HEAD COACH MIKE MUNCHAK
(on if he aged in the fourth quarter)
Really, from the second quarter on, I think once we fumbled, the fumble that got them back in the game, the game kind of got interesting. It seemed like from that point on, the ball was on the ground a lot on both sides. We realized that turnovers were going to become part of the game, unfortunately. But yeah, there were a lot of ups and downs there. The thing that was nice that in the fourth quarter when we finally…we blew a lot of opportunities in that game, the defense did a good job of getting our turnovers early. We had field position early and then we just couldn't convert out to get points on the board. And then being 10-10 at half was something I am sure they felt really good about. We obviously didn't feel very good at all at halftime, you know giving them the short field for the touchdown before the half. In the second half, the same thing, we turned it over a few times. It looked like we were turning the field when C.J. (Johnson) had his fumble after three or four really nice runs. It got really frustrating for us. We gave them the touchdown on the interception. It seemed like we were trying to help them. But again, I just told those guys, it was great team effort, hang together, put a nice drive together. You know, we took it all the way down the field and had to convert a fourth down to score. So it got dramatic, more dramatic than it probably needed to be.
(on quarterback Matt Hasselback making the fourth down play))
That's what it was, they covered it well. There is no doubt they took away the sprint out to the right, a roll out to the right. They took away what he felt comfortable going to. He was smart enough not to throw that ball into a tough situation where we didn't have anything. He bought time, the protection was good the way it was set up. Then Damian (Williams) found an opening and made a play. He got his attention on the throw and made a great play. That's the things you have to be able to do in this league and this is a veteran quarterback making a great decision when it counted most in the game. That what it comes down to do, what you do on that last drive, the last time you get the ball. Matt made a great decision, Damian got open and that gave us the lead.
(on Damian Williams being confident if he was in bounds)
I don't think Damian was concerned for it. He felt confident coming out. I think when he realized they were taking a good look at it, I think anybody gets nervous when they do that. Once we all saw the screen finally, I think we all felt a lot better about it then, obviously.
(on if he was surprised a measurement wasn't taken prior to Tampa Bay's final play)
I am glad they didn't. I don't know, I think at first everyone wasn't sure if it was a first or wasn't. They said it was still fourth down. It must have been short enough for where they assumed there was no reason to stop it. I am not sure what the thinking was on it. But obviously, we still have to protect (against) the quarterback sneak. They fumble the ball, the ball got loose, and we make a great stop there to win the game.
(on the weather playing a role in the high number of turnovers in the game)
There is no doubt that it added to it. I think there were some good hits where the ball was going to come out. I think the weather ends up being the main reason for it, but a lot of it was because there were a lot of good hits in that game. Guys were stripping balls. Some guys weren't carrying the ball smart on both sides. But, it adds to it. It was definitely the first time we have played in that weather. I don't know when the last time that they have, but it adds to it. Obviously it's no excuse for dropping a ball and fumbling a ball away because it was raining out. We have to be smarter with that because turnovers can eventually cost us that game.
(on the performance of the offensive line and running back Chris Johnson)
Well I think from what you can tell, when he (Chris Johnson) runs for 190 yards or whatever he had, I think just like when we weren't running well everyone gets the credit. I think he was running hard. I think he was getting lanes. He was making some good cuts. I think it all came together. You could see that from the sideline that there was obviously some good blocking going on and obviously good running. When you have 190 yards, like I said, good things are happening. I wish we could turn that into more points than we did, but that was encouraging to watch and it helped us a lot, especially on a rainy day when you really have to have the running game working. I thought we did a good job of making that work for the most part. We still had some runs where they got some negative runs on us and caught us in some blitzes and things like that, but overall our best day of the year.
(on the kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter)
Coach (Chet) Parlavecchio worked on that all week with the handoff. Alan (Lowry) felt real good about it. That's something they worked a lot on – the handoff. We felt we got the ball at the right spot on the kickoff and they felt good about it. We talked about before the game that we were going to be careful if the weather was worse, but it wasn't. We thought it was a great time and a great design by those guys and a great job by Tommie (Campbell) and Marc (Mariani) doing a great job with the handoff and the blocking. Obviously that is all part of it. We thought we could catch them off guard and we did and made a huge play.
