HEAD COACH TODD BOWLES

(On if he's noticed an increase in accountability following his comments after last week's loss to Atlanta)

"It's such a broad word the way you use it. Accountability could be doing little things right, it could be teammates talking to each other, you're talking to yourself, coaches talking to each other. We understood the message after the ball game. We met on it, we talked about it, we got it out of our system. Everybody is hard at work and trying to do the right things to win the ball game."

(On how hard it is to have tough conversations with players as a coach)

"It's not tough at all. You're going to lose some games in this league. We've all lost some throughout our entire lives. You don't like it that day, but you get up the next day, put your head down, you go to work, and you try to correct the little things, and you move on. You don't hold it and make it any tougher than it has to be. It's a football game."

(On bringing back LB Anthony Walker Jr. and what he can add to the defense right now)

"Well, when 'Voss' (SirVocea Dennis) got hurt, we felt like we needed another guy that already knew the system. He's got veteran leadership, he's a very good run defender, he understands pass concepts very well in the zone, and he's been in the system. So, it was only smart to try to bring him back and see if we can use him."

(On whether LB Anthony Walker Jr. can step in and play right away)

"We're refreshing him right now. So, we want to see exactly where he is by the end of the week. So, that'll be a little tough to say right now."

(On whether OLB Jason Pierre-Paul could be activated for Week 16 vs. Carolina)

"It's possible. I mean, it's possible. He had a good day today. We've got to see how he progresses throughout the week. I think this week will be the hardest, as far as who's active and who's not active, with most of the people practicing."

(On if Pierre-Paul looks like he did four or five years ago)

"I don't think anybody looks like they did four or five years ago, but energetic-wise and fundamental- and technique-sound and picking up the system and getting comfortable, he looked good."

(On TE Cade Otton, LB SirVocea Dennis and S Tykee Smith returning to practice on Wednesday, and if they could play against Carolina in Week 16)

"They're in play. They're in play. They did some good things today and we've just got to see how the week progresses."

(On whether DL Calijah Kancey is getting closer to returning)

"He's been working out. I couldn't tell you when the return is though."

(On how "shocked" he is by the team's struggles since the Bye Week)

"I don't think you're shocked, I think you go day-by-day. You know, we're in the same position we've been in the last two [or] three years. So, we've just been ahead instead of behind doing the same things. You take them a day at a time – you put your head down and you work. We have an opportunity – we still have everything right in front of us. We've got to play a hell of a ball game. We got some things to clean up, but you know, it's about right where you need to be at this time with everybody fighting for a playoff spot. We're playing meaningful games in December and that's all you can ask for."

(On if he can identify a "common denominator" during the team's recent struggles)

"Just doing the little things right. Doing little things right and just focusing on finishing the ball game."

(On how he gets the younger players out of the "we're just happy to be here" mindset)

"Well, they've been out of that. It's not a matter of them shifting out of things. It's just a matter of them getting over the rookie slump of a long season that's probably twice as long as college and then still maturing and realizing that everybody's going to play injured and hurt and you got to be mentally tough throughout. I think most of them have done that."

(On reflecting on last year's games against the Panthers, and what went in to Tampa Bay's 48-14 over them in Week 17)

"We've got to execute. We've got to execute and just do the little things. You're not going to blow [anybody] out in this league. They're all going to be tough. So, we've got to focus on the little things and focus on ourselves and understand what we've done the last couple weeks. If we can fix that, we'll be okay."

(On his confidence levels in cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish considering that CB Zyon McCollum was recently placed on Injured Reserve)

"[I have] very high confidence in both of them. I mean, they're not rookies anymore. It's late in the season right now. They both can play. They understand the system and they've got to go out there and play."

(On whether he feels good about where Morrison is, physically, to be able to play in Week 16)

"I do."

(On how gratifying it was to see the offense at the closest it's been to full strength all season, and if he's hopeful that it could become more explosive down the stretch)

"Well, that's the hope. You know, it was gratifying to see them take the hits they took and get up from it and be perfectly fine. I think that's what you worry about the most because that's the one thing you couldn't replicate in practice. Going forward, when you've got your full corps of [wide] receivers finally and you've got a lot of guys healthy – obviously we still have two backup guards, but at the same time, they're getting continuity down there…So, we hope we can build some chemistry and execute some plays on that."

(On whether the team's confidence has been an issue on defense lately)

"They're playing at full confidence. We're just making mistakes."

(On whether the players received his message during his postgame comments)

"Yeah, they got the message…It's football, guys. I don't know. There have probably been a billion stories written when coaches have lost that got pissed off and said something to their guys. It's not an issue. We're fine."

(On Tampa Bay's pass defense allowing more touchdowns over the last six weeks compared to the first 10 weeks)

"Sometimes it's coverage, sometimes it's lack of rush. It's got to be put together. It's got to be put together that way and we've got to be able to execute."

(On what strides the Panthers have made under Head Coach Dave Canales in year two)

"The maturity [and] you can see the tweaks in the offensive system. They're doing a lot more now than they did a year ago just putting it in the first time. So, you can see the growth in the offense and the guys adjusting to the audibles and you can see the defense really coming around and they got some guys in the offseason, free agency and draft wise, that they really turned into a solid football team."

(On how important run defense will be on Sunday)

"It's going to be critical on both sides of the ball. They've got a very huge offensive line. They do a great job running the football. I think they had like four games with over 175 yards rushing and they got more 100-yard rushing games after that. So, it's going to be critical."

(On what he sees from Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young on film and how he's evolved)

"Commanding the offense…You know, going into his second year into the offense, he has a very good understanding of where to go, when to run, how quick to get rid of the ball. He's in full control."

(On why S Antoine Winfield Jr.'s splash plays haven't been as frequent this year)

"Well, they haven't really been going to him. He's been doing his job. He's been doing a heck of a job. They haven't been going to him. With the in-and-out guys on the front and in the back end, we probably asked him to babysit a little more during certain things, but [I am] very happy with his play and the plays he made early [and] in the middle of the season. Sometimes the coverage changes, sometimes the defense changes, but he's right where he needs to be from an energetic and a leadership standpoint. [I am] very happy with his play."

(On what he sees from Carolina Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan during his rookie season)

"He reminds me a lot of Mike Evans – a younger Mike Evans. He's still 6'4, he's 200-something pounds, he has great body control, great ball skills, [he is a] very tough cover. He can catch it with you hanging on him and he can beat you with routes and get off the line of scrimmage."

(On Pass Game Specialist and Assistant Quarterbacks Coach Jordan Somerville reportedly taking the Offensive Coordinator job at the University of California-Berkeley, and how long he will remain with the Buccaneers)

"He'll be with us the rest of the season. He won't start until after he finishes. [He is an] outstanding young coach, extremely smart, doesn't get nearly enough credit for the things he does. We've got a lot of good coaches and a lot of good young coaches…For him to get the [offensive coordinator] job at Cal, I think they got a great hire. He's a heck of a person, he's very fair, he's extremely smart and he's going to run an offense the way he knows how to run it."

(On TE Devin Culp getting his first catch of the season, and why it's been hard for Culp to get more playing time)

"Well, the other guys probably were better blockers at the time from that standpoint, but he brings a receiving element to the game at the same time. Him learning the offense still coming into his second year had a lot to do with that. Then, with the receivers back now, it's going to be awfully tough to get everybody as many touches as they need."

(On how challenging it's been to mount a consistent pass rush, and how much DL Calijah Kancey's absence has contributed to that)

"He was our most athletic guy, so it's been challenging from that standpoint, but we faced a lot of running quarterbacks, too, that we just couldn't catch and we've gotten back there that played an element into it. We've got to do a better job of working together and collapsing the pocket and keeping the quarterback in so he can't run. That part has been challenging."

(On if he's heard from any friends or former players about his "viral" postgame comments last week)

"No. No, I didn't. You're a football coach. You lose a ballgame, you get pissed off. Everybody does it. It happens. You get over it. You move on to the next day. That's all I've done."

