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BUCCANEERS HEAD COACH DIRK KOETTER
On the loss:
"We weren't good enough in any phase. Of course, that starts with me. The type of football we are playing right now (is not good). We can't get punts blocked. We can't have four sacks (on our quarterback). We cannot miss tackles in the run game and not be able to run the football. We're just not playing good enough in any aspect. That all starts with the head coach."
On the sideline issues between the two clubs that took place during the game that resulted in a personal foul penalty on wide receiver Mike Evans:
"I didn't see what happened on the fight. I was looking out on their team, I turned to my left and the fight broke out. I really don't know what happened on that. I heard a report on what happened from people that did. I really didn't see what happened there. That is definitely not the way that we want to represent ourselves, if it was, in fact, the way that I was told."
On the status of Jameis Winston:
"Right shoulder injury. He is getting x-rayed right now. They are not sure yet if it is the same injury or a different injury."
On if he has a concussion:
"Not to my knowledge."
On how Winston played in the first half:
"I don't think that we were playing good in any areas before that (injury). Part of that has to do with protection and not being able to run the ball."
On if he is concerned about his job status:
"When you play like we did today, I am concerned about every aspect. Obviously, that is my responsibility.":
On if Doug Martin was benched or was the team trying to get energy from others:
"We were just trying to find a way to get something going. Peyton (Barber) went in there and found a way to get some yards after contact."
On the status of Will Gholston:
"The report that I received is that Will is undergoing neurological testing at the hospital. Right now, he's neurologically sound. They're continuing to do some tests at a local hospital."
On if Donovan Smith suffered a knee injury:
"He did. He has a knee injury and wasn't able to go in the second half."
On his message to the team going forward:
"Today, my message was that we weren't good enough in any aspect in all three phases, including coaching."
On if he would consider not calling plays:
"Everything is under consideration at this point."
On if there will be personnel changes:
"There is only so much that you can do. (There are) 53 guys (on the active roster)."
On activating Quarterback Ryan Griffin:
"In the event that we had something happen, that is the one reason going back to the preseason why we did reserved-eligible to return Ryan Griffin. This is the week that a decision has to be made on that."
On who would play quarterback if Winston isn't able:
"It is too early to speculate on that. We will see what happens."
On Alvin Kamara being effective today:
"Kamara has been effective all year. He has been effective. He was the same today. He was running hard. He broke some tackles when we were in position to make them. He is playing very well."
On if the team is embarrassed by their play recently:
"I would hope so. I am totally embarrassed by it. I would hope that the players are (feeling the same)."
BUCCANEERS PLAYER QUOTES
Quarterback Jameis Winston
<On if he will be able to throw in practice this week:
"I don't know. It's not my decision."
On how it felt being taken out of the game due to his shoulder injury:
"I just hate losing. Ask me about the game. Don't ask me about my shoulder. I hate losing."
On him and his team's offensive struggles in the first half:
"I have to do my job better. (I'm) not playing well enough. We got to find a way to score touchdowns."
On how surprised he is to see the Buccaneers at 2-6 at the midway point of the season:
"It is getting to the point man. I hate losing. I hate losing. I hate losing."
On how team has had a difficult time responding to losses this season:
"I don't know. That is something we (are going) to have to handle internally, but we (are going) to handle it. We have to start winning."
On being put in a position to win games:
"I don't think I am doing a good job to put our offense in position to score. I know I am not doing my job, so I have to do a better job. Everyone has to do a better job. Everyone has to take ownership and start playing. Our coaches, they are doing their job. Coaches coach, players play. We got to play. I know I have to play. I am not playing well enough."
On whose call it was to take him out of the game:
"It (was) the doctors. I don't know (exactly) whose call it was. I just know they pulled me. That's all I know."
On what he is not doing well:
"Completing the football efficiently. Obviously, driving the team down there to score touchdowns. It's on me. We got a team, but the quarterback has to get the ball in the end zone. I'm not doing that."
On his message to the team:
"I got to fix myself before I can do anything out there. I got to fix myself. I got to do a better job. I can't go and expect somebody else to do their job to their caliber, and I am not doing my job.
On seeing William Gholston get hurt:
"We send our prayers to him. For somebody that plays as hard as he plays. That's enough to just make you want to play harder. I thought we (were) going to get some juice from that when we see our teammate go down, but we got to find out what's going to make it work."
On the possibility that he could get shut down this season by the Buccaneers if there's risk to further injure his shoulder:
"I do not control that at all. My job's to get better at my job. I have to do that. I am not doing a good job right now."
On keeping the locker room together when sitting at 2-6:
"We should want to be motivated because we don't want to finish the season with two (wins). I hate losing. Do you hate losing? Do all of you hate losing? We hate losing, too. So we (are going to) fix things. We got to start playing better."
Wide Receiver Mike Evans:
On if he is concerned about discipline after shoving Marshon Lattimore:
"Yeah, I want to play. I want to help my team, but the league is going to do what they are going to do."
On if frustration from offensive struggles factored into shoving Marshon Lattimore:
"A little bit. But I'm going to protect my quarterback no matter what, but I shouldn't have did that. That was kind of malicious. I shouldn't have hit him in his back like that. I should have just shoved him away to try to break it up, but I reacted to quick. I shouldn't have did it."
Tight End O.J. Howard
On not executing on offense today:
"I would just say it's disappointing more than frustrating because we practice all week so hard. We had a great week of practice and we just did not translate today. Our offense I'm seeing is just way better than that. It's just disappointing."
On his fumble:
"I was just trying to do too much. (I was) trying to make a play. The ball was low, (I) got to keep it high and tight. (The) guy ripped it out. That was just bad ball playing by me."
Defensive Tackle Chris Baker
On mindset coming out of halftime:
"Come out here and play football. Let's start fast and obviously, we didn't start fast enough. They came out and just played great. We got to figure out how we are going to get better as an offense, defense, special teams, and coaching. They beat us in every aspect of the game. If we want to win a game, we have to figure out how to stop teams and how to score. Until then we're going to keep having the same feeling. I'm just pissed off. We just want to get better. Guys are coming to work each and every day doing what the coaches ask us to do. We just got to translate that."
On injury to Gholston:
"We're praying for him. When it happened on the field, it's a tough situation, but we understand that any given play can be the last play in this league. So, we just pray for the best and hope nothing too serious is wrong, what happened to him. We'll see what happens the next couple of days." Linebacker Kendell Beckwith
On playing back in the Superdome:
"It's a dream come true. As a kid, you grow up thinking about what if I play in the NFL. Actually playing an NFL game and coming back home against the home team, like I said, it's a dream come true. That's not the outcome that we wanted, but we just got to keep working, keep fighting."
On Saints offensive adjustments in the second half:
"Some good game planning. They definitely had some good gameplanning. Hats off to them. You got to give credit where credit is due. They had a good game plan. I guess we just got to execute better." (On the sideline scuffle) "It is some trash talking going on. It is a lot of emotions. Especially, when you're down. We were down, lot of emotions. It's a competitive game and that kind of stuff happens."
