Josh Rosen – August 16, 2019 (Postgame)
August 16, 2019
Postgame – Tampa Bay
QB Josh Rosen (Transcribed by Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
(On how he would evaluate his play tonight…) – “Okay. I think I had some good and some bad, but overall I’d say a positive. But there was definitely a good amount of mistakes that I could learn from”.
(On a near interception he intended for Preston Williams…) – “It was just a bad throw”
(On what he took from his experience starting the game…) – “A good amount. I think most of the learning comes in the next 24 hours. We’re going to get back and I think a lot of [learning] comes from film. There were some good plays and some bad, but there was a lot to learn from.”
(On how important it is to establish the run game…) – “I think that is always important in football. The quarterback’s best friend is a good running game and I think that is a universal truth regardless to offense. But we all have things to work on, I think I could definitely improve throws, reads. A couple run plays I didn’t bring certain guys in to block for us so a lot of that is on me as well. The run game and pass game are on all 11 guys. It’s not like guys are taking plays off; receivers are blocking, running backs are running routes, so regardless of run or pass, all 1 guys are involved.”
(On his ability to make a play under heavy pressure…) – “Pretty good. But there were times where I did kind of shudder a little bit. I knew one of the sacks I took, I could have stepped up a little harder, and given my tackle an easier loop. I know that one to Kenny [Stills], I got a little lucky but I got the ball out in time. The pass to Durham [Smythe] I stepped up, but I don’t really think I needed to escape. I think I maybe could have sat in the pocket and if I gave him a little better ball he maybe could have run with it. Those are kind of the little things. Even if there was a positive play and a good chunk, there are always little things you can improve upon.”
(On how the week went against Tampa Bay…) – “The week overall I think went really well. Coach [Flores] also told us as a team that he thinks that the week overall we got a lot better as a team. We just have to clean up a lot of little things. We were shooting ourselves in the foot in regards to penalties and simple mental errors. I think it was an overall positive, but it’s a preseason game and we have two more dress rehearsals and then the real thing comes on.”
(On if he felt like he had to make a play in tonight’s game to strengthen his case to be a starter…) – “Nothing in particular, I know it’s a game and it’s a little more formal than practice, but each day I am just trying to execute our plays to the best I can. I’m just keeping my head down, more of a microscope perspective, as opposed to a telescope, I guess you could say. Those decisions about playing or not are above me. I’m just trying to basically show my skills.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick – August 16, 2019 (Postgame)
August 16, 2019
Postgame – Tampa Bay
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (Transcribed by Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
(On how his shoulder is doing after hitting Buccaneers DB M.J. Stewart…) – “Good.”
(On how he felt about the hit…) – “No. I like to do that sometimes, so I just felt like I needed to get one in there.”
(On how the hit felt…) – “Good.”
(On the Buccaneers sideline’s reaction…) – “Their sideline was laughing, because they know me and kind of my style of play. So, they were giving me a hard time over there with some back and forth.”
(On if he feels he needs more opportunities…) – “I mean I’m here. Whatever Coach (Brian Flores) wants to do, whenever he wants to put me in or not put me in, I’m here and ready to play. So, whatever he wants I’m here for.”
(On what needs to happen for the team to get to the next level offensively…) – “I think we’ll game plan a little bit more. We’ll try and get some situational stuff. We really fine-tune it for the Jaguars. So, hopefully with the focus we put throughout the week in practice and everything, we’ll have a nice plan and be able to go out and execute a little bit better than we did today.”
(On how the team has done during the offseason…) – “We’ve done a decent job all off season of just being fluid with throwing to different guys all the time and working the communication with different guys up front. The way this offense is run and taught and the way that we’ve practiced, we’ve all gotten enough work with each other I think to be able to go out there and do better than we did today.”
(On how we feels the week went for him…) – “It was a good week. I think maybe personally more than on the field it was just very nice to see everybody and just a lot of special people here. So, it was fun for me to get back and talk with all of them.”