(on what happened on Tommie Campbell's injury)
I'm not sure. They fell on him. I don't think it's separated. I think it's a sprain right now. They'll do an MRI on him and see. But, hopefully it's not going to be something that keeps him out next week.
(on Jared Cook's injury in the fourth quarter)
Right at the end he got a little whack to the head. So, he'll be checked to see how he is. But, right now neither one seems to be that bad.
(on the go-ahead touchdown play on fourth-and-goal in the fourth quarter)
I think the good feeling was that we had been moving the ball, but we just didn't have any points to show for it most of the game. We were hurting ourselves with either a penalty or a minus play or a turnover. So, we felt like we were having success, we just had to put a drive together without something to kill us in the end. I think the confidence was there. That's what you have to be able to do. Yeah the weather was bad. Yeah things weren't going our way there in the second half, but we found a way to put a drive together with obviously a lot of nice runs and end up with a nice catch in the endzone and it took every down to get it in.
(on the decision to challenge the catch by Kellen Winslow in the first half)
When we first saw it, we all thought that he was out of bounds. We thought it would be an incomplete pass, even though we knew that they had the penalty for the first down. We thought we would just take the yards. I thought that this would be one of those games where every yard was going to matter and 10 or 15 yards was going to make a difference in field position with the way that game was starting to flow with the weather. I felt confident that it was going to be an incomplete pass, that is why I did it. They said they only had one look at it. He only had one view to look at, so he couldn't think of overturning it because of that.
(on if quarterback Matt Hasselbeck had any issues with grip related to his injury)
I don't think so. He didn't mention any of that being a concern. I'm sure it was hard to deal with that ball with it being as wet as it was and some of the conditions. But, like I said, when it mattered most we made the plays that we had to at the end of the game.
QUARTERBACK MATT HASSELBECK**
(on how he bought time on the final touchdown drive)
Well, it was a great job by our receivers staying alive. One thing that our coaching staff talks about is playing the back line and throwing the ball on the upper shelf, shoulder pads or higher, facemask or higher. Their tendency was to be an all-out blitz, cover zero team. All throughout the field, especially on critical situations, they didn't bring that pressure at all with us. We were really anticipating it. I think based on our film study and everything we had prepared, we thought we were going to get it. It was kind of a max protection, two-man route, but really Nate (Washington) is supposed to score on that. Nate scored on the play last week; Jake (Locker) hit him for his second touchdown. It's a bread and butter play for us, but they just came out and played a soft zone and Damian (Williams) did a really nice job of working the back line.
* (on if the team felt the season was on the line during the last touchdown scoring drive)*
I don't know if we saw that big of a picture on it. Before that drive, Chris (Palmer) came to me with the call sheet and said 'Hey, what do you feel real good with on first down, what do you feel comfortable with?' We had a good conversation about maybe three or four plays that we both liked. Also, we were sitting on the sidelines and I talked to Dowell Loggains, the quarterback coach on the headset. He asked me the same question and I told him the same thing. Chris started out with one of the plays we talked about and it was maybe a 12-yard gain to Damian (Williams) right off the bat. He was the third receiver, but it just kind of got us going on that drive. Then, we had a 10-yard run, we just had some explosive runs there. I hope I'm right on this, there were a lot of drives, so they kind of run together. It was good to get going there because we were really sloppy all throughout the game, up until that point.
(on how the rain affected the game)
The turnovers were out of character for us, and for both teams really. I'm not sure how many turnovers there were. There were nine, maybe 10. The ball was on the ground a lot and you have to weather the storm like that. One thing we talked about, that our coaches talked about a lot this week, was finding a way to win the game. It wasn't pretty, it was pretty ugly at times, but we found a way to win. There were games this year, maybe the Cincinnati game, that we probably played better but lost, or played better in the first half anyway. I'll take the win, despite the sloppiness, the rain. That's something that late in the year we're going to have to learn to play really good football in bad weather.
