Buccaneers Postgame Quotes (Preseason Week Two)
Head Coach Todd Bowles
On QB John Wolford’s status…
He got his movement back in his arm, he kind of went numb a little bit. He got his movement back and he seems to be ok.
On QB Kyle Trask being put back into the game when Wolford got hurt and if QB Baker Mayfield not playing means the decision has been made that Mayfield will be the starter for Week 1…
No, Trask was warmer at the time, and we took out the line and he was ready to go. We were going to play Baker at the end of the half, but we wanted to see Kyle in the two-minute period, so kind of left him in and then the time kind of went down. We wanted to play John in the second half, it wasn’t fair to put Baker in there without the line he had, and Trask was already warmed up so when John got hurt, we just put him back in to finish.
On confirming that there was intent to have Mayfield play…
Yeah, he was up to play and I made a decision at the last minute.
On QB Kyle Trask’s performance overall…
I thought he did a great job. I thought he handled the pressure well, I thought he got the plays in on time, I thought he was poised in the pocket. Obviously, some things he’d like to have back, the communication went well on the headset, I thought he did well.
On WR Rakim Jarrett’s performance…
He made some great catches. I don’t know what he’s trying to do when he’s trying to jump over a guy, you know we don’t teach that, but he made some great catches. He showed he’s a very good athlete, we liked what we saw.
On if it’s fair to say it’s a different type of playing field with the quarterback battle when one quarterback plays but the other one doesn’t play at all when you’re trying to come up with who’s going to be the starter…
No, it’s not a different kind of playing field. We monitor everything, it’s not just preseason games, it’s everything they go through. They’ve both been competing hard; we like what both of them do and we’ll go from there.
On why they wouldn’t start Mayfield in the second half instead of Wolford…
Difference offensive line, we want to see other guys. I don’t want to see Baker in there in the second half with those guys and we played Kyle with the same offensive line last week that we played Baker, so we just played John.
On if he expects both quarterbacks to play in the third preseason game…
Probably, yeah. Everybody’s going to play in the third one.
On if he thought he saw improvements from the defense compared to last week when it came to tackling and pursuit…
It got better from last week, still can get better. I thought (CB) Zyon (McCollum) improved from last week which was big for him. I think we let the quarterback out and we didn’t keep him contained and we missed some tackles on that run, but for the most part it was better than last week.
On DB Dee Delaney’s interception and on the slot corner competition…
He just finds the ball. Dee’s been with us for awhile, he’s a heady player, he gives us flexibility because of his versatility. Plays corner, both safety spots and nickel and that really helps us out. He works hard every day and he’s a heady ball player.
On what’s not happening in the run game early in both the first and second preseason games…
Initially I saw some penetration up the middle early, I’ll see where it was at once we watch the tape. Didn’t like the penetration early.
On less penalties compared to the previous preseason game and if he was happy with the outcome…
I’m happy that there was less and there should even be less next week.
On WR Trey Palmer…
I like the fact that he’s a gamer. When the lights come on he doesn’t shy away, seems to make a play all the time and that’s two weeks in a row now, as well as some good practices. We really like what we see from that standpoint.
On the defense’s performance overall…
Kept them out of the end zone, that’s a big cry from 27 points last week to six points this week. We understand it’s preseason, but I thought the younger guys got better and they played well throughout.
On RB Sean Tucker…
He’s a good football player. We saw it early when he came into training camp once he got cleared. He’s very smart, he’s very tough, he can see everything and once he’s out there, he’s another guy that shows up every week, so we look forward to him getting better and better.
On any other injuries to note, including LB K.J. Britt…
I know he had a hamstring, don’t know how serious, I’ll find out when we go.
On OLB Markees Watts…
Again, that’s a tough battle. He’s very smart, he’s very tough, we know he can rush the passer. He’s very athletic, he can do a lot of things and that position is going to be tough, but we really like what we see out of him.
QB Kyle Trask
On getting extended playing time tonight…
Yeah, it was good. Obviously, you want to take advantage of any reps you can get, especially now in the preseason. Our situation was just trying to get as many reps as you can. Unfortunately, because of what happened to (Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB) John (Wolford). I wish him all the best. That’s tough to see. It’s also tough because there was a whole other half of football to be played, but I thought the guys did a great job coming together and staying focused knowing that we still have a game to finish, but we did a good job of just rallying together, continuing to run the ball, hitting nice shots, guys hungry making plays, but it was really good to see just the guys showing out tonight.
On if he knows if he’ll start in the regular season…
I have no idea. Like I said before, just try to control what I can control. So, just try to make the most of the reps I get. The rest is not in my hands. Just trying to do what I can.
On if he knew he was going to have to play the second half before he did come back in…
To be honest, I wasn’t particularly sure how long I was going to be playing. I thought maybe a quarter, or a half, or similar to what we did last week, but they told me I was going to finish out the first half. Great, more reps, just try to take advantage of it. It wasn’t obviously, like I said before, the extended playing time in the second half. At the end of the day, it’s also a good experience for me just coming cold off the bench and having to force myself to line back up again. So, it is what it is.
On if it was difficult playing the second half…
Yeah, it was tough. I think it was a little bit of a slow start when I went back in there. We were just going to try to run the ball, get my legs back into the game. To be honest, I wasn’t planning on bringing my helmet out for the second half, because I thought I was done, because I was playing the first half. So, the equipment guy gave my helmet to (Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB) Baker (Mayfield) to bring out just in case and fortunately he shot out smiling, but yeah, I had my helmet and I had to go back in.
On Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Rakim Jarrett’s game tonight…
Trying to hurdle somebody. Wasn’t sure how that was going to end up. He was trying to make a play, so that just shows how hungry these young guys are and they’re like that every day in practice, too. Hungry to make plays, and I thought today we were really locked in and just able to hit our tips on routes and play fast. We’re not overthinking about where we’re supposed to be. Everybody knew where they were at and what they were supposed to do, and went out there and played fast, and just did a good job of executing and we’ve just got to build off of this.
On his touchdown pass…
I wanted to take a shot there, so if the safety’s rolled back to one height and we want to take a shot there to (Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR) Trey (Palmer). He’s been making a lot of good plays for us in practice. So, they rolled back, we took a shot and Trey made a remarkable grab.
On his mobility in the pocket and juking defenders…
I know. I was like, oh this is new. I’ve never done this before. I was like, ‘Open field? This is awesome.’ Yeah, just gave it a shot and it worked out. Maybe I can add that one to my toolbox. I just got to work on my slide now.
On the first drive when he came back in the game in the second half…
Yeah, I think I came into the huddle and all the guys had a great look in their eyes, our offensive line, the tight ends, they were hungry to make plays. So, I was like, I’ve got to do my best for these guys to keep them going, keep their energy up and continue to try to make plays. I thought we did a great job of that tonight.
On if he felt more comfortable with the offense later in the game…
Yeah, the more reps you get as the game goes on you get in a rhythm and I thought I did a good job finding that rhythm. I was trying to continue to stay calm, stay in that groove, and just try to progress the ball down the field the best we could.