(On whether he heard about it from his wife)

"No, I did not."

(On whether she gave him a thumbs up)

"She didn't say anything. I don't think too many people talked to me this weekend."

QUARTERBACK BAKER MAYFIELD

(On how the team can be more intentional with their execution through practice)

"When you lose a game because of execution, it translates. The message was received loud and clear, so it was a good practice today. [It is the] first one we've had on a Wednesday in a while -- normally doing the walkthrough schedule, but with the extra day, [we] got that going and yeah, good practice."

(On if having a few more days of rest is an advantage after playing on Thursday Night Football)

"Yeah, there's definitely an end of the season push. Obviously, it helped with the Saints winning [against the Panthers], but regardless, we still need to take care of business the last three games anyways. That's still the way we're looking at it, so yeah, there's new energy and guys are ready to go."

(On if having WR Mike Evans and WR Jalen McMillan back brings the positivity around the building up)

"Absolutely. That was something we showed on offense on Monday when we met. The clips of Mike [Evans] and 'J-Mac' (Jalen McMillan) bringing the juice, [and] just the energy and the attitude they had on the field, everybody needs to do it. It goes from people on the field to also on the sideline. We need to celebrate the good plays to get everybody going and go from there."

(On the biggest difference between this recent slump and ones from previous seasons)

"I don't know if I can really put my finger on one thing. In years past, I've said that we got the little things corrected and just played simple ball, bread-and-butter plays and executed really well. I think maybe in the last few years we did that and now it's just a matter of making the plays in critical moments that we need to. Like I said after the game, I [have] to make those throws, I [have] to make those plays, can't turn the ball over, so that comes down to me."

(On why he put the loss to the Atlanta Falcons on himself)

"We were up two scores and we had a chance to go put it away, so it is on us, it's on me."

(On WR Mike Evans' competitiveness)

"Especially when he's going like he was Thursday night... You never want to take things for granted when you have a guy like Mike [Evans] that has been injured, wants to come back, wants to help his team out and you feel that competitive nature from him -- that fire -- it just demands everybody to raise their standards. We love that Mike is vocal about it. He obviously expects greatness out of himself and expects people to rise to the occasion as well, so yeah, need him to keep doing that."

(On if it feels good to have all the top four wide receivers on the field for the first time this season)

"It is. Nothing against the guys we had playing, but it's guys that I've had a lot of reps with. [It's] that I really know their body language coming in and out of routes like the back of my hand and so, it's a good feeling to have. Now, we just need to go do it."

(On how the team can avoid pointing fingers from losses)

"The finger pointing [is] only happening if you have bad culture in the building. That's not a problem we have to deal with. We met on Monday with the offense, and I told them what I said in the post-game press conference, I said it's on me, it's on this group, I expect us to be able to score more than 28 [points] in a situation like that and put the game out of reach. You just nip it in the bud in the beginning."

(On the fact that head coaches get a lot of criticism when a team starts to struggle, and his message to the fans that say the team is "tuning out Head Coach Todd Bowles")

"That's always a tricky slope. You love them when the defense is getting all the sacks and the turnovers, and then a game like that… Like I said though [in] post-game, it comes down to the offense. You're up two scores, you have a chance to put the game away and you don't. The easy thing to do is point at the defense because in [those] situations, it's the last thing you see in the game, but if you look at the whole game, you look at the way it played, blame me, don't blame [Head Coach] Todd [Bowles]."

WIDE RECEIVER MIKE EVANS

(On playing for the first time since Week 7, and having 132 receiving yards against the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football)

"It felt good to be back; I was super excited to be back and help the team. I thought the game was going to be taken away, I thought I was going to be done for the season, and to be back out there -- I worked really hard to get back, the training staff did a great job of getting me back. Did I have a good game? I had an okay game. Yardage-wise, I did alright, but [there was] a few more plays I could've made. It felt good to be back; I wish we could've won that game, but it's good to be back."