(on who he was looking to on final touchdown play)
Like I said, it's kind of a two-man route. (Lavelle) Hawkins is on the other side, not really doing anything. He's kind of a decoy, sort of, don't tell him that. I went one, two, and there was nothing there. I just tried to buy time, that's kind of that Joe Montana, Dwight Clark play right there. I was buying time, just looking, maybe Hawk back side, maybe he found someone sleeping. In the process of doing that, Damian (Williams) broke free. Like I said, running the back line is something we practice; it's something that our coaches talk about all the time. We do it on Fridays to start practice. We do red zone route on air and talk about throwing on the upper shelf, facemask or higher, back of the end zone. That's the second time this season that Damian has done a nice job of tapping his toes, dotting the eye, getting his toes in. They had to review it, it was a good play by him.
QUARTERBACK MATT HASSELBECK CONT.**
* (on what he thinks helped the running game perform so well today)*
I think the elements probably helped us a little bit. That was something we talked about, getting the runs going. We had some good cutbacks early. Their ends were getting up the field on the naked bootlegs. We thought that was something that we could maybe just nickel and dime them a little bit on. Their ends were getting really up the field, which helps for cut backs. We did run a reverse to CJ (Chris Johnson) today, which wasn't a huge gainer, maybe four or five yards. Again, that stuff gets that contain up the field just a little bit. I just thought we communicated well up front in terms of not having a lot of mental mistakes, and getting up on the right 'backers and that kind of thing.
(on if he hurt his hand on the play when his follow-through connected with a defender's helmet )
It's fine. I got a bruise, but it's no big deal.
(on how Chris Johnson's impact today helps the offense)
It was a big help. I think this is the third game this year that we've had that. One thing that was nice today, part of what we do is we have a good run-game-check-with-me system where we're running to the left, or running to the right, or throwing the ball. We were able to use our cadence a good amount today. We were at home and they were bringing some pressure; some weak side linebacker, free safety pressure, or strong side linebacker, strong safety pressure, and basically, we were just trying to run away from that. With our zone schemes we were able to cut off their slants with that and it created some big plays. I think that's one positive for us all season, we've handled blitz well, both in the passing game and in the running game.
(on what he thinks of Eugene Amano in the passing game)
It was great. When a ball gets tipped, it's pretty much anybody's ball. Usually, you get unlucky and a defender catches it. When it got tipped, my stomach kind of sank, and when Eugene Amano) caught it I was cheering him on. I was his biggest fan right there. It was a six yard gain I think.
(on if the pass to Ahmard Hall was his first left-handed pass)
Unfortunately, no. I think I'm two for three left-handed though.
* (on Lavelle Hawkins ability to run after the catch)*
That's something he's really good at. That's really why he's on the field. If we can get the ball in his hands, he makes you nervous sometimes. He's always cutting back, going across the field, but he's done a great job with it. I think if we can get a little more crisp and disciplined on the other stuff, I probably just need to trust him a little more too. He's come through and made some plays for us. In tough conditions today, it was good to see.
RUNNING BACK CHRIS JOHNSON
(on breaking out today)
It felt good to finally get out there and get to some open space and make some plays. The offensive line out there blocked great, Ahmard (Hall) was getting on linebackers and making good blocks and stuff. It was just giving me room to run and make plays and the receivers did a good job getting some blocks down the field and things like that. I feel like a lot of the running plays we ran we executed well.
(on having a good day on a wet field)
Yeah, just looking at the film and not even going off the condition of the game and things like that, just seeing the type of defense they had and a couple of big plays that they had given up throughout the year, I just knew if we were able to execute ourselves then we could have a pretty good day.
(on the winning drive)
Yeah, anytime when you are down and you want to go for a go-ahead touchdown and things like that, being a playmaker, you want to be on the field and be able to make plays and help your team get the victory.
(on third best day of career silencing the critics)
It's just one game. We've got five more games to go so it's a situation where I just want to be consistent to finish out this year going up, standing up, keep going on until you start to have a good game, then have a bad game. I just want to be consistent.
