HEAD COACH TODD BOWLES
(On if he can rule out any Buccaneer players for Sunday's game)
"Not out – Donovan [Smith] will be close. It will be hard for him to make it but we'll see. The rest of the guys we'll see on Sunday."
(On if WR Chris Godwin has a chance to play Sunday)
"He's in play by a small margin but we'll see on Sunday. If I had to guess, I'd say he wouldn't."
(On the importance of rekindling a rivalry with the Saints)
"It's Week 2 – we want to win the game, number one. Number two, it's a rivalry – you always want to beat your division and it's always going to be a tough ballgame. But we're trying to get a win. It's not exacting revenge or anything else; we need that to get to where we've got to go. It's not a rivalry right now. They've beaten us six straight times and in order for us to make it a rivalry we're going to have to try to win a few times. But it's just important for us to win the ballgame."
(On rookie TE Ko Kieft's versatility)
"He's an old-school football player. He works hard. He can play fullback, tight end, he can play the F or the U position as well. He does a lot of things for us. He's good on [special] teams. He can catch the ball, actually, too. You haven't seen his receiving skills yet, but he's a hard-nosed, tough guy that comes to work every day and tries to get better. He's always out before practice, trying to stretch and warm up and do things that he needs to work on, and he's been a joy to coach."
(On if the Buccaneers have enough healthy receivers to not have to elevate one from the practice squad)
"We'll wait and see as time goes on. I can't say that for sure. But we'll monitor the situation and hopefully we'll see."
(On older players not practicing as much)
"For most players, it's important, but I think when you play in the league a certain amount of time and you prepare a certain way, it's not necessary to practice that guy all the time. You're going to practice, but you're not going to practice all the time. You'll get a day off here and there because it is a long season."
(On if the Buccaneers have decided on a special teams captain yet)
"No, not yet. It's only been one game."
(On if there is a common theme regarding the team winning five straight road games)
"No, we just try to prepare. We try to go anywhere we go, whether it's on the road or at home, and we try to come out with a win."
(On handling the crowd noise in the Caesars Superdome)
"We still have practice in crowd noise. We know it's loud down there, we understand that, too, from going down there the past few years. But I think we'll function okay; the crowd shouldn't be a problem."
(On Jameis Winston's growth and what the defense's focus should be)
"Jameis has grown a great deal. To go in and learn another system and become a starting quarterback is outstanding in itself. To overcome and injuries and work out the way he does and still come back and play and have success is outstanding. It says a lot about the person, the character, and what he does to train to get ready to play. And I don't think we prepare for Jameis, I think we prepare for the team. He's only one guy. If we prepare for him, the other 10 guys on offense are going to kill us. So, we'll try to prepare to play a complete team, and they are a complete team. We'll go that way."
-BUCCANEERS-
