Buccaneers Head Coach Dirk Koetter
On the first preseason game:
"Well, not what I had in mind for the start, preseason number one. I thought our defense did a really nice job all night. We pressured the quarterback. We hit the quarterback. Our defensive line played well. We got pressure all night, offensively and with special teams. We put our defense in horrible position all night. The defense did a good job, we were under 100 yards of rushing and under 100 yards passing. We did a good job on third down, but then after that, there were a lot of negatives. With five turnovers and nine points you can't win like that. We weren't very good on third down on offense. Other than no huddle, there was nothing else good about the offense. Special teams I thought was really scattered. Horrendous, horrendous start from the opening kickoff, and missing an extra point was just not good. I have to do a better job coaching."
On the early deficit and the game plan being affected:
"No, because there is not much game plan going on. We played 84 guys tonight, so I guess that is a positive. We did play a lot of guys and got to look at a lot of guys. I thought there were a couple individuals who showed up. [WR] Donteea Dye and [WR] Russell Shepard both showed up in the wide receiver/special teams area. A ton of guys on the defensive line [showed up]. [DE] Robert Ayers Jr. was a beast out there. [LB] Lavonte David, you would expect that [he would show up], I mean that is what they have been doing in practice. We dropped balls. [CB] Vernon Hargreaves III has to catch that ball and he dropped an interception. When you have a chance to make plays, you have to make plays."
On the transition from Offensive Coordinator to Head Coach:
"Well, we scored nine points, so Offensive Coordinator was not so good. I am in a learning curve on that. I don't think that is our biggest issue right now. We have bigger issues than that."
On the Buccaneers coverage and Buccaneers pass rush:
"Well, I have a hard time seeing the routes and the coverage. That's harder to see from the field. It is easier to see from where you guys are, but I had a great view of the pass rush. They did an awesome job. Not only did we hit the quarterback, but we pressured him. A couple of times when we forced him out of the pocket, especially when their rookie [Eagles QB Carson Wentz] came in, we lost contain and that is unfortunate. But that was not our first team defense when that happened. I mean, overall, it is going to be hard to find too much fault with the way our defense played tonight. I am really encouraged by that."
On DE Noah Spence:
"Noah Spence did good. Yeah, he did a nice job. He was in there on the second play of the game. Definitely gain not too big for him, but he is going to be fine."
On pass rush during the end of the game:
"Smitty brought some pressures. He brought some zero pressures in the field. He brought some fire-zone pressures. There was a combination, but there were a lot of good individual rushes in that second group. [DE] Howard Jones had multiple good rushes. [DT]Akeem Spence had some good rushes."
On QB Jameis Winston coming back and playing well:
"Yeah, when we went to the no huddle, we picked up on the one drive that we scored. That was a nice play by him and [WR] Russell Shepard. But again, you can't turn it over on a kickoff return on the first time you touch it, and then strip fumble on the second time. You're just digging out of a big hole."
On pressure and QB Jameis in pocket coverage:
"Well, I think there was more than one guy that got beat on that play, and I am looking at it from the sidelines. You'll see it on tape; Jameis is pretty good about moving in the pocket and stepping up. I didn't really have a great look at that. There were two times tonight where they came around the back door on the quarterback; that is what defensive linemen are taught to do. It was a good play by those two guys [DTs Fletcher Cox and Bennie Logan]. I don't really know where our fault was, but it will show up on tape."
On struggles running the football:
"I think running the football, in general, you need to get in a rhythm. The back needs multiple carries and the offensive line needs repeat runs. When you're playing 84 guys and three deep on the offensive line, I think that is difficult to do. They played a lot of eight-man front, that's really no excuse because we know how to run against an eight-man front, but I am confident our run game will emerge before it is all over. "
On the effect of Noah Spence:
"Well, I think anytime you have, we have multiple good pass rushers. [DE] Jacquies Smith had the first one and then [DT]Gerald [McCoy] and [DE] Robert Ayers. Anytime they can't just focus on one guy and anytime they double a certain guy, you're trying to get single rushes for your rushers. Having multiple guys that can get home one on one is a big plus. That is one of Noah's strengths, but I also think that is Robert Ayers and Gerald's and Jacquies, I think they all fall in that category. [DE]Howard Jones [falls in that category too]."
On watching film and preparing for upcoming game:
"When we get back tomorrow, the players will be in later in the day. 4 o'clock we will have special teams and then we will watch the film, offense and defense. Then we will take a little break for dinner. Then we will do some installing and we will be back at it on Saturday and then the players have a day off on Sunday."
On emotions as Head Coach during game:
"[Emotions] didn't catch me before the game, because preseason isn't necessarily real. I didn't quite get the same butterfly feeling that I get before a regular-season game. But, when we got punched in the mouth at the start of the game like we did I just got pissed off to be honest. Not nervous, just pissed. We can't play like that and expect to win."
