After a tough loss at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers in the Bucs’ season-opener, head coach Bruce Arians spoke to the media following his first regular season game at the helm.

While he praised the defense and the offensive line, a lot of the talk revolved around quarterback Jameis Winston and his decision making, specifically involving two crucial interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.

On the game
“Obviously, not the outcome we were looking for. I think you can account it to one thing, and that’s turnovers. We talked all week about winning the turnover battle and when it’s four to two, it’s always going to be tough. Especially, [when] we get a pick-six, then we give up two. There’s a lot of good things we’ll build off of. [With a] short week, it’s not going to be easy. But, we’ll be at work tomorrow and watch this film. Learn from it. Grade it. There were some really bright spots and areas that we can build off of and also learn why we’re losing instead of winning. That one is pretty easy. We’ll have a practice before Thursday night.”

On if there was miscommunication in team’s first pick-six given up
“It was a hitch. [Quarterback Jameis Winston] threw a hitch. Just don’t throw it against [San Francisco cornerback] Richard Sherman to a running back. Learn from it.”

On biggest coaching obstacle against San Francisco defense
“Turnovers. We ran the ball extremely well. We had first and goal from the 10 [yard line] a couple of times [and] don’t score. One from the 11 [yard line] there at the end. I probably got greedy, should have taken the three points and kept it a three-point game. But, I felt really good about our defense. If we don’t make it, we’re going to get it back at the 50 [yard line] with a lot of time left. Obviously, we didn’t want a field goal in that. We wanted a touchdown and again we we’re in two-down territory and we get a sack. Overall, I thought our offensive line played really well.”

On if there was confusion on the fourth down attempt in the fourth quarter
“Yes and no. Chris [Godwin] stopped as soon as they passed him off, he should have sat down. That’s the backside safety, and he kept running and I think he was expecting them to stop. Those are all the learning things that we will build on.”

On quarterback Jameis Winston’s play
“That last interception, he’s trying to throw a screen and the back doesn’t get out. He’s trying to throw the ball away. But, he had already gotten the one grounding call, so just throw it further. Or, throw it at somebody’s feet. We teach them to throw it their feet. I think it was just that he tried to throw it away. It was a bad play.”

QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Getty Images

On intentional grounding call
“You don’t see too many of them when you throw it over a guy’s head and into the stands. Certain quarterbacks, that’s never called on. They called it on ours.”

On running back Ronald Jones II
“I thought he had a lot of energy and he was hitting it. That’s something we can really build off of. I was really happy with the running game.”

On seeing multiple touchdowns called back by penalties
“I never comment on officiating. I try not to. That’s why I get heart attacks.”

On play of the defense
“Yeah, up until that last drive. [We] gave up the three, we needed a three-and-out and give the offense a chance to get back down there. But, I thought the first half was outstanding. They were put in short fields [and] they got three [points] or nothing. Especially, the turnover at the half [where] the defense scores. So, overall, there are some things. We missed a lot of tackles and again; penalties. We were our own worst enemy. We’ve got them stopped and again, whether it’s pass interference of not, it was called.”

On if the team beat itself
“I don’t think there is any doubt about it. That’s what we talked about it at the half even and before the game. Right now; that was the message. When we stop beating ourselves, we’ll be pretty good.”

On offensive line
“I thought they did an outstanding job. When we got beat, it was the tight end a couple of times. It looked like it was the O-line, but it was the tight ends that got beat.”

On if wide receiver Mike Evans slowed by illness
“He had to come out a few times, but nothing really. It’s just that we have to find him.”

On what was said to him by officials on last pass interference challenge
“No comment. I’m sure they were going to say it was a ‘Hail Mary.’ I’ve never seen a ‘Hail Mary’ thrown to one guy and it wasn’t a ‘Hail Mary’ formation. That’s the way I’m sure they will say it was ruled. Anything goes on a ‘Hail Mary’ now. Because if that wasn’t pass interference, I don’t know what is.”

On the fourth down attempt
“I loved the play. I think that they actually busted the coverage and it surprised them. But he [Jameis Winston] threw the ball late. But, I loved the play call. It was just the execution of it with two guys in a situation that we haven’t seen before.”

On offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich’s playcalling
“I thought he called a very good game. There were times where he found the running game and he stuck with it.”

Bruce Arians and Byron Leftwich – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PewterReport.com

On San Francisco tight end Greg Kittle
“We have a couple of double [teams] in there for him, but we wanted to pressure more. Especially in the fourth quarter, we were pressuring. So, somebody’s got to cover him or it’s a ‘fire zone’ and we’re playing zone defense with a blitz.”

On if defense was forced into certain formations
“They always do.  But, they don’t force you into certain defenses. Your defense is played the way it is.”

On the overall assessment of quarterback Winston
“I was fine with Jameis, other than the screen pass. The screen pass, when the back didn’t get out, just throw it out of bounds. If you get a grounding, you get a grounding. But don’t leave it on the field of play.”

On interception to San Francisco cornerback Richard Sherman
“Peyton [Barber] ran a hitch against a very good corner. It was just a bad decision to throw it to a running back versus him.”

On if he makes playcalling suggestions in situations like the fourth down play
“Sure, oh yeah.”

On Winston’s decision-making
“It is still a thing of growth. You have a screen pass called. He could have thrown a quick out to the other side. But, that is usually in a hot situation. Our running back, young running back, goes inside and doesn’t get out on the screen. So, throw it away. He was attempting to throw it away, I think. The other one was just a bad matchup.”

On if he thought of changing the fourth down play call during timeout
“It was basically the same play, but in a different formation.”

On his message to the team after the game
“We have until 12 o’clock tomorrow, but we can’t put it behind us until we learn from it. We’ll learn from it; we’ll watch it. It’s a short week; we play Thursday night. We’ll be on the field tomorrow night.”

On overcoming deficits
“Don’t get into a deficit. We had a chance to be ahead, and we messed it up.”

– Transcript courtesy of the Buccaneers communications department