HEAD COACH TODD BOWLES

(On CB Benjamin Morrison returning to practice and what he must show to dress Sunday)
"He moved around. Again, he was limited. He did some things. He didn't do everything. He's got to get into practice. He missed quite a few installs as far as the game plan is concerned. So, we'll see how he progresses through the week."

(On captains for this season)
"[It is the] same as last year. It's [Antoine] Winfield Jr., Vita [Vea], Lavonte [Daivd] on defense. It's Baker [Mayfield], Tristan [Wirfs], and Mike [Evans] on offense."

(On T Luke Goedeke's extension and having both tackles locked up for multiple years)
"When he got here, we tried him at guard, but he played tackle in college, so we put him back out where he was comfortable, and he just comes in and puts in [work] – he brings a lunch pail every day. He puts in the work. Him and Tristan [Wirfs] work out all off season together and to have two important positions locked down like that on offense… It says a lot about Luke's work ethic, it says a lot about the organization wanting to commit to him, it says a lot about the team. So, you can't help but be happy for a guy like that. Luke is not an extravagant guy. He just he puts in hard work every single day and for him to be rewarded, you know, that's a nice story."

(On what other players who are eligible for an extension, like CB Zyon McCollum, need to do to get an extension)
"He just needs to play. We're trying to win games. The money comes with it and that's part of it. I don't get into people's contracts and money or what they need to do to get paid. If you play well and you have great seasons, you get paid. You know, you can't pay everybody if you got 10 or 15 people up at the same time. Zyon is one of our key players. He's very important to us and he does a heck of a job day in and day out. He just needs to keep working. He'll be okay."

(On his primary concerns facing the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1)
"None at this time. [I am] just making sure we're ready first. You know, we've got to make sure we're prepared to play and not worry about so much what they do as opposed to what we do. You know, if we can execute and we can prepare the way we can prepare and they execute the same way, we'll be okay, you know. But they've got a lot of talent and that's going to be every week. We understand that. We feel like we've got a lot of talent as well. So, you know, we've got to prepare the right way and we've got to go in with the right mindset. We've just got to play a solid game and not make mental mistakes."

(On if losing both games to Atlanta last season helps motivate the team)
"I mean, I'm motivated whether I lose in street ball. So, a team beating me is also motivation, but we try to win at everything we do. You know, that's what competitiveness is. We try to win at everything we do and be the best at what we can do. Last year doesn't factor into this year – wins or losses. We're not going to take the wins that we won last year and bring them this year. We're not going to take the losses either."

(On what he can learn from last year's two games against Atlanta)
"You don't learn much. You lost. You know, we lost both of them. So, we're not going to go recap the season from last year and say, 'This is what we did do, this is what we didn't do.' We've got a different team. It's a different mindset. It's the start of the season. It's one ball game. It's going to give us a leg up in the division. It's not going to win the Super Bowl, which is what we want to get to. It'll be great to get off to a good start. That's all it brings to us."

(On game-planning for a quarterback with limited tape like Michael Penix Jr.)
"No more different than them preparing for a new [offensive coordinator] calling it. You know, it's about the same. You prepare for the scheme as opposed to the quarterback. He has certain things he likes, I'm sure, and they have certain things they like to run for him. We've just got to play fundamentally sound football. The first three weeks are going to be like that. And everybody's going to have new wrinkles. Nobody is going to be settled in yet. So, for us to play fast and play sound, we've just got to execute."

(On managing WR Mike Evans' pursuit of Jerry Rice's record for most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons)
"Well, he's probably a thousand yards away from that right now, so, no, we have not developed a plan to get him a thousand yards at the start of the season. We plan on getting him the ball. He's one of our key playmakers. Obviously, he's ideal for what we do and he's a key playmaker here. He's a great player and we know that, but we've got to play football and try to win games, as well. He's a big part of that – no doubt about it. When he gets to 999 [yards], we'll make a plan for him."

