ATLANTA -- Falcons-Bucs postgame quotes from players and coaches following the 31-7 Tampa Bay win.
HEAD COACH BOBBY PETRINO
Opening statement:
”It was a tough game for us. It was not the outcome we expected or wanted. We turned the ball over early and we were never able to get into a rhythm on offense. We had some dropped passes and we allowed a lot of pressure on our quarterback early, which contributed to the lack of rhythm. Our defense kept us in the game in the first half and gave us a chance to win the game. I felt like we were playing well, but failing to convert the fourth and short really hurt. I really felt like the players prepared hard for the game and that we took the field ready to play.”
On having a grace period for QB Byron Leftwich because he has missed time:
“No, I wouldn’t say that. We felt that with the way he practiced and moved around that he should start. I don’t think you can always put all the blame on the quarterback. On the interception he was being pressured and we dropped some passes early, which really hurt us. We have a lot to evaluate and look at over the next few days.”
On switching quarterbacks:
“I wanted to let Byron come out of the locker room and see if (Joey Harrington) could get anything going. Not converting the fourth down hurt us, but then we had the fumble and the injury to T Todd Weiner so I decided we need a little more mobility at quarterback.”
On who is going to be the starter on Thursday night:
“We have to evaluate the video from today and see who gives us the best opportunity as a team to win the game. I cannot tell you when that decision is going to be made right now.”
On the morale of the team:
“It is not a good feeling right now. We really had a good week of preparation and our focus and enthusiasm was as high as it had been all year long. We really felt like this game could get us back in the race, and anytime you put that much effort into something and it does not go well it hurts. It hurts when you don’t win. It is going to hurt all night, but we have to get back to work because we play Thursday night. We have to regroup and come out here Thursday and do everything we can to get a win.”
WR ADAM JENNINGS
On the first career touchdown:
“I wish it had come in a winning effort, but it is a touchdown and I am happy about that.”
On being patient throughout the game:
“I was just going out there and running my route and I was just a part of the read on that play. Joey (Harrington) did a great job in finding me. He found me earlier on a hot read and I was just happy to be able to go out there and play. Hopefully we can win this next ball game.”
On getting worked into the mix with the receivers:
“Well, with Joe Horn out it gave me an opportunity to go in and play. Joey (Harrington) just did an excellent job and I was able to go in and get a catch today.”
S LAWYER MILLOY
On the outcome of the game today:
“We got our butts kicked today and that is basically the bottom line. We have the defending champs coming in here so we don’t have time to dwell on the outcome of this game. The beautiful thing about this is that we get another opportunity on Thursday. It’s up to the leaders on this team to have a positive outlook on next week and that is including the coaching staff. We have to focus our attention on the Colts coming to town next week.”
On whether this is a low point to this season:
“No. I feel good about this and I feel good about us getting through a lot of adversity this season. We have to get the young guys to understand how to win a close game, but today, nothing worked and sometimes that is going to happen. Today, we just got our butts kicked and that’s the only way to look at the outcome of this game.”
RB WARRICK DUNN
On the play of the Tampa Bay defense:
“They were making plays. I can’t say they are better than last year’s defense, but they’re playing well together and making plays. Their front four, obviously their ends, caused a lot of problems today. Guys were just really flying around. To me, that’s just traditional Bucs football. We have to give them a lot of credit. They played well, they played hard, they made plays, they caused turnovers and they just really got us out of our game.”
On the Falcons trying to get their running game going:
“It was tough and everybody plays a part in it. It was just one of those days when we weren’t on the same page with anything.”
QB JOEY HARRINGTON
Opening statement:
“My job is to be the back-up for this team and to be ready at any given time. I am going to be ready to play for this team and today just happened to be one of those situations. My number one priority is to be available and to help out this team in any way.”
On the short week versus Indianapolis:
“We will work on the gameplan heavily this week so that we’re ready in three days of preparation. It is important that we put this game behind us because this is a long season.”
QB BYRON LEFTWICH
Opening statement:
“It was good to be out there and I think everybody was ready to play this game. But, from the beginning we couldn’t get back on the groove of things. This was a game of huge magnitude so it will hurt for a bit. We prepared very well but we just couldn’t get it done. I take a lot of the blame because I am the quarterback and my responsibility is to put points on the board. This loss should make it hard to sleep at night and motivate us to prepare harder for this Thanksgiving game. We have to move on though and study for the things we need to work on.”
On his overall performance:
“My performance was poor and I will look over the things that I didn’t do well. As the quarterback of this team, I have to set the precedence and put numbers on the board. I just didn’t get it done, but we will be ready for next week.”
DB DEANGELO HALL
Thoughts on the game:
”It was a tough loss. Whenever we start to get rolling, we hit another bump in the road. Today was another one of those days. In spite of a terrible start, we had the opportunity to place ourselves in a great position. That’s football, and that’s life in general. In life, you have to play whatever cards you’re dealt. You deal with it, and try to play the hand. We just didn’t play well as a team. On a personal note, I gave up a touchdown pass. That’s not what I do, and I don’t pride myself on that. As a whole, we didn’t play great.”
Thoughts on the opponent’s touchdown pass:
“It was a slant and go. They’ve been trying to get me on that play for the past three years, and they finally got it. They know I’m an aggressive player, they know I like to jump a lot of passes, and they just caught me. They had a great situation and a great play call. My hat goes off to them, and to coach Gruden. (Jon Gruden).”
TE ALGE CRUMPLER
Thoughts on the offense’s difficulty:
“It was a struggle. We turned the ball over, and it was tough. I felt like we had a really good week, and it was a division rivalry, but we just didn’t play well enough to win the game. I hate it because our defense played so well, but we just couldn’t put points on the board. It just wasn’t our day.”
Thoughts on the momentum gained from the last few games:
“They’re the division champs right now. We needed to cut into their lead, but we couldn’t get the job done. They played like division champs. They came in, and played good football. Although it was back and fourth for a little while, they had a 14 point lead, they came after us and we struggled. We lost a couple of guys, we struggled up front, and we just couldn’t get into a situation where we could get Warrick (Warrick Dunn) going. We really wanted to get him over that 10,000 yard mark, but when your behind and you have to throw the football, it’s tough.”
Thoughts on this week and the next game against the Colts:
“We have a very tough week. Indy’s (Colts) coming in here, and I’m not sure what their record is or how their game ended against Kansas City, but it’s all about us trying to figure out a way to stay together. We’ve got a lot of games left and it’s not easy, but it’s our job.”
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-BUCS GAME:
- GAMEDAY: All the coverage from the Falcons-Bucs game
- STATS AND PLAY-BY-PLAY: NFL.com Game Center
- GAME NOTES: Updates and injury news from the Georgia Dome press box
- INACTIVES AND STARTERS: Inactives and starters from Week 11
- QUOTABLE: Thoughts on the game from Falcons players and coaches
- VIDEO: Head Coach Bobby Petrino
- VIDEO: Quarterback Byron Leftwich
- VIDEO: Quarterback Joey Harrington
- VIDEO: Tight end Alge Crumpler
- VIDEO: Cornerback DeAngelo Hall
- VIDEO: Falcons-Bucs Highlights
