HEAD COACH TODD BOWLES

(On the status of QB Baker Mayfield) 

"His ribs are sore. He'll be fine by Sunday." 

(On if Mayfield suffered any other injuries against New Orleans) 

"No." 

(On what he learned from Sunday's game) 

"The effort is there, you know. I thought we started slow. In all phases, we started slow. Defensively, we didn't get off the field. [We] didn't get going, offensively. [We] knew what to do, we were just in a daze the first quarter and a half before we could get anything going, and by then it's too late against a good football team. You watch it, you analyze it, you talk about it, [and] you work at it in practice. We know we need to start faster. We know we have one more game to get in, and we have to do everything it takes." 

(On if the New Orleans Saints had a greater motivation to win the game as they would have been eliminated from playoff contention with a loss) 

"Not really. I mean, I can't tell you their motivation. Our motivation is to get in [the playoffs]. We won four out of five. We did a hell of a job winning four out of five, and [if] we win five out of six, we get in. That's the reality of it. Winning six in a row would have been outstanding, winning five out of six isn't bad either. We've just got to buckle down and win the last one." 

(On what test QB Baker Mayfield underwent today) 

"He'll be ready to go on Sunday." 

(On the status of S Kaevon Merriweather) 

"He's good." 

(On what he thinks the coaching staff could have done differently) 

"Anytime you lose, you can coach better and you can play better. We all know what we could have done better – we talk about it in the meetings, and we move forward from there." 

(On if he thinks the Saints were the more physical team on Sunday as they made a point to practice with pads on Wednesday) 

"No, I thought they played a heck of a ball game. I mean, they had an extra rest day, because they played on Thursday, so they were allowed to do that and get people healthy. We're playing with people that we are trying to get to the game on Sunday, so you really can't afford to be in pads [during the week], but we've been like that during the whole four-game win streak. So, that didn't have anything to do with us, we just didn't play well." 

(On the Saints targeting their tight end 15 times on Sunday)

"No, we tried to shut down the deep game with [Rashid] Shaheed and [Chris] Olave, which have been doing great this year, and you [have] [Alvin] Kamara. You [have] give up something. The tight ends were there. I thought they got to them in critical situations on third-and-6. There were a couple of things we could have played better, but for the most part, the ball wasn't down the field. They [had] some catch and runs and those are two decent players, but they didn't kill us. I mean, I think they had 202 yards passing, we just have to get it off the field on third down." 

(On if S Dee Delaney was assigned to cover the tight ends and how he thought Delaney played)

"He really wasn't. Underneath stuff requires a zone. Zone just means when the ball is [caught] we have to tackle them when we get down there, so that was everybody involved in that." 

(On what his message will be to the team for next Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers) 

"Our thing is we can't beat ourselves. We don't care if they were 14-2. In the NFL anybody can beat anybody any given week, and division games are always tough. We have to play our game, make less mistakes, and then we'll worry about the opponent on Sunday. If we can do that, we will have a chance to win." 

(On if this week's preparation will be the same as the previous weeks) 

"Yeah, it will be the same. I mean, it will be the same. We just have to start faster." 

(On if injured players such as OLB Shaquil Barrett and CB Carlton Davis III will be ready for Sunday's game) 

"They're trending in the right direction. Once I see them Wednesday, I'll have a better feel." 

(On how much Davis III was able to progress through the injury protocol this week) 

"Well, I haven't seen him do anything, so once until I see him do something... I'll see how it goes on Wednesday. He's feeling better but walking around the hallways, I can't tell you what he's going to do." 

(On if the team has to get over the loss quickly to not let it impact their game against Carolina) 

"I mean, that's any game. This one will be easy to get out of. We lost what three or four in a row and got out of that one. This one was hard because it was trying to clinch the division, but you [have] another chance to clinch it this week and we can't worry about what happened yesterday. We will correct, move on, and get ready for Sunday." 

(On how surprising this week's performance was given the team's recent success) 

"Well, we didn't play well. You get five penalties and you have four turnovers, that's not going to be a recipe for success. That's the bottom line." 

(On if he was disappointed with the production from the pass rush) 

"Well, they ran the ball 30-plus times and the ball was coming out pretty quick. They [had] some good rushes. Sometimes the ball was out, other times we could have more plays. It goes hand in hand."

-BUCCANEERS-