(On the offseason "epiphany" comment and eagerness to test tweaks on defense)
"I don't know if the epiphany was so much just a word as opposed to us completely changing and doing things [differently]. [There] were some tweaks…Maybe the word was the wrong choice of wording at the time, but you know, it's not a hocus pocus act that I'm looking for to see change. I'm just looking for those guys to play together and play fast."

(On how excited he is to see OLB Haason Reddick and the new-look secondary against an "inexperienced" QB like Michael Penix Jr.)
"No, he's not inexperienced. I mean, he can play. We know he can play. I'm just excited to see how the defense comes together. The first game brings a lot of the unknown for us as well as them. So, we've just got to play together. They've got to talk to each other, they've got to have mental toughness. We're going into a hostile environment. It's a great place to play. It's a great place to open the season to play football. We're just excited to play."

(On Director of Football Research Zach Beistline's role this season)
"He's a wealth of information and a wealth of knowledge. Zach has been great. It's really benefited us in the preseason. We hope to carry that on to the regular season as well."

(On how Beistline benefits the team)
"Just situationally understanding clock management…Not just clock management but whether it's running, throwing, timeouts, not timeouts, letting it click, going through the different scenarios full time where you have some of the scenarios and he has all the scenarios. So, it's a little different and he brings a great element to us and helps us out a great deal."

(On what Offensive Coordinator Josh Grizzard will feel in his first real game calling plays, and if Bowles recalls his first time calling plays)
"Josh, he's excited already. You know, this is great for him and he should be excited. It's his first game – not preseason calling the game – he's up for the task. I have every confidence in him. Me calling my first game was probably a little bit scary because that's a longer story to go into. But, you know, I took over mid-season, so that was kind of tough. I took over on a Wednesday and there was a game on Sunday, so that was a little different, but it's exciting. It's exciting as a coach. You feel like a player and, you know, you try not to let the butterflies show, but I'm sure he's going to be very excited to call it."

(On whether Grizzard will improve as a play caller as the season goes on)
"Yeah, that comes with experience. That's natural. You're going to learn some things – what to do and what not to do – as you go. It's up to you to correct them very fast."

(On how much of an impact Doug Williams has had on Bowles' career)
"Doug is to blame for me even getting into coaching. So, he's had quite an impact on my career. We were scouts together back on the east coast – him in Jacksonville, me in Green Bay. He got his first job and he messed up and made me the coordinator, having never coached before and I didn't think I could do it but he thought I could do it. Here we are 27, 28 years later and I'm still coaching because of him and I can't do [anything] but thank him. He's been one of my best friends, a mentor, he's like an older brother for me and, you know, I can't say enough good things about him."

(On WR Emeka Egbuka assuming a starting role on offense and what the expectations are for him)
"I don't think any more is on his plate because he wants a lot on his plate. The way he came in and prepared and studied and the physical shape he came in, he was expecting to be that guy. Now that he's expecting to be that guy and we have him as that guy while Chris [Godwin Jr.] is out, it kind of fits right in in everything – his plan and our plan."

(On if he feels the defense's speed has improved compared to last year with the additions of CB Jacob Parrish and LB SirVocea Dennis)
"[I am] very encouraged about the speed, but more encouraged about the awareness that the two bring. They're great communicators. They don't make the same mistakes twice, and they can really get to the ball. They can get from sideline to sideline pretty [well]. So, I'm very happy about that."

(On how he's feeling going into Week 1)
"I'm excited."

