The Bucs fell to the Houston Texans this past Saturday, ending Tampa Bay’s four-game win streak following a four-interception performance from quarterback Jameis Winston.
Now with a chance to review the tape and get a good look at what Tampa Bay did right and what they did wrong against a team that’s battling for a playoff spot, Bruce Arians spoke to the media on Tuesday. Read the full transcript below.
(Opening statement)
“Viewing the film, it’s pretty much the same as we’ve been for four weeks except we didn’t hit the deep ball to win the game. The turnovers continue obviously but our guys fight, they’re resilient, we gave ourselves a chance to win the game. We had three deep balls for touchdowns that we’ve hit each week and we just didn’t hit them this past week.”
(On Winston’s habit of early turnovers)
“No, they’re all different plays and all different types of passes so you’ve just got to eliminate them.”
(On narrowly missing some deep passes)
“It’s a game of inches and Breshad [Perriman’s] catch down the sideline was a big one but he was wide open on Vernon [Hargreaves] down the middle but you overthrow with the wind, underthrow against the wind, that type of thing. It’s different being in a dome than it is playing with a [broken] thumb in the elements. The wind was enough to effect it but the double move to O.J. Howard was a big one.”
(On Jason Pierre-Paul getting three sacks on Sunday)
“I think that he’s in shape now, he’s in football shape and he can really bend. When he bends he’s got great power and that’s what separates guys with length like his, they don’t have that power. That’s was makes him kind of unique.”
(On if there was any way he expected Winston to have this many interceptions, despite quarterbacks throwing more interceptions in year one of his offense)
“No, no. And it’s baffling, that first series stuff. It really is.”
(On if he believes Byron Leftwich could be ready for a head coaching position)
“I would hope so. I think so. To me, for a young coach, it’s who you hire. Who are you going to hire if you’re going to run the offense? I think with the right people, with the right general manager and ownership, I think he’s ready.”
(On how tough it is to financially keep such impact players on defense)
“All I can do is recommend to the people up stairs that we need them. And the way we’re playing defense right now, if we can stay together, it’s showing that we’ve turned a corner defensively.”
(On if he knows whether Ndamukong Suh wants to stay in Tampa)
“I’ll meet with him individually when it’s over but the way he practices and plays right now I don’t think he’s ready to quit.”
(On what Suh’s presence has meant to the defensive line)
“It’s huge. And when you have a veteran guy who has been to the Super Bowl recently and you put him in a room, and he really knows how to prepare and he’s really a pro, not just mentally but physically. How to eat, how to stretch, how to do all of the things that he does to take care of himself, it really helps the younger players.
(On how Suh has avoided the actions that got him in trouble as a younger player)
“He’s been a model citizen. I wish I had 10 of him.”
(On the practice squad guys that have impressed him)
“Johnathan Franklin did an unbelievable job of being Deshaun Watson last week at quarterback and gave our defense a tremendous look. Made me think, huh, what do we want to do with him? He’s really a corner but he’s been a quarterback, he’s been a receiver. He’s a really good athlete, it was just finding a niche for him. Codey [McEloy] was impressing all the time. [Ishmael Hyman] has had a great year, giving looks and had a big play in the ball game. [Spencer Schnell] was great on punt returns. Some teams just have local guys to practice against but that’s the next man up, that’s player development. We don’t practice in pads very often but after every Thursday practice up until six or seven weeks, we go out in pads with those guys to get them better for when they have to be called up.”
(On how much of Winston’s turnovers are on him or him getting used to the offense)
“You don’t learn anything by burying your head in the sand and hiding. I can think back at Peyton [Manning], I think he threw four picks up in New England and he really wanted to come out of the game. I said nope, we’re going no huddle, just go learn something. He went right down the field and scored a touchdown so it’s just a matter of learning how to do it, continuing to do it, getting confidence in it, but you really have to learn how to protect the football.”
(On if the turnovers are just Jameis being Jameis or if they’re correctable mistakes)
“It’s about 50/50. The corrections have been made but the results aren’t happening.”
(On the lack of production from the running backs in the second half)
“It was huge. The third-and-1’s were a big part of it. We’ve got to win those and then we can continue to mix it.”
(On Ronald Jones’ progress)
“He’s made great progress from last year to this year. He’s still a developing player but the game slows down sometimes for guys and I think it’s starting to slow down for him.”
(On Winston now having an off-season to watch his own play on film)
“I think that’s the best lesson you can have. You’ve been watching someone else, you’ve been watching Carson [Palmer] run the offense, whatever, but you see yourself do it.”
(On if there’s anything to so many of Winston’s interceptions coming at home)
“The numbers say there are but I don’t know what the hell it is, fix it. What, 22 here? It’s something we’ve got to keep diving in to find out.”
(On what winning Sunday would mean)
“8-8 tastes a whole lot better all off-season. We talked about it in the locker room after the game. I said there are no losers in this locker room, let’s make sure of it.”
(On how frustrating it is to be 16 weeks in and still have these turnover issues)
“That was a playoff team and our defense held them to one of the lowest totals they’ve ever been held to so if you don’t turn the ball over and give them seven points, just giving them seven, you win the game and beat a playoff team. So it is very frustrating because I think this team was capable of being at least 10-6.”
(On Carlton Davis’ growth as a player)
“It was just a matter of better technique, better footwork, playing press man-to-man the way we wanted it played. He did an unbelievable job on Deandre [Hopkins.] Unbelievable.”
(On the biggest takeaway from Todd Bowles’ job this season)
“Just that, if we can keep this defense together, we can be really, really good defensively for a long time because it’s a very young group and the older guys are young. They’re guys that don’t age. It would be huge for us to keep them together and build off of the way we’re finishing these last six or seven weeks. The growth in the secondary especially.”
(On what it would mean to have Todd Bowles’ next year)
“It would be big, very big.”
(On his succession plans for coaches)
“We try to have the next ones up and the young ones ready to take their place.”