Brian Flores – August 16, 2019 (Postgame)
Friday, August 16, 2019
Postgame – Tampa Bay
Head Coach Brian Flores (Transcribed by Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
(On how QB Josh Rosen performed…) – “I thought he played well in the first half. I thought he made some smart decisions early. I’d like to see him not take those couple of sacks on that one series. He did step up in the pocket on that one. Overall, he had good command of the huddle. He did a lot of good things overall. It didn’t help when you had two dropped balls that would’ve kept those drives going a little longer. I think overall as a team there was too many penalties, too many missed tackles, too many dropped balls. Those are the things – in a close game like that, those are the difference. We’ll keep harping on those things, We did a lot of good things over the course of this week and tonight in the game. I’m encouraged by that.”
(On his decision to start Rosen in the first half…) – “We felt like we wanted to get him in early against Tampa’s first group and also get him some snaps with the center and some of those receivers in that group.”
(On the quarterback battle…) – “I mean it’s hard to say going through the film. Fitzy (Ryan Fitzpatrick) went in there and did a good job. Jake [Rudock] went in there and did a good job took us down the field at the end and scored that two-point conversion. Look, it’s always a competition, that’s the way it will always be around here.”
(On whether or not he saw enough out of Fitzpatrick to make a quarterback decision for Week 1…) – “Nah, we will probably start him next week.”
(On the play of the offensive line…) – “I think it was better. We protected inside out, kept the pocket clean. A good amount of the night there were some instances where the quarterback position was able to help those guys out and stepped up in the pocket. But again, I’ll get a better look at it tomorrow. There were some holding penalties that we didn’t like that kind of stalled some drives. Those are the things that hinder an offense more than anything. We were down in the red zone early, a holding penalty pushed us from 2nd-and-7 to 1st-and-19 – not exactly sure but it was somewhere in that realm. We’ve just got to a better job overall as a team of limiting the penalties, doing a good job of ball security, tackling, basic fundamentals. Look its an imperfect game, so I know we are going to get a holding there, a missed tackle here and there and a drop the ball there. As much as we can limit those things, that will help us.”
(On how WR Preston Williams performed…) – “He had a drop early. He’s a young kid, it was his second full game. Every experience is good for him. He had a couple punt returns. Guys in this league are fast, if you are going to go east to west, you better be extremely fast, and even then, you got those fast guys chasing you. That’s an experience for him … hopefully he’s learning from that. He’s had a good camp, he had a good week. Look he’s young he’s going to make some mistakes. We’re just going to correct them and he’s going to be good.”
(On whether this was the most successful outing of training camp for the front seven…) – “I would like to see us start faster. We made a couple first downs there, missed a tackle there, a sack, a potential sack. That’s one of the problems we’re not really attacking the quarterback very often, you know at all. We haven’t done it at all actually. It hasn’t happened at all. Jameis [Winston] is a big, strong quarterback. There are a lot of quarterbacks in this league that are that way. Defensively, we talked about right after that series, break down then accelerate, wrap up, put these guys to the ground. We made that adjustment, and again, another good experience for us.”
(On what makes LB Jerome Baker a good blitzer…) – “He’s got a good feel for it. Also, he has got good speed, good athleticism and he’s got good timing as well. He does a good job of studying cadence and he times them up pretty well.”
(On QB Ryan Fitzpatrick lowering his shoulder…) – “Fitz is tough. This isn’t the first time seeing him do that, he’s as tough as they come. You kind of cringe a little bit, you don’t want to see a quarterback doing that, but that’s a part of this game. Talk to these guys about coming loose and turning and cutting loose. I think they did that overall as a group. I saw a lot of encouragement from the guys for their teammates. You know they’re having fun out there. Should have seen the sideline light up. I’m not encouraging that, but we love his toughness and leadership. Guys want to play for a guy who can put it on the line like that.”
(On the pass interference call that was challenged and overturned…) – “No, I’m still not convinced … Those are the rules and that was the call, we’ve got to move past it, move on, move on to the next play. We know there’s going to be some adversity. We know there are going to get some bad calls, not saying it’s a bad call, but there’s going to be bumps in the road and you just have to play through it.”
