Featured image: Courtesy of The Buccaneers

With the Bucs’ Week 1 loss to the Saints behind them, Tampa Bay returned to practice on Wednesday to prepare for another divisional match-up this week against the Carolina Panthers, led by a new head coach in Matt Rhule and quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater.

After a chance to look back on what the team did well on Sunday and what they’ll need to improve on heading into the Bucs’ home-opener this weekend, head coach Bruce Arians spoke to the media on Wednesday.

(On Carlton Davis’ biggest improvements)
“His technique has improved tremendously. He did have the one penalty, the pass interference but I think that he had him covered too good, just don’t hook him. He’s a big, physical guy who’s learned how to play in front of people and he’s doing a heck of a job with it.”

(On the luxury of having Davis who can shadow top receivers)
“It’s a huge luxury. There’s so many things that you can do defensively when you have guys like that and I think that Carlton’s at that spot. I think that Jamel [Dean] and Sean [Murphy-Bunting] will be there next year or pretty close, maybe by the end of this year, you never know. But they all have their length and speed but Carlton has just learned his techniques really, really well.”

Bucs DBs Jordan Whitehead and Sean Murphy-Bunting and Saints WR Micheal Thomas – Photo by: Getty Images

(On if Davis’ technique improved with comfortability)
“You just have to learn your techniques and your hand placements. He didn’t play a lot of bump and run, it was foreign because they played so much zone so it was just a matter of getting confidence in it and trusting that speed and that length.”

(On Devin White being a captain, leader on defense)
“He’s running the show. He’s got Lavonte [David] next to him so it’s easy to look next to him and say, ‘what do you think?’ So they work really, really well together with getting the checks and everything that we want to do and getting us in the right fronts and making sure that the back end is connected but yeah, he’s well on his way to taking over.”

(On no evaluation for this Panthers team)
“We studied a bunch of Baylor film, Temple film on their defense and we have the Raider game offensively, a lot of LSU stuff in the one game. Most of that preparation was done once the schedule came out, he can start working on all of that college stuff and a lot of it showed up in that game against the Raiders.”

(On what he saw from the team and Tom Brady after their Week 1 loss)
“Just ready to roll. The 24-hour roll is now extended because we don’t meet until Tuesday morning but we watched the film and it’s on to the next one. In professional football you don’t mope around or you’re going to miss a Wednesday. We had a pretty good practice today so if you’re moping around you’re going to have a really bad Wednesday.”

(On people taking exception to Arians’ comments on Brady after Sunday)
“Tom and I are fine so I don’t really care what other people think, it’s just what he and I think and we left the stadium fine, we showed up today fine so there isn’t anything to talk about.”

(On if he’s amused how quickly the media has turned on Brady)
“I was amused when people handed us this Lombardi Trophy in July but it’s part of the business so you go with it and it’s just one week at a time, one day at a time and if we win a few games in a row then people will be back on the bandwagon and happy. So it’s just part of the game.”

(On if’s more encouraged after watching the team on film)
“I think you always are. You’re very disappointed and then you look at it and you take all of the good things that happened and then the things that were bad, could they be correctable? And they’re very correctable so yeah, and we’re on to Carolina now.”

(On what he would change about the crowd noice)
“I’d just like to hear someone hollering and not just a steady hum but like I said, we’re used to crowd noise. I’m used to going to that stadium and having a ton of energy and it was just so different. I think it was different for all of us, players, coaches, everybody. We’ll see. I mean for us, going into Ray Jay, it was louder in our scrimmages than I’m sure it’s going to be allowed to be so it’s just something that we’ll have to get used to until we get our fans back.”

Bucs WR Scotty Miller – Photo by: Getty Images

(On Scotty Miller and Brady)
“They worked very, very hard all summer and had a great camp together and it showed up in the ball game and that’s usually what happens. It happens in practice every day. We really like all three of our weapons and our tight ends so Tom distributes the ball to the guys. It’s not like hey, we’re throwing this on to Scotty, that’s just the way it is. I think he has a lot of trust in all of those guys.”

(On if the option routes take time to develop)
“Option routes do take time to develop whether you’re reading coverage on the run, the quarterback and the receiver together. Those things take time and there were a few of those in the game but not many.”

(On if it takes time in this system to adjust to)
“Yes and no. It’s usually receivers getting used to it, running fast through an area.”

(On Will Gholston)
“He was up and down the line of scrimmage, tackles for loss, he was penetrating, played well against the run, had a couple of good pushes, a big, big play down in the red zone for a tackle for loss so yeah, he played… He had a great camp, he stood out in camp.”

(On what Carolina showed against the Raiders)
“The coach and the quarterback have a history in the same offense so it’s not like they’re starting from scratch and Teddy [Bridgewater] is a very bright guy and has very few turnovers in his history. So that part of it didn’t surprise me at all. [Christian] McCaffrey never surprises me because if he gets a crack he’s gone. It all starts with him. I thought they did a really good job of feeding him and Teddy played well for them.”

(On Brady’s sneak being his call or an audible and if he has the freedom to do that)
“I’d hate to give away game secrets but yeah.”

(On if Mike Evans’ hamstring and how he’s feeling)
“He’s feeling good. He ran, he played really well and had a good practice.”

(On how well he knows Matt Rhule)
“Matty came out to Arizona and visited with us some and looked at some of our defenseive stuff. Phil Snow I think is one of the best defensive coaches, college or pro. Matt’s done a great job wherever he’s been, high energy guy and very bright. I’ve got a ton of respect for him and the job he did at Baylor and Temple were outstanding.”

Bucs TE Rob Gronkowski – Photo by: Getty Images

(On how Rob Gronkowski played)
“I thought he played fine. There were some times when he was matched up on Cam Jordan and some other guys, that’s no easy chore for any tight end, especially if it’s your first game back. We’d like to see a little more push but a stalemate against him, I’ll take that every time. Overall he got his feet wet back in the league and was fine, nothing glaring, that’s for sure.”

(On who didn’t practice on Wednesday)
“Chris Godwin is in the concussion protocol,” Arians said. “[He] did not show any symptoms on Monday or Tuesday and then showed up today with some so we’re going to be very, very cautious with that. Everyone else practiced.”