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

Defensive Coordinator Mark Duffner

Defensive End Jason Pierre-Paul

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

(On the injury status of wide receiver DeSean Jackson)

"He got stepped on in the game. We've just got to see how it goes this week."

(On if any tests were done on Jackson)

"Yeah, they followed up with all the stuff. They do that with everybody. No matter how minor it might seem, they're checking on all of it."

(On defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul battling through injuries)

"I'd say he set the tone for our team. He set the bar extremely hard for everybody else. All the guys that have played significant time are hurting this time of year. They've got different aches and pains. JPP probably has four different things that could keep him out on their own. He's set the bar very high for everybody else."

(On if he knows wide receiver Mike Evans is close to breaking the single-season franchise receiving record)

"I do know that, yes, I do know that. Nelson [Luis] and his staff put out different stuff every week, so yeah I am aware of it."

(On if he thinks Evans will be able to break the record)

"It depends on what it is and how away it is. I think there's decent chance we can get this one."

(On what he sees from the Falcons)

"It's well-documented even way back when we played them the first time, they got hit pretty hard on defense with injuries. They lost two really good players at safety. Lost their middle linebacker and they've had a lot of other guys in and out of the lineup. Losing Freeman, their running back. Running back on offense, they've had some shake-up in their offense line and then kind of the middle of the back end of their defense. They played a lot of guys this year and they've kind of got it righted right now. They're coming off two wins back-to-back. They went up there and got beat at Green Bay a couple weeks ago, then coming off two wins. The one thing that's remained pretty constant though is their passing game. Their passing game with Matt [Ryan], that wide receiver group and then the tight end [Austin] Hooper has had a good season for them. [Tevin] Coleman as a runner has done a good job for them. They play a lot of guys on defense – partly due to injuries and partly due because they sub a lot of guys depending if they're in base defense or nickel defense. They've still got speed pass rushers. [Deion] Jones back now in the middle I think has really solidified their defense here the last few weeks. I think this is his fourth game back."

(On if he thinks about what would've happened with the defense if he would've made the change at defensive coordinator sooner)

"No. I don't."

(On if he doesn't think about that because there's nothing he can do about it)

"If you had it that way, then every time we had a bad game, we'd be firing somebody. I don't think that's the answer. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. It's easy to second guess that and we'd be second-guessing every decision. That's just not how I look at it. You guys can do whatever you want, but that's not how I look at it."

(On the main focus being the team and giving the players the best game plan for Atlanta)

"Yeah, absolutely. I have talked to the staff about it. I've also talked to the players about it. This is pro football. We're all paid to be doing a job and we're all paid well to do our job. There shouldn't be nobody think about anything else but putting their best foot forward. Everybody is always being evaluated. Every game you've got a ton of guys that are either contracts up, they're going into free agency, guys that are on the fringe. Same thing applies to coaches. That should never be something you're thinking about."

(On if it ever crosses his mind to think 'what if quarterback Jameis Winston wasn't suspended the first three games')

"No. What does cross my mind is what if you didn't ask me these kind of questions – that crosses my mind. Like, what if I didn't have to answer stuff that you know how I'm going to answer it – that crosses my mind. You can't play the 'what if' game. You just asked, and I answered. I do not play the what if game, ever, because it doesn't do any good. You can't change what's already done."

(On what has led to the decrease in production of tight end Cameron Brate this season compared to last season)

"A combination of things. Number one, the emergence, the second year of O.J. Howard and the fast start with that wide receiver crew basically we said from day one we felt like we had four starters at wide receiver. Cam's been playing hurt this whole year. He hasn't been healthy from day one. He's done an unbelievable job of fighting through it. He's another guy that if you knew the amount of rehab Cam does on a weekly basis just to be able to play, it's pretty remarkable that he's out there playing at all. There will probably more information on that after the season's over. I think Cam, when he gets healthy again, will return to form very quickly."

(On if Brate is expected to have surgery)

"I'm not going to say more other than I already answered what I'm going to say."

(On wide receiver Adam Humphries taking hard hits)

"If you see Adam, Adam's a little bit more rocked up than you might think he is. He might be small in height compared to Mike Evans or compared to O.J. Howard, but he's pretty rocked up. He's a powerful guy. He has taken some hits, but for any receiver if you want more targets, guess what? You're going to take more hits. Guys want the ball and Adam has no fear going inside for balls. That one last week, that was a route concept that Dallas sees a lot based on the coverage they play. We added to it. We ran different variations of that route concept more than once in the game the other day. The safety got a good beat on it and came up there put a lick on him. Of course, we're trying not to put our guys in positions to take those, but this is football. Sometimes that's going to happen."

(On how the defensive line has done overall this season)

"The main thing that people were complaining about [last season] was the sack number. The sack number is significantly higher. The first half of the year we were strong stopping the run. We've fallen off in stopping the run a little, but I think we've got consistently good pressure. Just the way the schedule worked out in this back half of the season, we've run into these running quarterbacks where the ends have to be able to make plays on the edge and know the responsibility of football. Do I have dive? Do I have quarterback? Do I have pitch? That's where Carl [Nassib] has made some nice plays. JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul) we already talked about him. He's been steady throughout the year. I think our D-line – the main thing with our D-line – we've mentioned this several times in here – the rotation that we envisioned being able to have when we signed all these guys, drafted Vita [Vea], that just hasn't really worked out the way we thought. We didn't go into the season with the intention of JPP playing 90 percent. I'm pretty sure he had the intention of playing 90 percent, but that's not how we looked at it. All the evaluation for the season will come afterwards. Right now, we're trying to focus on how to put our best foot forward against Atlanta."