QUARTERBACK BAKER MAYFIELD

(On what he has seen on tape from the Falcons)
"Obviously they had some personnel changes. I haven't seen a lot of tape of Leonard Floyd with them, but we know who he is – great player. They spent some early picks on edge rushers as well. Some changes in the secondary [too]. AJ Terrell is still there, great player. Jessie Bates, ball hawk, a game-changer guy. And Divine Deablo, a new guy in the interior, linebacker level for them. [There are] some younger [defensive backs] that are going to play. Just personnel wise, trying to figure out who's going to be where without really being able to get non-preseason tape up there to prepare with. But yeah, they're flying around. Obviously they're coached hard, just knowing Raheem Morris and then from talking to Haason [Reddick] about Jeff [Ulbrich], their [defensive coordinator], they coach those guys hard. They play hard for him and everybody that plays for him loves him, so they're going to be flying around."

(On if he's asked CB Benjamin Morrison about Atlanta Falcons S Xavier Watts)
"Yes and no. I'll let Ben prepare on his own."

(On not playing in the preseason like other quarterbacks such as Patrick Mahomes)
"I'll be all right. Defenses don't show a lot in preseason anyway, so I'll be all right."

(On entering Week 1 without much film of the Falcons' new scheme)
"It's a lot of overcommunication. Just making sure that we talk about, 'Hey, we're expecting to get this look, but we're not in their meetings so we can't guarantee it.' So, all the adjustments that could possibly happen…Once you get into Week 1, you don't have a lot of practice to be able to run plays over and over again against different looks. So, it's overcommunicating what we can possibly do, whether it's run or pass, just making sure we're on the same page no matter what the look is."

(On how much he was thinking about Week 1 during training camp)
"For me at least, I always think about the last loss, so that was Washington. Then you hit the reset button and start looking forward to what type of team you have and try to take it one day at a time. You're really not thinking about it too much until you start game planning because you can't get ahead of yourself in this league. Obviously, Atlanta got us twice, but nothing carries over, whether it was their wins against us or how good we were on offense. None of that matters. It's a clean slate for everybody. We're looking forward to opening up on the road with a divisional opponent and that's all that matters – how do we find a way to win?"

(On the depth at wide receiver with injuries to Chris Godwin Jr. and Jalen McMillan)
"It was definitely a luxury early on to have all these guys in that room to learn from Mike [Evans], Chris [Godwin Jr.], or 'Shep' (Sterling Shepard) and have that communication from the veteran guys that are in there that have played a lot of ball. Now with 'J-Mac' (Jalen McMillan) going down, which is very unfortunate, and Chris not going immediately, that stinks. But all those guys had to play last year. If you're trying to take a silver lining out of the injuries we had last year, those guys had to step up and play in a big way. Obviously, Tez and 'Mek' (Emeka Egbuka) are new, but we trust them and we're looking forward to them making plays for us."

(On Offensive Coordinator Josh Grizzard's handling of his new role)
"I think he's handled it great. From listening on the sideline in the preseason games to the communication, and also being able to communicate with him when I'm not playing in the preseason – just what he's thinking as the game flows and what we would try and set up. I think he's handled it really well. The offense as a whole has been locked in. He was a little bit more behind the scenes last year, so he had a different relationship with guys being able to joke around with them. He's still able to do [that], but now when he's up there on stage installing, everybody's locked in because he's really focused on the details. Guys pay attention when he's speaking."

(On facing Atlanta Falcons CB AJ Terrell and S Jessie Bates III)
"When you have players of that caliber, those are your game-wrecking guys. When you do your scouting report early in the week, [Head] Coach [Todd] Bowles gets up there and goes through the offense, defense, and special teams game-wreckers, and those guys are on there. There's no avoiding that. You have to make sure of where they're at, but other than that, it's about trusting your eyes, trusting your reads, and trusting our guys to make plays."

(On playing without T Tristan Wirfs)
"For me, it's always the progression of playing quarterback over the years – how quickly can I get the ball to my playmakers in space? How quickly can they make plays for us? Just overcommunicating the looks, the timing of plays…'Hey, we have to hold on to it a little longer, it's a longer developing play.' Or, is it a bad look and can I check to a screen? Just getting the ball out of my hands. For me, it's just about being efficient. Some of the quick game is an extension of our run game, so how quickly can we be efficient with that?"