(On the mood inside the locker room after the loss to the Falcons)
"[We] just know we [have] to bounce back. We've been here before; I was extra emotional my first game back. We lost the game as a team. It was just third-and-28 was the last thing that happened and it just stuck in my brain, but we [have] to finish that offense, obviously. 28 points isn't good enough, but we know what we [have] to do to fix it."

(On WR Jalen McMillan playing in his first game this season after getting injured in the preseason)

"Amazing. We thought he was done for the season. We didn't know what his timetable was and he wasn't practicing, he was just conditioning. To see him back out there and [knowing] how hard he worked to get back, it was amazing."

(On the team struggling to win recently and what's different about this year's slump compared to previous seasons)

"We're all finally coming together. The whole team is trying to get back healthy. Like you said, we've been here before, so we know what it takes. [We have] to win. Don't change anything, don't do [anything] special, just do what we've been doing and try to win these ball games."

(On QB Baker Mayfield's comments that 28 points against the Falcons is not good enough and if it is a challenge to the offense to go score more points)

"Absolutely. As an offense, especially with the amount of talented players that we have, we want to go out there and put up way more than that. Especially, after we watched film, you see how much meat we've left on the bone, it's unacceptable for our offense at this caliber."

(On if Rams' WR Davante Adams is a motivating factor for him since they are both from the 2014 draft class)

"I wasn't really watching much football. I see that he's having a fantastic year and all, I pray that he gets healthy, but [him and I] are obviously within the same draft class and watching him having a phenomenal season, I guess it did motivate me, but I didn't watch much, honestly. He's motivated me throughout my career... I usually don't watch football much, but I watched some football. I watched every single Buccaneers game, obviously, and then I watched some around the league. In my free time, I watch basketball or I watch a movie or something."

(On what he sees with the young receivers in WR Emeka Egbuka and WR Tez Johnson)
"Unlimited potential for our young receivers. When I leave this game soon, I'm going to be happy with the receiving room that's left in Tampa and excited to watch them have a great career and carry on the torch."

(On if the injuries he's sustained this season make him think about his future in football)
"I haven't really even thought about it, honestly. I was just going to wait until the season is over. I'm just trying to focus as much as I can on the season. Obviously, we're human, we have to think about the future, but I have really been trying to be locked in on helping this team make the playoffs. For your question, time will tell."

(On how much having the weekend off after playing on Thursday night helped going into Week 16)

"It helped a lot. That's one of the biggest parts of this game, the best teams are the teams that stay healthy, especially towards the end of December. We kind of got lucky in that regard to have a Thursday night game so late, because guys are fresh, we're able to get three practices in this week, so that should be good for us."

(On how much it helps to be able to have three practices in a week)
"Football relies so much on timing, continuity [and] communication, and you can only get that if you practice it. It's good for us to have these three practices, four really."

(On what his emotions were like after his 45-yard catch against Atlanta)
"You're always excited when you make a big play to help your team, but just to feel the crowd again. I'm just trying to get everybody amped up. I usually get hyped sometimes, but this game it was my mission to go out there and just try and bring the energy and juice because I know how serious this is and then missing that time, you know how precious the game can be."

(On the Carolina Panthers and what they key to victory is for this upcoming contest)
"They're having a really great year, way better than last year. We have to be the most physical team, number one, and then we have to be the smartest team. If we do those things, I think our offense can take advantage of some things we saw."

(On his previous comment of "when I leave this game soon," what he means by it)

"It will be soon, even if it's three-four more years I play. I played 12, so... We'll see, time will tell. I'm really trying to focus on this season and making the most out of it."

(On if he plans on playing a 13th season)

"Y'all are speaking it into existence I feel like, so we'll see. We'll get to it in a couple of months here."

(On how important Christmas is to him as a holiday)
"Christmas is my favorite holiday. A lot of people have helped my teammates and I get to where we are, so in this time, we want to be thankful for all of the people that helped us get here and pay it forward like they did for us."

-BUCCANEERS-