HEAD COACH BRUCE ARIANS

(On if the Buccaneers have any current COVID issues)

"We're good. We don't have anything. No problems whatsoever."

(On if Steve McLendon, Ndamukong Suh and Carlton Davis were given 'veteran days' Monday)

"Yes."

(On if his plan for using starters in Saturday's game could change if they start off well)

"I mean it could always change, but I want to get some good work in. It's a long time before we play and we need game speed. We haven't had any yet."

(On how many roster spots are still up for grabs)

"Well, you know you've got 16 practice squad jobs that are really important. Roster spots – it's hard to say. There [are] three or four guys still fighting."

(On Mike Evans having a strong camp and not missing any practices)

"Yeah, don't jinx him because he's had hamstring problems in the past. He came back in great shape and he's had a hell of a preseason so far."

(On if Evans has been given a 'maintenance day' during camp)

"No, he's too young."

(On TE Tanner Hudson)

"Ever since we've been here he's been able to catch the ball. He gives our defense fits on the card team. When he's had opportunities in ballgames they haven't quite been the same. I want to see him do something besides preseason and do something besides catch the ball. He's not a wide receiver. He's a tight end, so you've got to be able to block a little bit. But just see him grow in that regard and be a physical presence on special teams with his size and his speed."

(On the Buccaneers tight end group)

"It's a great room. O.J. [Howard] is going to get there; he's still rusty. When Cam [Brate] was out there it was like, 'Whoa, we've got a bunch of tight ends, you know?' And then when Cam is missing, we're still good. It's a solid room. Yeah, I'm really pleased with that room."

(On S Mike Edwards playing both safety spots)

"Our safeties are so interchangeable and the way we play defense it's not like one guy is always in the deep middle or deep half. So yeah, Mike's got that flexibility to play both; really, all three or four of our safeties have to be able to do both."

(On if rookie OL Robert Hainsey will be able to play in Saturday's game)

"Yeah, he should be ready to roll, barring no setbacks during the week."

(On if he might pull Joe Tryon back from special teams not to risk losing him to injury)

"Hell, no. Seattle plays all their starters on special teams. There's a bunch of teams that starters play on special teams, let alone backups. He's going to play his ass off on special teams."

(On WR Tyler Johnson's performance in the preseason game vs. Tennessee)

"I thought he was pretty solid. He had a couple plays where I thought his experience level would have changed and helped us a little bit on that fourth-and-one when we were going quick. He should have been able to help Jaelon [Darden] on that blocking scheme a little bit. He's been there so many times, in that situation. But Tyler's coming along fine."

(On if there are any positions with depth that would compel him to carry more players than usual)

"Yeah, not really. There's just only so many you can keep. We could keep eight receivers and be happy as hell, but then we'd be really short at other positions. Same thing with those tight ends. Insider [line]backer, outside [line]backer, safety corner – there are going to be 10 of them one way or another, whether there's 10 DBs or 10 linebackers. Special teams is still going to decide all that."

(On what other receivers could provide the type of blocking in the run game that Chris Godwin does)

"Tyler can do it. He [did] it last year. There's only one Chris. Chris blocks like a tight end. To get wide receivers to block like Tyler does, you're really happy, but I think Travis Jonsen is a guy in the future that might be another guy that's got the size and the physicality to go out there and do that as a wideout."

SAFETY MIKE EDWARDS

(On where the secondary has improved the most since last season)

"We all come together – we're all just one whole secondary. I feel like from the Super Bowl until now, we've tried to take our game to the next level – communicating, getting each other in the right spots, making plays, turning PBUs into interceptions. I feel like we're trying to take the next stride up."

(On what it does for him to have already proven early in his career that he can make plays on the biggest of stages)

"I would say it brings a little bit of confidence knowing you're out there making plays at the highest level – making plays on some of the best quarterbacks in the league and some of the best quarterbacks you'll ever see. It definitely brings some confidence, and you try to get your head right and get your mentals [right]. I feel like when I make plays like that, it just raises my confidence up for the most part."

(On how CB Jamel Dean has improved over the course of their time as teammates)

"Jamel always had the physical aspect. He's real long and fast, and can play the ball real well. I feel like his mental is what is separating his game. He spends a lot of time with Coach [Todd] Bowles and spends time after practice and before practice just trying to study film – studying the quarterbacks, studying the receivers, just trying to get a step ahead. I feel like you saw that, especially last year. Jumping routes, anticipating where a guy is breaking or whatever. He even took a level up this year, so I feel like this year is going to be a really good year for him to have a good season."

CORNERBACK ANTONIO HAMILTON

(On how his experience and play-making abilities helped him vs. Tennessee)

"I think I've done a good enough job to, if not land a spot here, [land] somewhere else. I've made plays that have come our way. So far, I've only given up one catch as far as it comes to man-to-man throughout the numbers of plays I've been in and I've made tackles. I made a play on the ball the other night, so I'm just trying to progress each and every rep and opportunity that I get when I'm out on the field and just see where it lands me."

(On Defensive Coordinator Todd Bowles' scheme)

"It's really fun. It gives me a lot of wiggle room to move around a bit and I get to blitz, which is always fun. I've played in a little similar [scheme] that Todd runs now when I was with the Giants underneath [Defensive Coordinator James Bettcher] and it's kind of the same philosophies and some of the same plays. I was able to pick up on it rather quickly."

(On being in the run defense)

"I just want to get in and stop the ball. Period. I have a lot of plays where I'm involved with the run gap and within the run scheme of the defense. I just try to get in and throw my pads where they need to be at and make a play on the ball."

(On what the Buccaneers defense does well)

"Collectively, number one, it's talent all across the board. The front four are dogs and can go get that ball whenever they feel like it – at a snap of a finger. The backers are outstanding also along with the backend. Those guys as far as it comes to the communication and understanding of the defense on what needs to be executed within the calls and schemes of the game – those guys do a very good job of communicating and that's why this defense has been very successful."

TIGHT END TANNER HUDSON

(On Head Coach Bruce Arians' advice to him)

"The way I look at it, he's a coach and if he is still talking to me and coaching me up that means he still cares. That's kind of the way I look at it. I just have to keep improving on the things that he says and go from there."

(On how he has improved)

"I'm just working on it every day and trying to get better at it. Working with some of the older guys and trying to see little techniques that might help them out. Just every day trying to listen to coaching and older players that have been there and done that."

(On handling certain situations regarding cuts)

"Back in my rookie year, it did get to me. It bothered me. That's all you're thinking about as a rookie, but I had a couple of the older guys tell me to just control what you can control. That just stuck in my head throughout the couple of years. I'm going to out there and do what I can. If they need me, they can keep me, if not we'll move on from there, but I love this place and I'm just trying to get out there and get better every day."

(On feeling the support from his hometown of Camden, Tenn.)

"It means everything. I just know all the people back home; they have my back whether I get hurt or I make the team. Whatever it may be, I know that they have my back. In any aspect of it. Also, I would just like to say that Humphreys County, Waverly – it's not my hometown but it's right there beside it. They just currently had a really, really, really bad flood and a lot of people have lost a lot of family members and there are still people missing. All I can ask is for prayers and just think about those people back home and I'm going to do what I can to help them out. All I can ask is prayers for them."

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