Bruce Arians spoke to the media following the Bucs’ big bounce-back win over the Panthers on Sunday, a game in which Tampa Bay’s offense totaled more than 500 yards of offense. Led by Tom Brady’s 341 passing yards and four total touchdowns and Ronald Jones II’s career-high 192 rushing yards.
The Bucs moved to 7-3 on the season and 2-2 in the division with the win. Read the full transcript from Arians’ post-game press conference below.
(On Jones’s big touchdown run)
“Up in New York he had a rough fumble on a ball that was on the ground and on this one he was trying to get a little extra and he went in the tank in New York, it really bothered him and he thought that he really hurt the team. We told him, hey dude, you’re our guy. I knew he was going to break one sooner or later and Blaine (Gabbert) and I looked at each other and Blaine said, ‘he’s going to take it to the house.’ I said, ‘there’s a good chance on this play,’ and he did.”
(On the adversity of the team’s delayed flight on Saturday)
“With the disruption of the storm on Wednesday, having to leave early on Tuesday, practice late on Wednesday, then the plane, I can’t say enough about our guy’s focus. The first half wasn’t our best defensive half, I thought the second half was outstanding. I thought that our special teams played great other than the kickoff return, we missed two tackles.”
(On the defense turning things around)
“Again, we weren’t communicating. It was the same problem we had, Todd (Bowles) got on them pretty good let’s communicate and get on the same page and after that we were pretty solid the rest of the ball game. I would have liked to have seen us even after the kickoff return, great job by Sean (Murphy-Bunting) running that down, to hold them to a field goal but Teddy (Bridgewater) made a great play. It was good to see them bounce back in that situation.”
(On if this was what he wanted from a game following last week’s loss)
“No doubt. We can’t look in the rear view mirror, we have to look straight ahead. All week we had great intensity in practice and overcame the early fumble on offense but again, the first half I wasn’t that pleased, even though it was tied when we came in. But in the second half I was really pleased with how we played ball.”
(On if Brady checked to the run on Jones’ touchdown)
“It was a call that came from the sideline. The only check was where to put the receiver in motion.”
(On bouncing back strong after losses)
“Straight leadership in the locker room. Our guys, it’s a 24-hour rule and they really go by it. By Tuesday they’re on to the next one. I think we had almost the whole team in on their day off last week and so it just speaks volumes to the leadership that we have.”
(On his moment with Jones after his touchdown)
“I told him that that’s what I expect from him. You’re our guy and that’s what we expect from you all the time and he ran great to day. He feels terrible when he makes a mistake and the fumble in New York really upset him and this one, I wasn’t going to let it upset him.”
(On when Gabbert knew Jones would take the big run for a touchdown)
“We saw the defense and Blaine said, ‘this is going to the house.’ I said, ‘we’ve got a chance to split (the safeties)’ and there he goes.”
(On A.Q. Shipley’s and Ryan Jensen’s play)
“Those two guys, you’re talking about two grizzly old veterans who are really pro football players. I’ve got all the confidence in (Shipley) and Ryan did a great job. He’s been a guard and he loves being a center but that was a great combination for us this week and I thought that they really, really played well.”
(On bouncing back so strong offensively this week)
“I think that the players… the staff felt like they left 20 out there, I’m never satisfied. I was really, really happy to rush for 200, I thought that was huge for us. The O-Line takes a lot of pride in that, the tight ends did a good job and the receivers. Tom played great and we still see where we can leave things out there and still get better.”
(On Brady’s play)
“It was outstanding. When they were blitzing he threw it out to his checkdowns, those quick throws outside are kind of audibles after the ball’s snapped. He played really, really well. He knows he left a couple out there too, some balls where we had (Antonio Brown) wide open and Mike (Evans) and (Rob Gronkowski.) The wind was really tricky but I know that Tom’s as critical of himself as I am but he played fantastic.”
(On Donovan Smith’s performance)
“Donovan’s got a lot of pride and it was rough playing with a new guy when Joe (Haeg) was out there but that game just got out of hand so like I said, we don’t have time to look in the rear view mirror anymore. Just look ahead.”
(On getting a spark from the offense today on Jones’ big run)
“That was a huge play and then (Jason Pierre-Paul) with the interception. I was really ticked off that we didn’t finish that with a touchdown. We were down there, we’ve been great in goal-to-go and we kicked too many field goals again today. We had plays that we could have executed and gotten more touchdowns. There’s always room for improvement but I was really, really pleased with that play and especially JPP’s interception.”
(On what it was like being stuck in the airport on Saturday)
“We didn’t have any meetings, we couldn’t get people together. We had guys outside, inside, upstairs, downstairs, we were in Sheltair, that little terminal over there. We had a bunch of pizzas brought in, some sandwiches brought in and just tried to feed some guys. Guys were sleeping on the plane during that long break on the plane but that was very, very frustrating. I’ve had that happen on the way home but I’ve never had that happen on the way to a game.”
(On the defense getting more pressure in the second half)
“We got them in known passing situations. Once we got the two-touchdown lead, the running game was going to be iffy at best and our guys were just turning loose after the passer.”
(On how dangerous the Bucs’ receivers can be when Brady has time in the pocket)
“Yeah and then Gronk has the big, big play. That play was huge. We made some big, long third down plays. We’ve been struggling in (third-and-)nine plus and we hit some big ones today. You’ve got to give the O-Line credit for the protection and guys got open so yeah, that’s what we’re looking for. But again, we ran the ball really well and those guys can still get their touches when we have a running game too.”