Table of Contents

About the Author: Matt Matera

Avatar Of Matt Matera

[adrotate group=”1″]

The Bucs went toe-to-toe with the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field in a shootout of a game that ended in overtime. Both offenses caught fire with big games from Mike Evans and Tyler Lockett respectively, with the Seahawks coming out on top 40-34.

Tampa Bay had Carlton Davis, Anthony Nelson, and Carl Nassib all leave the game with injury, forcing the Bucs to have six rookies playing on defense at one point. But despite a fourth straight loss, Bruce Arians was rather upbeat after the game, stating how proud he was of his team’s effort against a tough opponent, particularly from the rookies.

Here is a full transcript of Arians’ press conference after the Bucs game.

Opening Statement
“Tough one, I’m not used to losing here. Really, really proud of our guys. At one time we had six rookies on defense and we were fighting our asses off. This was an NFL game for some of them, they got broken in pretty good. Offensively, I don’t think we could have played much better, couple of third downs, maybe. I thought our kicking game was solid, that field goal before the half, I knew it was going to be huge. In these games up here they always are, every point counts, so those three points, I thought it was a hell of a drive with 40 seconds to get to field goal range and I was counting on Matt to make that one. Really, really proud of our guys.”

On how important it was when Mike Evans chased down the defender on the turnover
“I think everybody gave some great effort. I thought Devin White’s play on Carson was unbelievable, we just don’t get that fumble. That’s what these young guys are all about, each and every guy had a handle today.”

On if thought about going for two when they scored late
“No, just because of history here. The kicker just missed one, so no.”

On if Jameis Winston showed maturity by throwing the ball away on screens
“Yeah, no doubt. He had two or three screens today that he handled extremely well. K.J. Wright is a tough guy to get a screen pass on, he read him, but Jameis played probably as good as he’s played all year.”

On how important it is to get the ball first in overtime
“That’s the thing. Everytime in overtime you want that ball, and I’ve had some doozies with these guys before and I thought we had them stopped and they made a really good third down conversion.”

On what has to happen for them to close outs games in the fourth quarter
“We just got to grow up. I mean we’re really, really, young. Over there we had three rookies back on the back end playing and Devin and Nelson got hurt, so just keep growing. But I love the way they competed.”

On Russell Wilson making some big throws against them
“That’s Russell, I’ve been watching that for a long, long, time. When Russell gets out of the pocket, that’s when he’s most dangerous. We let him up the middle and that’s a no-no.”

Bucs Hc Bruce Arians

Bucs HC Bruce Arians – Photo By: Mary Holt/PR

On the discipline it takes to stop a quarterback like Wilson
“The pass rush, the coverage, Sean jumped up in front and the guy whirly birds out and he gets a holding penalty. Things like that that you practice them, but it is not the same as in the game.”

On getting animated on the sideline at the end, if there was something he thought the ref missed
“I thought they were holding the s*** out of us.”

On what he thought of Jamel Dean’s game
“He made some good plays, he made some bad plays. It was a big learning experience, it was the most he played, just physically being tired. I thought Sean Murphy-Bunting, he’s been growing and growing. I thought this was a good for Jamel. Mike Edwards got out there and got some snaps. The growth is good.”

On if Carlton Davis hurt himself on the opening kickoff
“No, he hurt himself in warmups.”

On if Dean didn’t know going in that he was playing as much as he did
“No, not until we came in from warmups.”

On when they scored from the two yard line with little time left, if he thought about letting the clock run more so Seattle wouldn’t have time
“No, just get the touchdown.”

On if he got a lot of positives out of this game
“I don’t think there’s any doubt. I’m really really proud of this group. Carlton’s injury throws a young guy out there, and like I said, when you’re playing with six rookies on defense, there were snaps out there and they held their own. It’s a bright future, yeah we’re pissed off about a losing a game that went to overtime that we thought we should win like last week, but I see the growth, I see us getting better.”

On how nice it will be to play at home next week
“I don’t know what that’s like.”

On Devin White’s ability to strip the ball away twice in the game
“Just catch him. That was a huge, big time play. The only time I saw something like that, I saw Tyrann Mathieu do that his rookie year and catch Jared Cook, I just wish we would have got the damn ball. It was a great play by him but we don’t get the ball, the ball bounced out of bounds.”

On Jameis Winston’s turnover, that it looked like his arm got hit
“Yeah it just went back and hit one of the guys on the back. That was huge, but I think that was the one where we held them to three.”

On what it says when Winston can match Russell Wilson in a shootout
“Like I said, I can’t be more prouder of our guys. To have the injuries that we had at the last second and then to go out there and take this time to overtime, and that’s a hell of a football team, I think that speaks volumes about our guys. A play or two, we’re just a play or two and than we win last week, we win this week. We had six rookies on defense a couple snaps and its like, they’re holding their own.”

On if he thinks the locker room will take something from this game
“No, they’re pissed. They’re really pissed because it’s like two weeks in a row and they worked hard in practice this week and it showed in this game. I can’t ask anymore of these guys, can’t be more prouder of them.”

Bucs Qb Jameis WinstonMost Impressive: Bucs At Seahawks
Seahawks Wr Tyler Lockett And Bucs Cb Jamel Dean2-Point Conversion: Young Bucs Defense Falters In OT Loss
Subscribe
Notify of
20 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments