HEAD COACH TODD BOWLES

(On what stands out to him when he looks back on Sunday's game against Detroit)

"We fought. I thought we made some mistakes in the fourth quarter that got the game away from us that we normally didn't make. We fought hard. We didn't play smart in the fourth quarter."

(On if he can elaborate on which areas the mistakes were made in without pointing a finger at any players)

"The areas I would point out would be pointing the finger at players."

(On what he's most proud of from the 2023 season)

"Just the fight and the effort. Those guys stayed together. I'm proud of the coaching staff and proud of all of the departments that took care of the players – the equipment staff, the trainers, the nutritionists, the strength staff. The building completely came together as a group. It was enjoyable to come to work every day. Everybody worked hard. Everybody worked hard to have a hand in this. I'm sorry we couldn't see it through, but I'm very proud of the effort everybody put in."

(On what he's looking forward to in terms of being able to put his own stamp on the roster)

"It's a little early right now. We're still getting over the game, a little bit. We know we've got a lot of decisions to make – some tough ones here and then some outside on the horizon. Hopefully we can get some better guys in here and continue what we've been doing and get better next year and go further."

(On Detroit QB Jared Goff not being pressured very much on Sunday)

"We did a little of both [blitzing and playing coverage]. The biggest thing was the underneath coverage. Like I said earlier, they didn't get as much. They got out late. Going into the fourth quarter, we held them down pretty good and they started making some plays in the fourth quarter. I give them a lot of credit, they've got a lot of talent. Some things we didn't do as well in the fourth quarter that we did well in the first three quarters. He's a great quarterback [and] they have a very good football team. The better team won yesterday."

(On LB Lavonte David turning 34 years old on Tuesday and if he'd like to have David back)

"I'd love to have him back. He's one of my favorite players I've ever coached. I don't even look at his age – he plays timeless. He plays timeless football, he plays it the right way, he prepares the right way. He's the ultimate professional."

(On how he would characterize the season that LB Devin White had)

"It's probably up and down – some injured. Up and down, like our season. We had some good days and we had some bad days. I could say that about a lot of guys that played that way."

(On how this year's success compares to what his personal expectations were prior to the season, considering the team's financial limitations)

"As a coach, and as players and competitors, you don't even look at the money. When you put a product out there and when you go to work every day, you're supposed to win – that's how I'm built, anyway. That's how we're built as a team, regardless of how much money you're making. You're supposed to do the best job you can coaching and they're supposed to do the best job they can playing. We figured if we did that, we'd give ourselves a chance and we gave ourselves a chance. Without even looking at all of that, I understand, in hindsight, that may play a role in everything but that's not how we looked at the season. We played that way. We played that way and prepared that way and that's why we probably got as far as we [did]. I don't really look at that. That kind of takes care of itself. We understood going in what it would be, but that wasn't an excuse for us to be bad."

(On if LB K.J. Britt will be a starter next season)

"It's too early for that. I think he played well. There's definitely a place for him next year. We'll probably get into that as we get into the spring, but we like him."

(On how important this year's draft is going to be)

"It's important every year. You're going to lose some free agents, you're going to lose some to injury, some to retirement. You're going to have 15-18 new guys every year, so the draft, you need to get half of that right to have about six or seven guys that are going to help contribute. I think the scouting staff does a great job of identifying talent that fits us, that are our type of players and bringing them in here and we know what to expect as coaches and how to use them. We make that work as a group. We make that work as a group. There's a great chemistry that goes on upstairs between the scouting staff and the coaching staff [so] we get the right players that fit our system that help us win."

(On if LB Devin White has played his last snap with the Buccaneers)

"I don't know, he's a free agent from a business standpoint. I love Devin to death. From a free agent standpoint, I know it's a business and things have to be out there. We'll work together and work some things out and hopefully we can come out with something."

(On how much demand QB Baker Mayfield will have on the open market)

"It's a good question. I'm pretty sure he'd be in demand. I don't know to what aspect he would be in demand. Obviously, money plays a lot of part of free agency and loyalty plays a lot of part in free agency, and who actually wants you and where you can go and what you can afford plays a lot, and how you see yourself in certain systems. It'll be a tricky thing. He was great here, we love him to death. Hopefully it works out for us."

(On which defensive players were most improved this season and who surprised him this season)

"I don't know if anybody surprised me. Most improved…before Mike Greene got hurt, he was playing good football. I thought Logan Hall came a good, long way. Zyon McCollum would probably win that – as far as most improved from last year to this year – the versatility he showed, the toughness he showed. As mild-mannered as he is off the field, he plays like a rocket when he's on the field. I really loved what he did this year."

