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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

08-23-2003 - Post Game Quotes

Head Coach Jon Gruden

(Opening comments) "To update our injury report—We held Warren Sapp out tonight with a turf toe. He still has some soreness in there, but we expect to have him back soon. Ellis Wyms suffered an ankle sprain. We don't know the severity of it. We don't believe it's broken. Obviously, we've given X-rays. But he'll be gimpy for a couple days. Ken Dilger was removed from the game early with a stinger on his shoulder. Kerry Jenkins got hurt in pre-game warm-ups. He turned an ankle, but he's OK. He was able to play a little bit. We've got an assortment of other injuries. Mike Alstott has a little tightness in his hamstring area. But all in all, it was a very good defensive effort. It was a very sloppy effort from an offensive perspective in my opinion."

(On if QB Brad Johnson's play was uncharacteristic) "Well, yeah. I think the first one (interception) he was caught in the reset. He was working the primary combination on the weak side, and he didn't see the throw, which is very uncharacteristic of him. He never saw the safety on the goal-line interception, but this is a guy who is very careful with the football. I thought he moved our club. He had two very good drives. Unfortunately, we only came away with three points. But yeah, I would say it is very uncharacteristic of him."

(On if the Bucs' sloppiness bothers him) "I wouldn't say it bothers me. I would say it totally infuriates me. I just can't help myself. I have such a higher expectation, as do our players than the performance we gave out there tonight. We were undisciplined at times, we breached assignments and it cost us."

(On where the team is with one game left before the opener) "It's hard to say exactly where you are in the preseason. I can honestly say that I've been doing this long enough that you don't play a full football game with your entire football team until the opener. We played 80 guys tonight, as we have in the last three or four games, and the most important thing is we're a very healthy football team right now. We've won three out of four games, and we played the entire roster of our team. It gives us every opportunity, every reason, to keep the right men, and if we need to go look for something, I think we have enough to do that."

(On any fringe players who improved their status) "We're all on a fringe. The coaches, players—We're all on the fringe, man. We're all trying to maintain our residence here. That's the way the NFL is. I don't know who's fringe. I think everybody is a professional football player right now wearing Tampa Bay Buccaneer colors. I will say this: What Thomas Jones did tonight was a very positive thing for our team. I was impressed with Aaron Stecker. I was very impressed with Nate Webster on the field. I thought Jermaine Phillips and Dwight Smith levied some good hits and made some good decisions. We'll see the tape and talk a little later, but all in all, there were some real bright spots that I'm excited about."

(On the amount of penalties called on the Bucs tonight) "We've had 39 penalties in four games. When you play three quarterbacks and you play 80 guys, there is an opportunity maybe for more error because obviously everybody is getting reps during the week and maybe everybody isn't as ready to play. But some of the fouls tonight, let's be honest, were ridiculous and totally out of character of a good football team."

(On Cosey Coleman and Jason Whittle playing together in Kerry Jenkins absence) "Jenkins got hurt and we had a contingency plan tonight. It was to play Coleman and Whittle together. We just saw Jason Whittle for the first time tonight. We'll see where he is in terms of his play and his physical feeling that he has tomorrow morning. But that was a big reason for that. Anthony McFarland started at defensive tackle in place of Warren Sapp. If something ever happened to Warren, obviously well have to have a contingency plan. It was my first game tonight without Sapp. I didn't like it."

DE Simeon Rice

(On the team's approach) "Everything is coming into fruition. Things are starting to get a little more serious in terms of the season about to roll around. We got to take more of a military approach to the game. Understanding that our keys got to be down. We really need to hit on some cylinders and make this film look better than last year."

(On how important was to do well without DT Warren Sapp) "It's big because for the simple fact that we still got to perform. We got to perform well. Actually we're trying to make another run at this, so by any means necessary, we got to get there. Whether I'm out there, or Warren's out there or (Derrick) Brooks is missing, we got to be able to play and step up like we are supposed to. Because we are all champions and we understand. We have been in circumstances like this last year."

WR Joe Jurevicius

(On the team) "We have some work to do, but that goes for every team. We have another week of the preseason to work hard. We need to focus on becoming a better team by the time we play Philadelphia."

(On Gruden) "We know what he's going to call and we know what he expects of us and we are able to go out on the football field and play football and not have to worry about what I am supposed to do."

(On today's game) "I think we did pretty well today. The points are going to come. We only played two quarters today. We haven't even played a whole game. So I think the most important thing is for us to get better during the week and then hopefully come Philadelphia, we can all play together and have a successful game."

LB Dwayne Rudd

(On the defense) "We were impressive, but we had mistakes. We missed tackles and that kind of stuff, which is not uncommon in the preseason. We just need to get in synch for the season."

(On improving during the preseason) "We have one more tune-up for the regular season. We have some stuff to improve on, but we will be just fine."

Jaguars Head Coach Jack Del Rio

(On the game) "I didn't see the progress that I know that we need to see on our run defense. Two backs averaged close to eight yards a carry or more. You can't win in this league without stopping the run, so that was disappointing."

(On the game) "At the end, I thought Cortez Hankton showed up and had some nice catches and that's a bright spot. I think Danny Clark showed up and got thrust into duty while T.J. Slaughter is out with an ankle and Joe Tuipala (after) injured his shoulder in camp. Danny stepped up in the middle and did a heck of a job for us – a heck of a football player. We just got to be better."

Jaguars QB Mark Brunell

(On what hurt the Jaguars tonight) "Second-and-long, third-and-long killed us tonight. We have to get more effective on first and second down or it will be a long year."

(Overall thoughts on the game) "We got no momentum going. First, we didn't have the ball much and when we did, we were just not clicking. All in all it was a disappointing night."

(On the Bucs' defense) "They have a very talented defense and an excellent pass rush. We've got these guys again in November and for that we will have ti take our game to the next level."

Jaguars LT Mike Pearson

(On playing at Raymond James after attending high school in Tampa) "It was nice to see this home crowd. In high school, I played in the old stadium in a jamboree. It was fun to come back to Tampa and play."

(On who he credits his talent to) "First and foremost to God. He's given me the talents and abilities. I also give credit to my brother and high school coach."

(On being in the NFL) "You can't anticipate this, but it's like living out a dream."

Jaguars K Seth Marler

(On 55-yard field goal) "I had my head down, straight through the ball aiming toward the right. I just went out there and trusted my line."

Jaguars WR J.J. Stokes

(On the Jaguars' play) "The defense played extremely well. The offense struggled. The field-goal unit was on the field too often, I would have liked to have finished drives."

(On the Jaguars' final preseason game coming up) "I'm looking forward to the opportunity, and we need to be more productive."

Jaguars TE Kyle Brady

(On his concussion) "I feel a lot better. I got a little ding on the opening kick-off."

(On the preseason) "You have to take seriously all the things that didn't go right. You just try to say to yourself to go out every single day and maximize on your talents." **

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