Halftime quotes from the Buccaneers in the Tampa Bay vs. New England game on Thursday night.

HEAD COACH RAHEEM MORRIS
(On the play of the defense)
“We had a couple of mistakes out there, but Tom Brady, as we know, is an awesome quarterback and [New England] has an awesome offense. They came to play tonight. We came out kind of sluggish and kind of flat on both sides of the ball. We started to pick it up a little in the second quarter, but we have to get a better effort out of everybody out there.”

(On the plan for the second half)
“We’ve got to get better and better as we go. We need to come out in the second half and try to win this game.”

(On motivating the players to continue playing)
“It’s easy. [When] you’re losing 28-0, these guys have to come out and be ready to deal.”

RB LeGARRETTE BLOUNT
(On what went wrong in the first half)
“[We] have to go out there and execute. Just got to go out there and do what we’ve been practicing for the whole week—go out there and execute our game plan and do what we have to do to put points on the board. Obviously we didn’t do that, so that’s what we have to work on.”

G DAVIN JOSEPH
(On the play in the first half)
“From the first half so far, we have to be able to go out against a good team and be able to establish something. We can’t hang our defense out to dry by keeping them three-and-out and leaving them out on the field. We have to get it together. We have to get it together on offense. We have to show composure and be able to take advantage of our opportunities.”

(On the younger members of the team playing in the second half)
“We have to keep on rolling. [Second-string players] are going to go out there and they have to be able to compete. We want to let them know what’s been going wrong in the first half. Let them know what’s [been] going on out there so they can go out with a little bit of an advantage.”

CB E.J. BIGGERS
(On what he’s taking away from the game)
“You just have to learn from your mistakes. That’s it. You really have to learn from your mistakes and go back and watch the film;  everybody just correct everything they did wrong. It’s just another chance to get better. It’s like I said, going to watch film and everybody just getting better.”

(On what playing an established team like New England means for the team)
“Like I said, you just have to get better each and every day. Great team. We have a great team too though, so we just need to get better every day.”

RB EARNEST GRAHAM
(On what he’s taking from the game)
“Like everything else, especially in the sports world, you try not to get too high on last week or too low on how we’re playing right now. We did some things that we can look at on film and correct. That’s what the preseason is for. It’s been a long offseason. We’re playing against a really good team that also has been together for a while. Veteran quarterback, veteran players on defense. They came out and they schemed us really well tonight, so far as the first half is concerned.

“There’s a lot to take from this game for us to really go and correct. At the same time, we had our rout last week where we came out and played really energetic. As far as right now, New England came out and schemed us really well and has been able to execute. For us to go back and look at the things they were able to exploit is great for us, actually.”

DT GERALD McCOY
(On how it felt to play in his first game of the year)
“It feels great. Things didn’t go the way we planned, as far as the score, and how the tempo was going. Personally, I felt good. It felt great to get back out there with my family, with those guys. I love them. I think once we get it together, we can be a great unit. It felt good being back.”

(On what he can take from the game)
“Last week I think we kind of, not got full of ourselves, but kind of took it as we were where we needed to be. Personally, I think we needed this because now we can judge ourselves accordingly. [The Patriots] are a Super Bowl-caliber team and the tempo that it was tonight is how it’s going to be during the season, so we need to learn it, go get in the film room and handle our business.”

- Quotes courtesy of the Buccaneers public relations staff