(On WR Tez Johnson's ability to make defenders miss)
"He's shifty. It's really, really impressive, but we've told him, 'You can make one miss on the sideline, but you better get down. You're still the smallest guy in the NFL.'"

(On T Luke Goedeke's contract extension)
"Obviously [I am] extremely happy for him. He deserves that. He's an unbelievable tackle. He's a guy that sets the tone for us. He won't stop until the whistle is blown or somebody pulls him off. It's great to have a guy like that in the room and he deserves that. Really happy for him – hopefully he can pay off the loan for his window tint that he just got. He's probably the cheapest guy I know."

(On preparing for a division opponent in Week 1)
"When you're preparing for Atlanta, it's a similar offense with Zac Robinson there and it being similar to what Liam [Coen] installed last year. So, you understand you're going to see a lot of those looks in practice, training camp, and offseason work. They know us, we know them. It's about who executes and does the little things right. I can't imagine a better Week 1 than on the road against an opponent that knows you, and divisional at that."

(On what his gameday emotions are like in Week 1
"It's exciting to get back out there, but [I'm] just trying to enjoy it. Never take a week or one of these moments for granted. Even though it's Year 8, this is still living out a dream. How much fun can I have and how much can I take advantage of the opportunity? I still enjoy it."

(On adjusting to multiple wide receiver injuries last season, and how that could help this season)
"It's not necessarily from a quarterback perspective, but leadership style – always trying to elevate the guys around you. It doesn't matter who's in there, they have to believe in themselves. It's the greatest team sport for a reason. You've got to have all 11 players on the same page. How can I make sure everybody feels good about their job and what we're trying to accomplish? Just go do it."

(On what his expectations are for himself this season)
"More wins. Case in point, more wins."

(On QB Kyle Trask not making the 53-man roster)
"It's unfortunately the nature of the business. It stinks. I got close with Kyle. I love Kyle. I thought he grew a ton from the time I got here to [now]. He's not here anymore, but I wish him the best. You never know. This is a crazy business – you never know where you can end up. As I know from personal experience, sometimes you just need a fresh start."

(On if this is the most talented locker room he's been in since he entered the NFL)
"Without a doubt."

(On what the Buccaneers organization has meant to him)
"I've said it a bunch, but it's the truth. From the time I stepped foot in here, they told me to be myself. From the journey I've been on, the ups and downs, I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity. Then getting an extension here – even more grateful for that, to be able to spend more years here. They've built a great culture here from the top down. That's what matters and that's what's allowed me to step in and hit the ground running. It's 2025, another opportunity to see what we can do, and it's finally here."

RUNNING BACK BUCKY IRVING

(On how his approach is different heading into Week 1 going into year two)

"It is not different, just being able to know that you put the work in with the team and by yourself. Everything that is done in the dark is going to come to light. [So,] just being able to know that you put the work in, now it is time to go out there and play football."

(On what impresses him about Atlanta Falcons RB Bijan Robinson)

"You always watch the running backs that do [well] in this league. Bijan [Robinson] is a great running back in this league. [Him] being able to stop on a dime, make cuts -- great back out of the backfield. You always give praises to [a] running back that is doing [well] in this league."

(On the difficulty of facing an opponent in Week 1)

"[Being able to] just go out there first drive [and] see what looks they give us and then go to the sideline and adjust. Week 1, everybody will have different looks. When you go out there and see the look, just being able to go to the sideline and fix what we have to do."

(On what he likes about WR Emeka Egbuka's game)

"He can do a lot. He can catch -- he is built like a running back, pretty [jacked] up. He is a great person on and off the field. [He is] just a great football player all around, I am excited to see what he can do."

