HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN EARNEST GRAHAM’S INJURY
“Obviously, it was the first play of the game. It’s his ankle. It’s not the same injury, it’s a different injury. We felt the best thing to do was to not bring him back into the game.”

GRUDEN ON WILL ALLEN’S FORCED FUMBLE ON A KICKOFF
“It was obviously a big play. We had some turnovers there at the end of the game that clearly turned the game today. I think Jimmy Wilkerson’s at the end of the game was as big as any. What a big effort to pursue the play and it is a credit to our guys. There are hustling, good things happened and we have some good players that really made big plays today down the stretch.”

GRUDEN ON WARRICK DUNN’S PERFORMANCE
“He had to play every situation all the time. Clifton Smith again came in. We moved the ball extremely well. I don’t know if we punted today, maybe one time at the end of the half. We were poor in short yardage early in the game on third and fourth down and Warrick hadn’t been practicing at that a lot. That’s been Earnest’s cup of tea but I thought Warrick Dunn caught the ball and made some big plays. He made some really good traffic runs. At the end of the day, he protected the ball for us and that’s really big against a team like that.”

GRUDEN ON JEFF GARCIA’S PERFORMANCE
“He completed almost every pass. I thought the pass protection for the most pass protection for the most part was very good. We wanted to run the ball and get some balance today. We didn’t have that much success running it, but I thought Jeff played a great game. He ran himself, kept some plays alive and really competed. He got hit early in the football game, we were concerned about him, but he gutted it out and it was one great performance against a hell of a defense today.”

GRUDEN ON THE DEFENSE SHUTTING DOWN ADRIAN PETERSON
“He did a nice job in the first half moving the football. I think they had two or three pretty good drives, but I thought our defensive really came out in the second half and did a great job. We just kept our patience, we didn’t lose “IT”, when Adrian made a nice run. We were able to hang in there, keep battling, we got a lot of people to the football. I thought we tackled well. We got them into some  passing situations and I thought our pass rush was much better today.”

GRUDEN ON THE RED ZONE STRUGGLES
“You know, I’m very much responsible for that. Obviously, I didn’t do a very good job. We moved the ball extremely ball. Third-and-1, fourth-and-1, we have to do  better job. We self-destructed at times and I have to do a better job. There are some situations where we have to make a play. So, we will take a look at it. We are very frustrated to not complete a drive, but I’ll say this; we moved the football extremely well throughout the day today against a very good defense.”

GRUDEN ON RECEIVER ANTONIO BRYANT’S PERFORMANCE
“It was challenging today. We wanted to get  Joey [Galloway] more involved, but we choose to kind of stay in our regular offense most of the day today. That was our game plan. We wanted to play in some one and two receiver sets. We felt pretty good about that. Antonio Bryant runs all the routes, all the time. He is very good after the catch, he is a good threat and he is a very good football player for us right now. It’s a credit to him.”

BUCS QUARTERBACK JEFF GARCIA ON THE VICTORY
“We are excited about this win. We knew it was going to be a slugfest going in. They are a good defensive football team. They have done a great job at keeping teams out of the end zone when they get in the zone. Sometimes, like what has happened throughout the season, we’ve been our own worst enemy at times with penalties and unfortunate turnovers. We are grateful for the win because it was a tough game. The defense did a great job at the end of the game. The offensive line did a great job all game long of keeping a really good front four off my back.”

GARCIA ON THE LONG PASS PLAY TO JERRAMY STEVENS
“To me it just looked like they played a cover-two man and he matched up against a linebacker with the safeties playing somewhat wide, playing the halves of the field. That was a tough stretch of plays because we had some great things happening and then some bad things. Fortunately, I was able to put a ball in a place, a position where he could make a catch. He made a great grab and was able to extend that drive in a very difficult situation and get that touchdown on the board which was our only touchdown of the day, but it came on the opening drive of the second half. That was a big drive for us.”

BUCS CORNERBACK RONDE BARBER ON THE VICTORY
“We got some great play from our offense. They kept the ball a long time, but we finished today and that’s important as anything for us to win this football game today.”

BARBER ON VIKING RUNNING BACK ADRIAN PETERSON
“The guy is tough to deal with and when you think you have him down, he’s still breaking tackles. There are not a lot of guys I can think of off the top of my head that are better than him. But, we knew what our challenge was and on the second half I think we stepped up to it.”

BARBER ON THE LAST FEW MINUTES OF THE GAME
“We were in the red zone three times on offense and we only get six points out of it, so the game could have been over. But, we don’t mind putting the game on our shoulders at the end of football games and that was the case today.”

BARBER ON THE DEFENSE’S FIVE SACKS
“We went three weeks with only like one or two [sacks]. They gave us opportunities to get after the passer. He wasn’t very effective throwing the football and when he was we had a lot of pressure on him. I mean that’s what defines this defense or at least it has defined this defense and today it showed up.”

BUCS RUNNING BACK WARRICK DUNN ON THE VICTORY
“It was a good game overall. I think defensively those guys played great. They definitely were the deciding factor on us winning this game and I think for us offensively, in the second half, we really came out, we played a lot better and moved the football. We made plays, kept their defense on the field a little bit. So, I think it was a balanced game in the second half, but we need to do better. We need to score touchdowns and not field goals.”

DUNN ON FILLING IN FOR EARNEST GRAHAM
“Any running back relishes that opportunity, and it was tough because I haven’t really played a lot in the last few weeks so I had to get a feel for the game again. It was just stepping up for the team, it is important if a guy goes down, the other guy comes in and steps up, covers any slack. I need to do better in short yardage and in goal line situations, but I will pick it up.”

BUCS FULLBACK B.J. ASKEW ON HIS FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN
“I had one last year, but it was in the preseason, but yeah that was my first one in the regular season. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a reward. My job is to block, be the fullback and that is what I love to do. I don’t see it as a reward, but anytime you get to score a touchdown and put the ball in my hands I love it.”

BUCS LEFT TACKLE DONALD PENN ON THE WIN
“Great win. Minnesota cut me my rookie year so you know I wanted that win. I had that picked on my schedule to get the win, so it felt good to beat them. They got to see what they missed out on.”

PENN ON SHUTTING DOWN THE VIKING’S PASS RUSH
“We work hard and we hold each other accountable. We look over our shoulder and hold each other accountable and that’s the key to a good offensive line.”

BUCS DEFENSIVE TACKLE JIMMY WILKERSON ON HIS PLAY TODAY
“I basically tell myself throughout the week I have to contribute more than what I have been in the past. I have to help this team, this defense get more pressure on the quarterback, get more tackles, things like that so that is what I have been going through during the week and I think it paid off.”

Comments