(On how much better the team is with the example defensive tackle Gerald McCoy sets)

"Actually, our CR (Community Relations) department does a little piece every Wednesday in the team meeting and goes over different stuff that the players do in the community. I'll talk just about the community part first. Sometimes those things get publicized more than others. Not that it should, but all of our guys do a good job of doing things in the community. Gerald as a humanitarian and what he does with giving of his time and money in the community sets a huge example for our players. As far as on the field, this is the first year in a while since Gerald hasn't been voted to the Pro Bowl. His play speaks for itself. Gerald's another guy that fights through injuries a lot more that people know and could easily be on the shelf right now. He continues to fight through it. He's right up there with JPP as far as setting the bar for our team. When it's in the trenches like that, whether it be O-line or D-line, and we have guys on both sides. That makes it tough for anybody else to opt out for something that some guys might."

(On if quarterback Jameis Winston is finding that balance between risk taking and playing it safe)

"We're a vertical passing team, so we're not basing what we do on offense on competition percentage even though overall in the league completion percentage is through the roof this year – Jameis is included for his career. We believe in throwing it down the field. Coach [Dan] Quinn said in his press conference, teams know that what we try to do. What are team going to try to do against us? They're going to try to force us to check it down. That's been something that has not been maybe the biggest strength of Jameis in his career where he came out of a system that also threw it down the field in college. That's one of the reasons we thought he would be a great fit in our system here. I think that's something that he has grown in. I put that number out there just because Dallas did do a good job of trying to take away our explosives. Even though we had a pretty good yardage number, we only had six explosives in the game. I think we're top two or three or three in the league right now in explosives. We were top one there for a while – I'm not sure if we still are. When teams are committed to stopping our downfield throws, you've got to be able to take what they're giving you and check it down."

Defensive Coordinator Mark Duffner

(On what areas the defensive improved on over the season)

"I think our ability to generate rush has been one of the areas for sure. We've also cut down explosive plays which is important for us to get done – so that's been a plus for us. Obviously, there's much, much [more] room for improvement across the board. We're having I think less mental errors and these type of things. The execution is what we're striving to be as consistent as possible and I think we've taken some strides in that."

(On the defense's performance at Dallas)

"I was pleased. We had some goals in the pass game – a team that could run it real well. If we had a couple better tackle situations, we really could've had some success in the run game, but we were able to hold that team down to total yards and yards and even points. As far as that's concerned, that was a plus. A lot of positive things. Again, the number one goal is to win the game."

(On if cornerback Carlton Davis III will be a starter in the NFL long-term)

"I think he is. I think he's got the length and the speed and the change of direction. He's certainly a confident player – that's a spot you need to be confident in. He's got a lot of the attributes that we think are necessary for a guy to be a successful corner. So yeah, I'm excited about where I think he's heading."

(On what he likes about safety Andrew Adams)

"As I kind of said before, he's a football player. This guy just wants to play, number one. Number two, he's a smart payer, he's an adaptable player, and so he's got those skills which we'd like to employ. I just like the fact he doesn't bat an eyelash on whatever you present to him. He's going to go after it with every ounce of energy he's got. That's what I like about him."

(On the kind of presence defensive tackle Gerald McCoy has on the field)

"He's out there in pre-practice. He's out there before practice working out and doing sprints, doing different things – skills, bag drills, rush drills and things of that nature that is not required. He's doing the extra, if you will. A lot if of it's what he does in the classroom in terms of the study – very studious in terms of his preparation. Again, a lot of extra work on and off the field – on and before practice."

Defensive End Jason Pierre-Paul

(On the development of defensive tack Vita Vea)

"I can't wait to see him grow. He's starting to come along. He's a rookie, man. I can't say too much about rookies because I was one at a particular time. He's growing, he's growing, he's growing. I can see the growth. I can't wait to see him in year two when he's tossing people around and knowing how to use his strength because right now he's a rookie and he's coming along pretty well. Injury happened with him and took him out before he could actually play a real game. Right now, he's learning, learning and he's coming along, so I can only imagine into next year. I had a talk with him already. I said, 'Next year when you come in here, they're going to be expecting big things from you and I'm going to be expecting big things from you because what I see you doing now, man you're a big guy and you're just tossing people.' I'm excited to see him keep growing and excited to see what he [has] next year in store."

(On the development of defensive end Carl Nassib)

"He's developed great. Came in here off a waiver I think. GM (Jason Licht) picked him off the waiver and came in and filled those spots in and became a big-time player. I always tell him, 'Man, next year, people are going to actually play you for a lot of things, so you've got to come up with a whole bunch of things in your book and keep it there and just become a better player.' I think he's become a better player. His growth – like I say – they're just growing, man. I don't know what year this is for him – I think three I guess. This is his third year. This is year nine for me going on 10. All I can do is teach him what I know – that's the only thing I can do. Teach him what know and what I have seen. That's basically it."

-BUCCANEERS-