(On where he'd like to see the team improve next season)

"We've got to get better at everything. Coaching wise, you want to get better at situational football all the way around. Defensively, I know for sure third downs we've got to get better at. We used to be good in two-minute [situations] – we gave up some two-minute plays. We could look back and point at a myriad of things. We'd like to get the running game even better than it was – it got better, but we could get it better. We'd like to have a better return game on special teams. There's a lot of things we can get better at from a coaching standpoint. There are a lot of things to get better at from a teaching standpoint and from a playing standpoint. That's just coaching. That's constant football for us."

(On if he'd like to have more interceptions next season)

"Given the volume, yes, but we were still top-[12] in takeaways. Given the volume, you'd love to have them. We could catch better, I can tell you that much. You always like to get turnovers – you can never have enough. You can never have enough turnovers. Again, that's another area we can get better at."

(On if he expects his coaching staff to be the same next season)

"Unless they get promotions, I expect to have them all back."

(On his decision to go for the two-point conversion in the fourth quarter on Sunday)

"Yeah, because it would have put us down six and if we'd have scored again, we'd go for two anyway to tie the ballgame. It was reasonable thinking at the time."

(On what turned the season around from when the team was 4-7)

"You can't really put a finger on it. I just know after we lost the San Francisco game and we knew the mistakes we made and we were in it against a great team, we felt like we had a chance to be decent. We felt like we were close and we had to cut out the mistakes. We understood the assignment. I think the veterans locked in and the coaches did a great job of keeping the outside noise out. We just worked on eliminating the mistakes that we were making, whether it was the penalties, whether it was the communication. Eliminate the mistakes and we started winning little by little and guys started believing. It kind of carried us to this point."

(On if the comeback victory over Atlanta helped propel the team)

"That was huge. We believed we could win – that's a big thing. I don't know early in the year and towards the middle that we thought we believed we could win. If we did, we were making too many mistakes to win. To come back from that and understand we can come back and be in ballgames and win at the end from the mistakes earlier in the year when we lost – obviously to Houston and a couple of other teams, even Atlanta the first time – so to come back and get that drive at the end of the ballgame was huge for us."

(On what separates teams that are resilient from teams that are not)

"It's mental toughness. It's mental toughness. It comes from the coaches, it comes from the vets, it comes from the players. Just mental toughness – taking your lumps, understanding and staying together. The culture and the camaraderie has to play a part in that. You have to overcome some things to become mentally tough."

(On how he'd assess the job Offensive Coordinator Dave Canales did)

"I thought he had a great year. I really thought he did a heck of a job coming in the first time out, coming in with a new quarterback and four out of five starting offensive linemen and putting his system in [and] working with what he had with the cap money we had and dead money, not giving him too many more pieces to add. He had some pieces here, but working the way he did, getting to know these guys and figuring out how to get these guys open in the pass game, how to get the run game better, and those coaches working as a whole together…'Goodie' (Harold Goodwin), Joe [Gilbert], Thad [Lewis], Brad [Idzik] – all of those guys – Skip [Peete] did a heck of a job and Dave was the spearhead of that and he did a heck of a job this year for his first year out."

(On who would be the Offensive Coordinator if Canales is named a head coach somewhere)

"We would have to [have an interview process]. We've got a lot of qualified guys here and there's some qualified guys outside. We'll see."

(On RB Rachaad White's season)

"It was great to see him grow from a mental standpoint. He was always talented, physically. Being a running back is not just carrying the football and running and trying to find daylight. He's got to know where the hole is before the hole opens. He's got to know where the blocking is, he's got to know how to pick up pressures. He runs pass routes, he does a lot of things. From a growth standpoint and a mental standpoint where he was frustrated early in the first few weeks, he kind of eased into it and figured it out. Skip [Peete] did a heck of a job coaching him and Rachaad is going to be a heck of a football player – he already is, but mentally, just knowing where the holes are and playing faster and playing smarter. He got a lot better at protecting the football where he let a few go early in the season. You can't say enough about his growth. You could see it as the weeks went on, as the months went on. I'm very proud of where he is."

(On his decision not to use a timeout at the end of the game on Sunday and if there's a gentleman's agreement to not do it)

"It's not a gentleman's agreement. They were in field goal range. We'd have had 12 seconds, calculated, after using that timeout to come back from it. Then we'd have been down 11 points, so it's kind of pointless. You kind of know when the game is over. The game was over."

(On if he 'cringes' when thinking about WR Mike Evans in a different uniform)

"I don't even think about it. I don't like to be asked about it. I don't want to know about it. I hope to hell that does not happen."

(On if fans make too much of a deal about coaches leaving timeouts on the table)

"I don't know what good using a timeout is if you can't take advantage of it."

-BUCCANEERS-