(On the impact of G Ben Bredeson’s injury)

“I mean, look, it’s a next man up mentality. I was super proud of Mike [Jordan] and Dan [Feeney] stepping up like that. You guys know how many injuries we’ve had this year – to see another one, it just [stinks]. But [I am] super proud of the way Mike stepped up. We haven’t had any continuity this year, and that’s not anyone’s fault, it’s just how it is. As I’ve said to questions like this all year – it doesn’t matter, it’s the NFL. We’ve got to step up no matter who’s in the game, and play better and execute better. I think we’ve just got to keep going back to the drawing board and keep getting better.”

(On the game being there for the taking)

“The game was there for the taking and we didn’t take it. That’s what I’m talking about is those moments that you have to come up big. You have to execute when it matters most and we didn’t.”

(On the touchdown drive to begin the game)

“It felt a little 2024-ish first drive… Take the ball, go down the field, score. I was like, ‘Here we go – let’s keep rolling,’ and we just didn’t.”

(On how it feels when an offense has multiple explosive plays)

“It hurts, you know what I’m saying. As a defense, we pride ourselves on things like that, explosive plays; we don’t give that up – pass game, run game, whatever the case may be, and we let some get out today, which is, you know, very uncharacteristic of us. We have fix it, we got to fix it ASAP before it hurts us in the long run. But the good thing about it is [they’re] not hard fixes, it can be done, and we’ll definitely fix it for sure.”

(On the Bye Week possibly affecting the performance)

“No, I don’t think so, man, I feel like the week was smooth. We had a good week at practice, a good week of preparation. We knew what they wanted to do. At this point in the season, it’s just about fundamentals, it’ll always go back to your fundamentals, and today we had a couple missed cues on fundamentals and that hurt us.”

(On how they plan to approach the upcoming week)

“Got to lock in. You know what I’m saying, there’s a lot of great football left to play. We’re a confident bunch, I’m sure we’re going to rebound [and] we’re going to be okay. You know nobody’s holding their head, nobody’s sad about it. The exciting thing is we got a chance to play another week and we’re going to be ready for it.”

(On S Tykee Smith’s interception)

“Big play man. Tykee’s been talking about it all week, and how he’s got to get himself an interception. It happened in practice this week, and when it happens in practice, it happens in the game. It was a big moment when he got it. I’m proud of him; he’s going to continue to stack, and that’s what I expect from him.”

WIDE RECEIVER EMEKA EGBUKA

(On if he agreed with QB Baker Mayfield’s assessment that the offense could not consistently move the ball)

“Yes, absolutely. It’s just what happens when you don’t execute. So, that’s the bottom line. We’ve got to be better and we will be.”

(On the difference in coverage he has faced in the last 3-4 weeks)

“It varies from game to game. [I’m] seeing some of the best corners like I saw today in [Christian] Gonzalez following me around [or] double coverage versus Detroit a lot. A lot of shell and other stuff versus the Saints – depends on their gameplan.

(On if New England adjusted their coverage after the first drive)

“Nah, [Christian] Gonzalez was following me pretty much the whole day.”

(On missed third down connections from QB Baker Mayfield)

“I’ve just got to be better – got to better on third down. It’s one of the biggest situations over the course of a game if you look at all the third downs from our team and their team. If you stack them up side-by-side, you kind of can tell the story of how successful you’re going to be that day. So, I’ll take that one on the chin – I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to get more separation, got to get open, got to catch the ball, and create explosive plays. That’s what I’m paid to do.”

WIDE RECEIVER TEZ JOHNSON

(On his overall thoughts)

“We’ve just got to go back to work. Kudos to a good team – we’ve just got to get back to work.”

(On the up and down nature of the Buccaneers offense)

“I mean stuff like this happens. Like I said, we’ve just got to go back to work. We can’t blame [anybody] – all we can do is take ownership. [It’s] time to go back to work.”

(On balancing his two touchdowns with the fact that the team lost)

“Good day – I thank God for that. But, like I said, it’s time to get back to work. You can’t really [dwell] on this game. If we’ve got mistakes on the field, we leave it out there on the field, watch film tomorrow, and like I said, focus on Buffalo.”

(On how the Buccaneers can move forward as a team)

“The page is already flipped, so I mean, I don’t really know what to say [other than we have to] go back to work.”

(On his excitement about the future of the Buccaneers’ receiving corps, with him and Emeka Egbuka)

“One hundred percent. I mean, I always tell ‘Mek’ (Emeka Egbuka) he’s the best rookie in the country right now, and I think Tampa Bay drafted two good ones, really good ones. So, like I said, he’s the best in the country at this position right now at receiver as a rookie. I think he deserves the rookie award 100%. I love ‘Mek’ – great guy, great kid… I’m saying kid, and I’m the same age, but yeah, he deserves everything. I love him.”

(On the explosive plays allowed defensively)

“For us, on defense, you’ve got to be able to make the routine plays. And then, [we’ve got to] come out faster, with more juice, after halftime.”

(On if he thought that the adjustments that are needed defensively are fixable)

“No doubt. Outside of the big run, the big pass, and then that long run at the end of the game… I think those were the defining factors of the game.”

(On if it’s nice in knowing that the team was only a few plays away from winning heading into next week)

“No doubt – [that’s] time you get a chance to redeem yourself, especially in a tough game like this. Luckily, we have another opportunity next week to fix those little mistakes and try to come out with a ‘W.'”

LEFT TACKLE TRISTAN WIRFS

(On the message in the locker room postgame)

“[We] just [have] to be better. [We] can’t have mistakes from the week carry over to the game. Yeah, we just [have] to play a cleaner football game.”

(On what New England did that was challenging)

“Nothing really, we just have to execute better, it’s on us. Credit to them, [they] played a really good clean game. We just [have] to be better.”

(On how T Luke Goedeke played coming back from IR)
“We’ll watch it, but you didn’t hear his name, and that’s always great for an offensive lineman.”

(On how the team moves forward from today)

“A tough stretch ahead. We [have] to play – we [have] to play good football against good football teams. So, we’ll look at it tomorrow and see what we can correct and be better at and go from there.”