Below is a selection of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quotes from today's earlier media availability. Full video of press conferences can be found on Buccaneers.com.

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

(On the decision to make Ryan Griffin the active backup quarterback on Sunday)

"Well, first of all, we're not mad at Fitz [Ryan Fitzpatrick] in any way, or anything like that. I've been thinking about it for a long time, since Jameis [Winston] came back the last time as a starter, and I just think that we'd love to get Ryan Griffin in a game if the situation called for it. I mean, the guy's been here for three years and he's worked his tail off. I've talked to you folks about this before: I think Ryan Griffin is a really good quarterback. He tears it up in practice every day, but he's never gotten a chance to prove it in a real game. After it was clear where our season was going to end up – Ryan Fitzpatrick did his job for us this year and is going to be a free agent, may or may not be back. That's not for today's topic. We'd just like to see Ryan Griffin get a chance to get in a game if the opportunity presents itself. He's been killing it in practice."

(On if Griffin has gotten even better during this season)

"Yep. He had a really good preseason, and then your third quarterback at the end of the preseason kind of goes on the shelf."

(On if being down a tight end is the reason the Bucs ran a lot of three wide receivers on Sunday)

"No, the main reason for that yesterday was, with the crowd noise and their pass rush, we were in seven-man protection or chipping our way out with seven guys a lot. Cam Brate probably chipped his way out 15 times yesterday. That was just something we were going to have to do against that pass rush with that crowd noise."

(On how good the Cowboys' pass rush was)

"They play extremely hard, I mean they're relentless. They just keep rolling those guys through; they all play very hard. And then probably the other thing that was better than I thought on tape was those two linebackers. Their speed, their run-and-hit of 55([Jaylon Smith) and 54 (Leighton Vander Esch) was even better than advertised. I think that front seven's pretty good and we've played three teams in a row that are playing pretty good with their front seven."

(On how Jameis Winston has improved in his four seasons)

"Well, yesterday was a good example of his [decision-making]. I think we had him for 13 checkdowns yesterday, 13 times. I'm sure that's the high for his career in a game. We knew we were going to have to do it, we knew they were going to play coverage the way they did and that's how they try to get you to play. And I thought Jameis stayed pretty patient throughout the game. He strayed a couple times, a couple of times that he could have stuck with his checkdowns and he went for the big one. But I thought for the most part he made good decisions, so I think he's improved there, definitely improved his accuracy, has improved protecting the football. We had the two [fumbles] yesterday. The one, that was a really good play by 94 (Randy Gregory) running all the way around the back. When you see how far that guy ran, I mean there's probably – Jameis isn't going to be suspecting that guy to come that far to get him. Then on the second one I think that was probably more the other guy (Bobo Wilson) than it was on Jameis. I think he's improved in that area and I think Jameis has improved across the board. Our team has to improve on winning close games."

(On how he felt about the Bucs' cornerback play on Sunday)

"Two of our three musts on defense in the game were to control their running game and limit their explosives and we really did both of those things. I think they rushed for 80 yards and 25 of those 80 were in the four-minute mode, which we've got to do better in four-minute. I thought Carlton Davis was pretty solid yesterday; maybe he had one play that wasn't very good. Grimer (Brent Grimes) didn't have his best day of his career. He didn't have his best day, got beat on that fade for the touchdown and missed a tackle there at the end. Brent hasn't been tested very much this year. Team's mostly stay away from him. But I've seen him play better than that."

(On if there is a connection between the quarterback turning the ball over and losing the game)

"There is – number one, turnovers. Whoever's fault turnovers are, that's the number-one factor in winning and losing. There's no question. Now, that game yesterday, those two turnovers led to 14 points. We also had two unbelievable opportunities that we didn't make. We dropped an interception that would have been a walk-in touchdown on the first series and the first drive of the second half, Carlton popped that ball out and we were laying on it on the 20-yard line and didn't get it. When there's big plays in the game like that you've got to be at least 50-50 and we were oh-for-four in those plays."

(On how Vita Vea played as a pass-rusher Sunday)

"Well, Vita's just improved across the board as he's really gotten into his groove of playing. I thought Vita was our most dominant defensive lineman yesterday. I thought he consistently got knock-back on the line of scrimmage. I just think he's gained confidence. I'd say the last five weeks, he's improved every week. He's kind of got things where he understands, he knows what to expect now. He's cutting it loose, he's not playing tentative, he's not on the ground as much. Most of his pass-rush comes with power, although he is quicker than he might be thought of for a guy his size. When he's got good rushers around him, like he does now, and he's singled up – most people are going to single the nose [tackle] and slide to the three[-technique tackle] – that's going to give him a consistent one-on-one. He had a good day yesterday pushing the pocket back. If we're playing with a lead more, that will show up more. When you're playing from behind, that's going to show up less."

(On handling preparations during the week of Christmas)

"Yeah, so it's weird when Christmas falls in the NFL schedule, but that's part of coaching, you're working on a lot of holidays. I guess I'd say that might be one of the good things about the way the NFL schedule is, that you're playing division teams now at the end of the year. It's not like you're starting from scratch. You have a pretty good idea about your opponent. We spent extra time last week working ahead a little bit so we could get some time off, but we'll be hitting Atlanta hard today and we'll be working about a half a day, give or take, tomorrow. There's a certain amount of work that has to get done and when it's done guys can get out of here, so they won't be dilly-dallying. We'll be getting done – that's me included."

-BUCCANEERS-