(on biggest difference between this game and others)
Basically just execute our plays. I feel like everybody did the right thing, I read my blocks well, they blocked well. Again, all day getting the ones down there and receivers helping out in the secondary, so I feel everybody executed.
(on holding on to the football)
It was real tough. My gloves got really slippery and things like that, so it was kind of tough to hold on. Then I changed gloves to some leather gloves and those didn't do too well, so eventually I just wore no gloves.
(on ever playing in a game with nine turnovers)
No, not at all. I've never been in a game with so many turnovers. Just knowing we still have to go to Buffalo and the weather conditions could be pretty bad, it's just a situation where we got to work on better ball security.
(on building off this win)
If we want to be a playoff team, this is the time when you can't see-saw, you've got to get hot right now and go on a win streak. So if we want to get to the playoffs we can't continue to see-saw.
(on talking to Tampa Bay DT Albert Haynesworth during the game)
Me and Albert we talk a lot during the whole game. It was good to see him out there making plays and just on a team. It's always good to go up against Albert.
(on team being great)
Yeah, we've been having flashes all year. First beginning with the passing game was doing great and then trying to get the running game going, some days we look great, some days we look pretty bad. So, I feel if we execute our plays and we continue to do the right things, I think we'll be a very good team.
CB TOMMIE CAMPBELL
(on his kickoff return for a touchdown)
We did the handoff about 50 times throughout the week. I had to come in early to practice the handoff, because the handoff was the most important thing. That was the only thing we were worried about, was getting that handoff down. And everything went well on that play. As soon as I got around the corner, I didn't see anybody there, except a dude (Tampa Bay punter Michael Koenen) and I knew he wasn't going to catch me. Once I got past the safety, I knew I had it. I just hoped everything was clean on the play, and I'm thankful for my teammates who did everything they were supposed to do. We were confident in that play. We knew that they covered the middle of the field pretty strongly and they slanted inside, so that was the play we had since the beginning of the week. 37-Special. That's the name of the play: 37-Special. I'm going to give my first touchdown ball to my mom. I have to go get it, but I'm going to give it to my mom, because she was down for the game. So it's pretty special to score a touchdown for my mom.
MLB COLIN McCARTHY
(on the play of the Titans defense today)
We were able to force them into some turnovers. The field conditions, as far as it being rainy, as far as them not being able to hang on to the football, there were opportunities for turnovers. And as a defense, we were able to force those, which made a big difference in the game. It was great for us to bounce back like this, and coach has always stressed '60 minutes', as far as finishing the game. And I think both offensively and defensively, and even on special teams, we finished in every aspect of the game. This is the NFL and you're going to go up against some big backs, and as a defense we did a great job of getting 11 hats to the ball, and not relying on one guy to make a tackle. With the weather conditions it was tough on our offense, but as a defense, we had those same opportunities, and we realized that and stayed positive. We understood we needed to finish, and as a defense, we did that.
(on his interception)
What went through my mind was 'just catch it, just catch it'. Coach (Jerry) Gray, you know, and we have been preparing for that all week. We'd seen it on film. So the biggest thing is if they throw it to you, don't drop it. It's a play we went through in practice. Early in the game they kind of did that, 10 yards and sat there, so it was a matter of time before they did the shake and try to hit us deep. Coach Gray had a great game plan, we went over it this week, and when it comes to you, you have to catch it. So that was my main focus.
S CHRIS HOPE
(on The Titans win)
It was total team win. It took everybody. Coach Munch (Mike Munchak) has been preaching the last few weeks about playing 60 minutes and that's what we did today. We still have a long way to go. We have to learn how to capitalize on the opportunities we get early in the game, so it won't be such a barn-burner at the end. We still have a lot of unfinished business to take care of and we'll take 'em one game at a time, and the more we win, we get a chance to continue to control our destiny.
