HEAD COACH TODD BOWLES

(On T Tristan Wirfs' injury)

"He's got a high-ankle sprain. So it will be as-tolerated, so we'll see how it goes from week to week."

(On if there is any chance Wirfs could play next Monday)

"I don't think so. He's a tough guy, but I don't think so."

(On why he didn't call a timeout after the first play of the Buccaneers' last drive in regulation)

"Or it could have been an interception as well. We said if we didn't get yards on the first down, on the first play, we wouldn't call a timeout. We'd probably let the clock run and if he saw something he could throw it. But we didn't get any yards on the first play, we got one or two yards with Rachaad [White] and we were backed up. If we'd have thrown a pick and the ball would have went the other way and they had to kick the winning field goal…we felt better going into overtime so I didn't do it."

(On QB Tom Brady throwing the ball on the next play)

"He threw it on second down. He saw something, he got it in there, then we called a timeout. It could have easily went the other way."

(On that throw also having the potential to be intercepted)

"Yeah, it could have been. It was a risky throw but he got it in there. Tom's been making those throws but we felt good going into overtime the way the defense was playing and we felt we had it right there. So it was just the call we made."

(On if it would have made sense to call a timeout after the Browns' third-down play at the end of the previous drive)

"It could have been, but we didn't want them to talk about it. We wanted them to just line up and play and go, so we let it go."

(On if the Buccaneers have a trend this season of playing conservatively on offense not to make mistakes)

"I don't think we've played conservative on offense at all. You can say that in hindsight about this game, but you don't think about those things as coaches, you make the best decision possible based on everything that's been going on and you kind of go from there. We had not been moving the football, we had nine three-and-outs, so it wouldn't have been wise to try to call that one. I made it, I can live with that and I'm okay with it."

(On punting the ball after reaching Cleveland's 37-yard line in the fourth quarter)

"Again, the defense was playing well. The offense wasn't playing and moving the ball as well so we tried to play to the strength of our defense and get the ball back if we can back them up."

(On if he trusts the offense)

"I do."

(On if he didn't trust the offense in that situation)

"Well, I saw how the game was going. I trusted our defense to get the ball back and I felt we can get the ball in field position and still go down and get a score."

(On if he thinks they can get the offense turned around)

"Well, we have to. Number one, we've done it before. We have to get on the same page and stop making mistakes. We've got to coach it better and play it better. There is no secret formula to getting this turned around the right way. We have to make plays, we have to call it right, we have to execute it the right way, we've got to stop committing penalties. Obviously, it's a broken record at this point, but as coaches and players that's what you go back to. You go back to your fundamentals and you play ball. That's all it is."

(On the defense being unable to close out games)

"It's disappointing. Obviously, we want to [play] well in two-minute on defense. We've been well in the past, we have not been good this year several times, especially in the fourth quarter. The kid (Browns TE David Njoku) made a heck of a catch, I'll give him that one right there, but we should have been in place to do things to divert that catch because we knew what was coming. And we didn't do that. We didn't do that in a couple games earlier this year. They've been playing well for three-and-a-half quarters; the other part of the quarter, we haven't been playing so well. We've got to close games out if we want to finish the season off right."

(On if CB Carlton Davis fell down on the long Amari Cooper reception in overtime)

"He slipped. It can't happen, but the guy made a play after he slipped."

(On if offensive struggles leads to the defense getting worn down late in games)

"No, the defense has to get off the field no matter what. I think offensively we weren't very good on third down at all. And we got to third down, we had a bunch of third downs at least seven-plus, there had to be nine or 10 of them and we probably were 'oh-for' when we did those things. When we had third-and-shot at least we were almost 50-50; we might have been two of five at that point. You can't make third downs, you can't stay on the field. But the defense's job is to stop them no matter what and we don't make excuses, trying to say the offense did this and the defense did that. We had plays on special teams, offense and defense to win that ballgame and we didn't do it."

(On why QB Tom Brady and WR Mike Evans seem to be out of synch at this point)

"That's a good question. Some of them were defensive calls, some of them we just missed it here and there. We've got to get that fixed. We've got to get them back on the same page. That struggle, it showed up yesterday. I'm not saying it was anybody's fault, but it did show up yesterday and it showed up a few games before that. We've got to get that taken care of. That's crucial for our success."

(On if he finds it baffling that Brady and Evans are not on the same page right now)

"No, it doesn't baffle me. We've just got to get it fixed. It's not necessarily them two, it's quite a few other people with it as well. We've just got to get on the same page. And we're not on the same page and it shows."

(On if the Buccaneers run one-on-ones in practice)

"Yes."

(On the same question)

"Yes."

(On if they run one-on-ones every day)

"Wednesday and Thursday."

(On rookie TE Cade Otton not being involved in the offense Sunday)

"Part of it was going elsewhere, part of it was because we couldn't stay on the field. We had situations where we couldn't stay on the field, we couldn't target everybody. Cade will get his catches, we can target him. He's had a heck of a year thus far, we've just got to get on the same page and we've got to spread the ball around."

(On S Antoine Winfield Jr.'s health)

"He has an ankle sprain as well. We'll see how feels during the week. I don't know if he's going to be able to play or not at this time."

(On if other defensive backs got hurt in the game)

"We'll see how [it goes.] Sean [Murphy-Bunting] has a contusion and Mike Edwards has a contusion. We'll see how they feel. It will be day by day and we'll see how they feel at the end of the week."

(On the Bucs only running it 20 times against Cleveland and if that seemed odd to him)

"Well, it seemed odd to me that we couldn't stay on the field. I thought they stuffed us some on first down and we tried to pass. We got backed up a little bit with penalties and it kind of went that way. We had a bunch of third-and-longs, like I said. We had at least nine or 10 third-and-seven-pluses and it went all the way up to about 19 yards. We couldn't play with ourselves behind the eight ball, to run that bell that successfully when we had that intact."

(On what went well on defense for most of the game)

"I thought the defensive line was physical. They played very physical football. I thought when the ball when it got out went out on the edges. It didn't come up the middle on those guys. The corners have got to tackle better and the outside 'backers have got to tackle a little better. But I thought the 'D-Line,' from a penetration and the physical standpoint, played the game physically."

(On how daunting it is for the offensive line to have to adapt to yet another change)

"It's not daunting. We've got to find ways to get it done. Last year it was the defense, this year it's the offense. We have to find ways to get it done. Like I said, we keep people on this team for a reason. They have to click. They're different types of players. I'm not saying they're the same caliber, but they do some things well and we've got to make sure we do the things that they do well."

(On the Bucs needing to focus on winning the NFC South)

"Well, we've all lost some games. The object at the beginning of the year is to win the division. That's still intact for us and it's still alive for us, so that's what we're trying to do. If you get in and get on a run, you don't know what's going to happen. We've got to take care of today, we've got to take care of tomorrow. We understand that we've got the Saints Monday night. It's a big game for them, a big game for us, so we've got to be ready."

(On how he felt about the team's energy in Cleveland)

"I thought our energy was good. I thought our energy was real good. They started fast, they scored seven points on us fast on a reverse play. They settled down and played football [but] too many miscues. Way too many miscues."

-BUCCANEERS-