After the Buccaneers 18-17 win over the St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris made some news by declaring that the Bucs were the best team in the NFC. The quote circulated through the media across the NFL with pundits refuting Morris view of the Buccaneers. After practice on Thursday, Morris explained his quote further.

“I think everybody took it the wrong way. Everybody took it as me bragging. I was not bragging,” said Morris. “It is a mentality that we are trying to set up for these guys. These guys are 26. You all got kids at home, or some of you, got kids at home and when you send your children out into the world, you send them out to do whatever it is they are going to do whether it is competition in sports, or competition in school, or a competition to be a writer better than you guys. You tell them to go be their best. That’s what I’m telling my young football team. There is no reason why we can’t be the best. Why not us? I’ve known it a long time for me or who ever else. It is always a mentality forces a reality. We are setting our mentality up that we want to be the very best. We aren’t going to let anybody dictate and tell us how we are going to get there.”