(On how to judge whether or not to challenge a pass interference call…) – “I think it’s still a work in progress, that’s why I’m asking the officials all the questions I can ask. Practice setting – we had the officials there at practice in our training camp, so I ask those guys a lot of questions. I show them certain things and say, ‘Is this a good opportunity for me to challenge?’ So, it’s a work in progress. We’ve got a team of people and staff who are charged with the rules and challenges and penalties. It’s something that we need to work on. I think a lot of it is an opportunity where we feel like field position is a part of it.”
(Does Fitzpatrick’s toughness play into the evaluation process…) – “I think it’s all a part of it – the toughness, the grit, the leadership. We want to see it from all our players, specifically the quarterback position. Yeah, it plays into the evaluation, but at the end of the day it’s about production on the field. He had a good scramble, made a couple good throws. Josh [Rosen] made a couple good throws, Jake [Rudock] made some good throws and they made some not so good decisions. It’s all a part of the evaluations.”
(On how the pass protection was…) – “I thought early on it was good. The quarterbacks had a clean pocket, more space. I was disappointed we had some drops. We had space, we had time and the drops were disappointing. Overall, I thought it was good at the start, then the second quarter there were some issues. Protection-wise we had guys coming off the edge … Overall, I think it was better than last week. That’s really the goal is to try to improve on a day-to-day basis.”
Bobby McCain – August 16, 2019 (Second Half)
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Friday, August 16, 2019
S Bobby McCain (Second Half)
(Last year, you were all over the place. Now you’ve got a spot at deep safety, how do you like it?) – “You’ve just got to go get better each and every day. We have a lot of guys that can move and do a lot of different things, including myself. I may be at safety, I may be at nickel, I may be at corner, I may be at (line)backer. You never know, so it’s good to have a lot of guys that can move around and just get comfortable with the defense. Don’t get comfortable with where you are, just try to get better every day. We’ve got to try to get comfortable with the defense and understand it.”
(It looks like in that safety room, everybody’s interchangeable.) – “Yeah, for sure. Like I said, everybody can move. Everybody can be anywhere. So I may be on the edge, and I may be – you never know. That’s the good thing about this defense. You don’t know.”
(You see in that defensive front. Linebackers in different positions, different things going on. A lot of changes to this defense, and hopefully you all…) – “Yeah, hopefully. That’s what ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) is here for. He’s a great defensive mind, and we’re just here to take all the credit. (laughter)”
Daniel Kilgore – August 16, 2019 (Second Half)
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Friday, August 16, 2019
C Daniel Kilgore (Third Quarter)
(How are you feeling and are you excited to be back?) – “I’m very excited to be back. I’m feeling really good. The staff and everybody did a great job of getting me back, and it was a great offseason for me. (It was) really important to make sure I did come back healthy. I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to getting to being the old guy in the room and really leading these young guys.”
(Speaking about the young guys, you’ve got two young guys on both sides in the guard position. You get to watch them closely. How are G Michael Deiter and G Shaq Calhoun progressing?) – “There are some growing pains, for sure. That transition from college to the league is a big jump, but they’re handling it well. I’m really impressed with how they just come in and grind every day, and they’re getting better.”
(It’s kind of hard with people coming and going on offense, but how do you like the scheme and what you put on the field?) – “I’m enjoying the scheme. It’s going to be great. I’ve been a part of a lot of offenses, but this one has been good. It’s offensive-friendly – offensive line-friendly – and we’re just looking forward to growing every day.”
Brian Flores – August 16, 2019 (Halftime)
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Friday, August 16, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores (Halftime)
(You gave QB Josh Rosen the start and he played the first half, what did you see that you liked?) – “I thought he played well, made some good decisions out there. I would like to not see him take as many sacks; but I thought he threw the ball well, had some drops – that didn’t help him. But I thought overall, he played well.”
