HEAD COACH TODD BOWLES

(On what contributed to the blocked field goal against Miami in Week 17)
"To me, it looked like a low kick because there was no penetration. He had a hand up and I thought the ball came out low."

(On what happened on the first touchdown the Buccaneers allowed against Miami in Week 17)
"We busted."

(On S Tykee Smith not playing much in the second half against Miami in Week 17, and how the team will move forward at safety)
"'Izzy' (Christian Izien) did a good job. Tykee was a little banged up [and] I thought he had a rough outing to start with, so we put 'Izzy' in there for a spark. Tykee will be our starting safety going forward."

(On if S Tykee Smith was prepared enough for Week 17)
"Yeah, he was prepared."

(On what went wrong on the second touchdown the Buccaneers allowed against Miami in Week 17)
"Giving up the touchdown…It's a routine, day-one coverage. We've just got to play it better."

(On if Tampa Bay's strategy on kickoffs is to kick the ball through the end zone)
"Yes."

(On what message that strategy sends to the special teams players who made the team predominantly for their ability on special teams)
"No doubt about it. We talk about it, and we talked about guys being here just to cover kicks. Obviously, that wasn't getting done the way we wanted it to get done. The next resort [after] that is to kick it into the end zone to start on the 35[-yard line] as opposed to starting close to midfield. Obviously, the one return we gave up – whether it's missed tackles or a missed lane or a missed block – that's kind of the result of it. We're just minimizing the damage in that."

(On if the team has considered looking at outside players to be able to employ a different strategy on kickoffs)
"We've been looking. You can't change them all out. We brought in J.T. [Gray], obviously we got [Anthony] Walker Jr. back in here…It's hard to find 11 guys that you think can play special teams [from] someone's practice squad."

(On the decision to punt instead of go for it on fourth-and-2 in the second quarter)
"Just better field position – I thought we could hold them back there and get better field position for our offense."

(On a fan posting a video of RB Bucky Irving and T Tristan Wirfs having a "heated exchange" on the sideline on Sunday, and if Bowles witnessed that)
"I had not observed it. I don't have anything to say about a fan showing a video of our players."

(On players expressing their emotions)
"Things are not splintering from within. When you lose, players get frustrated but they still work together and they're very close."

(On the logic behind RB Sean Tucker only having two touches against Miami in Sunday despite being productive in his touches)
"There's no logic in it. There are certain things that go with it that Rachaad [White] plays and Bucky [Irving] plays. Again, we've got to do a better job of getting him the football. He's just as good [of] a running back as the other two. It's hard to rotate three [running] backs, so someone is going to get cheated every game."

(On if T Benjamin Chukwuma should have had help on the left side on the play where Baker Mayfield was strip-sacked)
"Yeah, we've got to help him, but he's got to be one-on-one some. We've just got to block it better."

(On the decision to primarily utilize guards Mike Jordan and Dan Feeney since losing Ben Bredeson and Cody Mauch, and if Elijah Klein and Luke Haggard "aren't compelling enough to try them there")
"They're compelling but [Mike] Jordan and [Dan] Feeney are the better two players right now. We go with the better two players."

(On what he would blame for the recent uptick in turnovers)
"[They are] mistakes. We've got to be better at the quarterback position and we've got to be better at the signal calling position and we've got to be better blocking it."

(On his message to the team going into this week)
"It's working on us. Obviously, working on us. Understanding the things that we did wrong so we can get right. We don't play 48 or 60 minutes of bad football, we play spurts and we have a couple plays. We've got to put it together. It's the last game – one way or the other, we've got to find a way to win."

(On how to keep negativity from festering and to keep everyone focused on the task at hand)
"Winning in this league is hard. There's no negativity inside the locker room, inside the building, as far as we're concerned. There's mistakes and things we've got to clean up…There's trust, there's belief. We've got to play harder, we've got to play a lot better, we've got to coach a lot better."

(On how this week's schedule looks, with it being a Saturday game)
"Today is like a Tuesday for us. Tomorrow is a Wednesday."

(On if he is opposed to making any changes to his coaching staff during the season)
"No, I'm not."

(On if he "has reached that point yet with special teams")
"No, I have not."

-BUCCANEERS-