HEAD COACH TODD BOWLES

(On if there is an update on the status of S Antoine Winfield Jr.)

"He's got a knee sprain. He'll be out a little while."

(On if S Antoine Winfield Jr. will be out multiple weeks)

"A couple weeks, yeah."

(On if there is concern with RB Bucky Irving's back injury and if he will be able to play this week)

"It's tightened up. We have to see how we feel. If he can get it loosened up, he should be okay. If not, we'll see how the week goes."

(On LB Lavonte David's leadership ability and his importance to the team)

"His leadership, his intelligence – obviously he plays the way he talks, and he talks the talk, he walks the walk and those guys…To be that old, playing 13 years in the league and then seeing guys two or three years in the league, shows them what they have to do going forward to remain in this league."

(On the key to playing with one linebacker on the field as Tampa Bay did against the Raiders)

"Smoke and mirrors [laughs], smoke and mirrors. We have a couple packages that were kind of unorthodox that we've been practicing. The safeties do a good job filling in at linebacker. [The Raiders] had a very good tight end as well, so we had to cover him and then we had to try to stop the run with that same package and I thought between 'Izzy' (Christian Izien), [Kaevon] Merriweather, Tykee [Smith], Tavierre [Thomas] – they did a very good job covering up and making those plays. When Vi [Jones] came in, he played well as well."

(On S Tykee Smith's playmaking ability and his versatility as a defender)

"[He has] very good mental awareness. You know, the mental part is one thing you don't worry about with him but you worry about the physical part, see how he [holds] up but once he got rolling, it was pretty good for us. He's one of the few guys over there with the mental capacity to see the game even when he's not practicing and that takes a lot, especially for a rookie. He plays it well, but 'Izzy' (Christian Izien) had to learn a lot of spots, Tykee had to learn some spots, and [Kaevon] Merriweather had to learn some different spots as well as Tavierre [Thomas] so it's good to have the versatility because we need it all."

(On how the team can limit their penalties down the final stretch of the season)

"We just have to focus and concentrate. Some things are inevitable. They can happen. Some calls don't go your way. Sometimes you just have to make those plays anyway. We can't false start, we can't jump offsides, we can't get up penalties down the field defensively, and we can't shoot ourselves in the foot offensively. We have to keep focusing on that."

(On if LB K.J. Britt will be in play this week)

"It's too early to tell but if he hasn't run yet, I would venture to say he probably wouldn't [be]."

(On what is key to be able to keep momentum up for all four quarters of a game)

"Just being focused and being consistent. Everything is on the line the last couple games of the year. We know that. It's going to be a league-wide whirlwind tournament right now so we have to put our best foot forward. We have to focus, we have to make sure we're locked in and we can't make the mistakes that we made and expect to win every game but we've played perfect and lost so [when] we play not so perfect and win, I'm okay with that, too."

(On what was the key to being able to get momentum back after losing it)

"Just being in those situations in the first half of the season has helped a lot of guys out, especially the guys that had to play early and were kind of young, playing for the first time. Right now, they've been in it before, they've practiced it a lot, they've seen it in games so they have a little bit more composure right now than we did the first half of the season."

(On how concerned he is about QB Baker Mayfield's turnovers as of late)

"We have to understand, especially when we're in the red zone and we're in the scoring territory, we can't turn it over. That's No. 1. You don't like the turnovers, period. Every now and then they can happen but we have to do a better job taking care of the football as an offensive staff, period. Between the coaches and the players, we need to do a better job of focusing on exactly what we want to get done, how we need to get it done, and make sure we execute it every play. It's not just on Baker, it's on everybody."

(On what could be causing the late injuries)

"I wish I could tell you. We had this schedule last year, we were one of the healthiest teams in the league and we had the exact same schedule. This year, we got a lot of people injured doing that so we're taking a look at everything. We're trying to find if there's a common denominator and things that we can do better on Friday but we had the same schedule last year and everybody was commending us for being one of the healthiest teams in the league. It's really not much. Freak accidents happen in this game and you just have to be ready."

(On if the new offensive system having more motion could be a factor all of the late injuries because of the reps in practice for both the offense and defense)

"No, Friday is really a glorified walk-through. You're talking about short yards, goal line, and red zone. You really only have one team period and we walk through on Wednesday's so we got to get practice in and we just have to make sure we're loose and run and make sure those things don't happen."

(On if there is any factor that might be causing the hamstring injuries in particular whether it's heat or anything else)

"I can't point to anything right now. Like I said, we had one of the healthiest teams last year and we did a lot of running last year. We did more running last year then we're doing this year. Things happen, we have to make sure we keep an eye on it and we have to make sure we try to see what the problem is if there is a problem, and we'll try to act accordingly."

(On what his theory behind Victory Monday is and how he adjusts the schedule to make sure the players still get in everything that they need to)

"Once you get to four or five wins, it becomes more of a recovery thing anyway. You start getting late games on the road and everything else. Monday is kind of a wash. It gives the coaches a chance to game plan a little bit more, gives the players a chance to rest and heel a little bit more. We only practice on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday anyways so it's really not much more going on than that."

-BUCCANEERS-