KOR & PR MARC MARIANI
(on the Titans scoring on a kickoff return)
We practiced it all week. It is a very hard thing to do to give the ball to a man, to have an exchange with a guy who is that fast, coming around the corner, going full speed, to put the ball in his belly. We worked all week, and I knew if we executed the exchange, and he got to the corner, we'd be scoring every time. That was my main focus. I gave it to him and he did the rest. That's why he's so electric. He has the speed that you just can't teach. When he got around the corner, around our 40-yard line, I knew it was going to be tough to catch him. Once that exchange was made, it was on. The race was on and I'll take Tommie (Campbell) every time. * *
(on the play of the Titans special teams)
As a whole unit we we're excited about the way we're playing. Coverage, return game, and you know, we even blocked a punt today, which came back across the line of scrimmage, but shoot, those are huge plays for us. We know the last five games down the stretch we have to keep making plays, and we're taking a lot of pride in the fact that when we take the field, something exciting is going to happen, whether it's a turnover, blocked punt or return. We feel like if we do our jobs, we control our destiny. I think this is a total team victory because special teams set the tone.
(on playing in bad weather)
I've played in some pretty inclement weather with snow and wind and rain. It still makes my job real tough with the wind swirling, and the bad footing and the balls are wet. With the wind, those punted balls are going all over the place. I knew I had a challenge when I walked in the door today, when I saw the rain, and the clouds and the wind. But I love it and I love my job. I love the responsibility of the return game, so we're going to keep it rolling.
WR NATE WASHINGTON
(on the Titans victory)
It was definitely a good win for us. A lot of adversity we faced today with the weather. But we stuck together as a team and I think it's definitely always positive when you come out and have a win. We knew all week coming into this game, it was going to be bad weather conditions. Games like this, you have to find a way to win, and I think we did today. Was it pretty? No. But we found a way to win today. The coaches have been preaching to us that every game is vital for us at this point. With that being said, we have to carry out every game like it's a playoff game. Are things going to go smoothly all 60 minutes? No. It didn't work out all 60 minutes for us today, but we found a way to put a win on the board.
(on the Titans late fourth quarter touchdown drive that gave them the lead)
I think we were more so worried about taking more time off the clock. We knew we were going to get in. No nervousness, and everyone was cool, calm and collected. Exactly what you want your huddle to look like in a moment like that. Everybody did their jobs, so I think it turned out well. We have to build off of that and continue to push forward. We knew it was time to get in the end zone and we had to make sure we did our job on that point. I looked up at the clock and there was about 3:48 left, when we were driving. And I individually thought to myself and looking in the guy's faces that everybody felt the sense of urgency that we had to get in the end zone. **
FB AHMARD HALL
(on the Titans offensive mindset)
You've got to love these games. It was sloppy out there. A lot of turnovers. Me, myself personally being a fullback, I love it, because I knew were going to run the ball. And we went over 200 yards, and that's what you want out of your running game. If everybody used proper technique, finishing up blocks, and getting to our assignments, I knew we'd have a big day in the rushing game. But in that huddle at the end, we knew we were putting together some good drives, but we'd have penalties and turnovers. And you know it just killed those drives. But if we could stop the turnovers, and keep the ball in our hands, then we could put together a drive, like we did to win the game.
HEAD COACH RAHEEM MORRIS
(opening statement)
No excuses, no explanations. You have got to stop the run better at the end and we have got to come out and we cannot turn the football over. No weather, none of that stuff is an excuse. I don't know why we didn't get a measurement but still can't be an excuse. None of that stuff. You have got to go out there and execute the play that is called. And you have to execute it to get the first down and spike the ball and continue our drive there.
(on LeGarrette Blount's performance)
LeGarrette (Blount) went out and ran the ball well but you have got to hold on to the football at all cost. When you are carrying that football you are carrying the whole team on your back. No matter what you can't put the ball on the ground. We put it on the ground, I think twice today and we can't do that. Not and win a football game.
(on if he was in a position to ask for a measurement )
You shouldn't have to ask. It is what is and we do ask and they tell you they don't have to give it to you. They just give it to you automatically. Third downs are usually a critical situation. We executed at the beginning of the game and that is what it is, but no excuse, no explanations.
(on spiking the ball during the final drive )
We spike the ball after every first down you get. You pick up a first down you have to go spike it, you have no timeouts left. Every first down after that point got to be a spiked ball.
