RUNNING BACK BUCKY IRVING

(On how his toe feels after Sunday's game)

"I feel pretty good, I'm just taking it day by day, just coming in here getting treatment each and every day to get it better."

(On how he's able to manage the workload despite his injury)

"I just go out there when my number is called, and I mean, I'm playing through some pain right now, but I have to realize that it's bigger than me right now. I have to do what's best for the team. I just have to go out there and compete at a high level."

(On how he's handled the rotation of running backs)

"I'm pretty used to it because I came from a backfield in college where we had three good backs, and I feel like when you get to that point, you all have to have a relationship and go out there and want to play for one another. We all have that good relationship. Whenever our number is called, we know we have to go out there and compete for one another and whoever's rolling, we're going to let him stay in there and do his thing, but whenever we feel like we just have to go out there and play for one another… It's always good to have three good backs in the room and you just have to have your brother's back whenever one of us is out there."

(On the communication between the running backs when they're rotating in and out in games)

"Our coach lets us know who's about to start the drive and we just tell each other, 'You have to go get it. You're going to set the tone and we're going to see how this game is going and then when you come off, we're going to look at the pictures and see what next drive that we can do better to have explosive runs.'"

(On how he feels his performance has been through this point of the season)

"I think it's slowed down for me a whole lot. When I first got out there, it was going pretty fast, but I feel like the more you play, things pretty much slow down. I feel like that's on every level that you play, like when you come from high school it translates into college and then from college to the NFL. Once you get the groove on how defenses are playing, how fast things are going, you pretty much get a groove, and everything just slows down for you."

(On the offense stepping up on Sunday without wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin)

"We knew our top two players were going to be out and guys were going to have to step up and make big plays. I mean, we have guys in the locker room that played a lot of football and that [are] willing to step up and make plays. I'm confident in everybody that comes out and competes for one another. We all knew that those guys [are] going to be down, we just need to come each and every Sunday and play ball."

CORNERBACK ZYON MCCOLLUM

(On what is causing the defense to give up points on the back end)

"I think, for the most part, it comes down to being on the same page and communicating and bringing that film study on to the field. It's being coached up the right way and we're seeing it and we're talking about it throughout the week, and we have to be able to carry that for 100% of the plays on Sundays. It can't be 95%. It can't be 98%. So us, as players, I mean we just have to do a better job of pushing that communication that we have during the week in the film room and in practice on to the game."

(On what the defensive back group can do to improve the communication)

"I think 100% of it starts in practice and just us doing a better job of – safeties, corners, nickels, linebackers – communicating, all talking, when we're going through walkthroughs and we're seeing stuff in the film room. We have to be able to call these types of things out and execute in practice over and over again. If it's going to take an extra meeting, if it's going to take player-led meetings, if it's going to take extra time and us just talking to each other, then you know, we're going to have to do anything that it takes to get this problem fixed. But I know everybody is working hard and we're all on the same page."

(On if the secondary personnel group dealing with injuries and rotations is part of the cause of a lack in communication)

"Yeah, a different lineup means you're communicating differently. You know, not every person is the same. We're not robots out there, but I mean, the mentality that we have as a defense as a whole, everybody is in there during those meetings, so us, as players, if we're backing people up or if we're starting the games, we have to be able to stay locked in at all times. You can't expect anything to happen, you have to be ready to roll with the punches and so everybody needs to take it upon themselves to be ready for anything that could happen."

(On how they plan to prepare for Kansas City's versatile offense)

"For one, it starts in the film room, us as a defense watching film together, being able to call things out and be on the same page in that aspect, but it also has to do with just understanding the philosophy of what the Chiefs are trying to get done. What style of offense are they? Who is Andy Reid? What is he trying to accomplish on a series in-series out basis? If we're all on the same page and we're communicating, taking that ideology of their offensive scheme, taking the film that we watched, calling things out in practice, that's where [it] starts. [Then] in games, if they do end up switching it up, you kind of have a general understanding of who they are."

(On what exactly is happening on the plays in which the defense makes mistakes)

"These plays are plays that, like I said, we've seen in film study. It's not anything crazy new in particular, we have to do a better job of just flat out focusing. You can play 90 plays perfect in a game and three mishaps or one mishap, and it's a terrible game. We have to really just harp on focusing for four quarters, understanding, stepping back from the game and realizing what offenses are doing and taking that film study into the game day."

-BUCCANEERS-