(You talked about QB Josh Rosen a little bit body language-wise. It looked like he was…) – “He was into the game. He was ready to go. I thought he did a good job in the huddle, getting the play calls in. I thought he played well from that standpoint.”
(Defensively, you started the game – started to get some pressure on Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston – got some hits, got another sack later on and then you got a turnover by LB Sam Eguavoen. So good things you’re seeing on defense?) – “Yeah, I thought we started a little bit slow. They got a couple first downs on that first drive; but we picked it up, got them off the field, forced a punt, and then we kind of got into a groove after that. But we’ve got to keep it going. This is about finishing games, not the way we started. None of it matters anymore.”
(Second half – quarterback-wise, how are we going to go?) – “’Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is going to start the second half, and we’ll see after that.”
(How important is it to you to win preseason games?) – “Anytime we can win, that’s what we’re looking for. I’m trying to win every game, always.
Kalen Ballage – August 14, 2019
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Wednesday, August 14, 2019
RB Kalen Ballage
(With RB Kenyan Drake out today, it seemed like you got a lot more reps. Do you feel like you took advantage of that opportunity?) – “I’m just out here to have fun and play football and do my job. I don’t really worry about too much else or anything. I’m happy for the opportunity.”
(You’re lining up with everybody pretty much, the way Head Coach Brian Flores has got you guys going. WR Preston Williams, QB Josh Rosen, yourself – kind of that young group – what do you like about that lineup?) – “I think young guys have to be able to come out here and make plays. This (isn’t) college (anymore) more. It’s not high school. In my opinion, age doesn’t really matter. I think you just come out here and if you can ball, you can ball. I think that’s a big part of it.”
(What did you learn about this offense the last two days going up against the Buccaneers leading up to the preseason game?) – “It’s something that I’ve always known. I think that it gets the best athletes and the best talents in space, gets them the ball and kind of puts the rest on us to make plays. I think that that’s something that’s real important.”
Kenny Stills – August 14, 2019
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Wednesday, August 14, 2019
WR Kenny Stills
(We understand that you had the opportunity to speak to Mr. Ross.) – “Yep.”
(Can I ask – from the story that published yesterday, it was an agree-to-disagree situation. Can you kind of elaborate on how you feel about that?) – “Right. It is what it is. I have my opinion, and he has his. I think that’s all it really was.”
(Do you think maybe this will – the whole situation – move forward and the noise surrounding all of this, mostly at the national level, maybe could go away? You may not want it to go away.) – “As far as – what do you mean?”
(Just that everybody’s talking about it and Stephen Ross and…) – “I think it’s important for people to understand that we can disagree on things and still move forward. A lot of the things that I’ve talked about are just on a basic level of being a human being, being respectful and really just caring about others and trying to draw the line in the sand when it comes to hate and divisiveness and inciting violence. So that’s where I’ve drawn the line, and other people – we’re trying to encourage other people to do the same.”
(A lot of people view what you’re doing in the right. When you’re out here, do you have the opportunity to – did some of the Buccaneers players even say something to you about this?) – “I mean I think guys see what’s been said. I think people just appreciate other guys speaking truth to power, and so that’s all I’ve been trying to do. Like I’ve said before, it’s not about creating any type of divisiveness. It’s just informing people on what’s going on. Sometimes I’ve got to be a messenger.”
(Do you feel Stephen Ross was receptive in any way to some of the things you expressed to him about why you felt the way you felt?) – “I can’t say. Like I said, our conversation was short. We agreed to disagree, and we both said that there weren’t any hard feelings, and our focus was on trying to win games this year.”
(Did Stephen Ross express to you that he preferred you didn’t tweet out anything?) – “No. I actually was the one that brought it up saying that – just likes (Head Coach Brian) Flores said – looking back at it in hindsight, that probably is the most professional thing to do. Would I have done it? Going back, probably not. But I agree with Flores, I agree with other people that it is probably the right thing to do.”
(Even if you did have a conversation and you tweeted about it, what do you think the result of that would’ve been?) – “Same thing. I’m still pointing out the contradiction, and I think that’s it at the end of the day.”