RIGHT TACKLE LUKE GOEDEKE

(On getting a contract extension prior to the season)

"It has been a whirlwind. First and foremost: thanks to God -- I would not be here without him. The front office, owners, the coaching staff, my teammates, and all the staff that make this place go day-in and day-out. They all have a piece to play in this whole ordeal, and I could not be more grateful or thankful to be where I am today. Where I have come from in my life and to where I am today -- it is a surreal moment. I do not think it has truly hit me yet. I am the same guy day-in and day-out. I am still punching in the timecard every morning and punching out. [I am] trying to be the best teammate to help the Bucs bring a Super Bowl back to Tampa."

(On playing through adversity his first few years as he played a new position)

"I faced adversity in my rookie year. I was grateful for the opportunity for one just to be in the NFL -- I was going to do whatever they asked of me. I did not play up to expectations, got benched, and kind of took a step back and was able to get more familiar with the position and towards the end of the year, picked up on it, but then switched back to right tackle as you guys know. Adversity in life -- it is going to come throughout the rest of my life -- whether it be in the NFL, in day-to-day life, everyone faces it. It is how you come back from that. One of the big takeaways from that is: God always has a plan for you and whether you lose a rep, it was meant to happen and [you can] learn something from it. I took an approach that way and really started elevating my game from there."

(On facing two rookie edge rushers in Week 1)

"They have some preseason tape, but they are both good rushers. [They] played at great schools in college and are highly drafted guys. They both have great speed and are solid with their hands. Definitely will present a challenge just like any other edge rusher in the NFL."

(On being able to play with T Tristan Wirfs for the foreseeable future)

"It means everything to us. We have talked about this -- even before he signed his extension like, 'Hey, let's play 10+ years here in Tampa together and make our dreams a reality.' He means the world to me. If he did not switch to left tackle, I do not know where I would be today -- might be on a different team or might still be a left guard, who knows. Very thankful for him, just conversations we have had. It was very exciting when he signed his extension. Love Tristan [Wirfs] to death; he called me last night after he saw the news and congratulated me. It is just great being able to play football with one of your best friends -- him playing on the opposite side and going to war with him week-in, week-out."

WIDE RECEIVER EMEKA EGBUKA

(On how he is feeling headed into Week 1)

"[I am] feeling great. I feel like we are establishing good connections as an entire offensive unit. We have put in a lot of hard work to get to this point and now that the season is upon us, we have to trust all the work that we have put in and just let it rip on Sunday."

(On how he feels going up against the Atlanta Falcons secondary unit)

"I am super excited. This is what it is all about. The NFL is the best against the best, so I am really excited to be able to test my talents and see how I am able to perform. I already have an idea from going against some guys in practice and when it comes to their safeties like Xavier Watts -- the last college game I played, I played against him. [There are] familiar faces out there, but also some new ones -- really talented people [that] I am excited to display my talents against."

(On what he prepares for when going against a defense)

"Tendencies [and] tells, what type of coverage they might be running, their man [coverage] technique, if they are a willing tackler, how they adjust blocks -- there is everything to look at. There is not really anything that goes by unnoticed, so we try to know our opponents down pat on Sunday, so nothing shocks us when we step on the field."

(On how comfortable he is feeling in the offense)

"I have felt comfortable for a while now. I do not have any classes I have to go to when I get done with practice, so I have spent most of my free time studying. I think it is my job and why I get paid to be able to know what I am doing on the field. If I go out there without any hesitation at all, that is on me. It is my job to be able to know the offense and 'Grizz's' (Josh Grizzard) job is to be able to create a gameplan for us that we feel confident in, and it is 'Bake's' (Baker Mayfield) job to be able to run the show and get things going. All of us know what our roles are, and we just have to do it."

(On what he has learned from QB Baker Mayfield)

"We draw up a lot of plays for the ideal look, but that is not realistic football -- that is not what you are going to get every single play. I think talking with Baker [Mayfield] and just his cerebral approach to the game... He is talking to me through all the looks -- even the ones we do not get in practice -- so that on Sundays, nothing scares me and we are able to connect."

-BUCCANEERS-