right now trying to get my rhythm in terms of my play so I can come out of the gate fast and furious and ready to roll."
(On how the defense is looking) "Defensively, we are really bringing it together. We see Derrick [Brooks] come out and make some big plays when the heart and soul of the defense is doing it. And when you see our perennial players out here doing it, dominating, you know to expect big things this year. We're consistently getting better and stronger."
RB CARNELL "CADILLAC" WILLIAMS
(On how it felt to play for an extended period of time) "It felt wonderful to get out there and be in front of the home crowd, and we had that first lick."
(On if playing in the game was what he expected) "Being in the game is unbelievable. There are some big guys out there moving but I'm going to slowly get this thing. They look good out there, so I'm definitely getting on track."
(On how it felt coming out of the tunnel and being the last one announced) "I was just like, wow. The crowd was going wild. I was so pumped up and everything. It's an amazing feeling. It's something that I've always watched and then for me to actually come out, it was amazing."
**
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
HEAD COACH JACK DEL RIO
(On the game as a whole) "We had some mistakes early we had to overcome. Defensively, we were very stout. We moved the ball well against a stingy defense, but we had some special teams breakdowns early that kept us from having a more dominant game. Overall, we wanted to work on some things and I think progress was made. We didn't allow a sack on the night and we threw the ball early to challenge a very good pass defense. We came out of here with a win, but we have a lot to work on. The only injury I know of is Todd Yoder, who sprained his MCL, but we will know more tomorrow after the MRI."
(On offensive performance) "I thought the first offense played well tonight against a proud, veteran defense. However, we definitely had some problems. There were two turnovers and the punt that was inside the 20 that should have been inside the five, which both really changed field position. All in all, I was pleased with the work they put in."
(On QB Byron Leftwich starting) "We have a lot of work to do on the depth chart. We are getting different looks at different combinations of guys and we were converting third downs without allowing many third downs. We have a good, solid group and we will determine the starters closer to the season opener."
(On getting QB Byron Leftwich on the field more often) "We want him on the field. He is doing some good things, but there are some things he needs to learn. We like him and his enthusiasm. He plays with a lot of energy and I think that is contagious."
(On plans for FB Greg Jones) "He is a stud. The guy is a strong blocker. He is extremely physical and he is running the ball well in practice as well. When we drafted him, we envisioned a guy that can block, catch and run. He is stronger, quicker and his footwork is better. I really like the way he is working."
QB DAVID GARRARD
(On his touchdown) "They were playing pretty good defense and the lanes opened up for me. I was close enough to the end zone. I smelled it, took off, made a couple of moves and got in the end zone."
(On the first-team offense's lack of production) "It's the preseason and I don't think they should be judged too terribly. They will get it going and they will turn it up. Byron is a great leader and he will get them going."
(On the team's biggest improvement over last year) "The passing game is definitely going to be a big improvement. The ball will be thrown a little deeper, bringing a little more excitement to the field."
QB BYRON LEFTWICH
*(On the game) * "We tried to get some things going. We were able to get in some plays against a good defense. Preseason is a process. We did some things well. We would have liked to score more points this evening. We have to prepare for September 11 when it counts for real."