(on a feeling of being in control with penalties and turnovers )
You never have complete control but we felt we certainly had a good grasp of everything that was going on. Turnovers came back and bit us, gave them a lot of short fields, gave them some field goals and those things kept them in the football game. The turnovers, we were able to hold up a couple of times and have some good defensive stances there after the turnovers but again you cannot turn the football over and expect to win. You have got to go out there and execute your stuff.
(on the drive with multiple penalties)
It's unfortunate too. You are doing a pretty nice job up until that point. You get three I believe critical penalties right there. Force you into a third down and I believe 35, force you to run the ball there and punt it. Pretty much give them the ball back with an opportunity to go take the lead and they did a nice job.
(on the defense responding to the turnovers and Chris Johnson's rushing yards)
He got too many yards, I mean 190 I believe is what he had, two big ones on the day. He made a couple of break out runs, he's a great running back make no mistake about it. When you're a great running back and get that many carries, get that many touches, and get a chance to be that explosive, you are going to be. The only way you stop a guy like that is get him off the football field which we were able to do a couple of times but you have got to keep him off field with your offense as well.
(on the 4th down TD pass play by Matt Hasselbeck)
We were in a max drop defense, he had a speed up called. His first, his second and his third were all taking away. He scrambled around and created a play what we called like a plaster and he found someone in the back of the endzone.
(on what happened on the Josh Freeman interception)
I am not sure.
* (on what happened on the Josh Freeman interception)*
I am not sure. They picked it off. It's a bad decision right now as far as what I can see from the field. I will have to check it out and see what I see on tape.
(on if he thought it was a first down)
It doesn't really matter what I think at this point. It was fourth and one and we have got to execute the sneak.
(on the kickoff return for a touchdown)
A reverse, you have got to go out there and execute your leverage. We lost leverage. It's not about what you have seen on tape, it's about doing your assignment. We came inside and got pinned in there. Great execution, great job Coach (Chet) Parlavecchio. I got out done up by my high school head coach. Unbelievable isn't it?
(on the offense not producing points)
That's not my job to get to the podium and start to point fingers at this point but obviously the offense has got to score points in order to win. We were not able to get enough today in order to win.
(on the field's condition)
Obviously, it was rain. It was football man. That's what we play this game for. Nobody wants to play in pretty nice facilities all the time. You know, it's about the elements of the game. That's why we play, that's what we signed up for. I actually enjoyed it. I want to play more games like that. I just want to come out on the winning end of it.
(on the defense playing one of its better games)
It's hard to answer those questions when you lose. We didn't play well enough to win, so no. We have got to go out and absolutly dominate games in order to win and that's what we have go to do. There is no such thing as playing well enough. This is a team concept, this is a team game and we have to execute in all three phases of football in order to win football games.
RB LEGARRETTE BLOUNT
**(on what changed that caused the offense to go running smoothly to having five turnovers)
Obviously it was slippery. It's obvious—there is nothing that anybody could do but hold onto the ball tighter.
**(on whether or not he thought they got a first down on the game's last third down)
They didn't give us the measurement. We asked for it, they didn't give it to us.
**(on if there was a lot of confusion after they didn't get the measurement that led to the a rushed fourth down at the end of the game)
I don't know.
**(on if guys were making an effort to strip the ball more than usual today)
Ya'll seen it, ya'll watched the game just like everybody else—I played in the game. It's obvious, there's no reason to ask if anybody ran up behind me and stripped the ball, it was obvious. Everybody that's in here obviously saw the game. **
**(on where the Buccaneers go from here with their current five-game losing streak)
Go back to practice and find a way to win.
**(on if today's loss was frustrating)
It's really frustrating. Every loss is frustrating, no matter if you lose by one or by 100.
**(on having four lost team fumbles today)
We just didn't hold onto the ball hard enough—we didn't hold onto the ball the way we were taught.
QB JOSH FREEMAN
**(on his interception late in the fourth quarter)
I was trying to hit Kellen (Winslow). They ran a little coverage where Kellen matched up with 52 (Colin McCarthy) and there was just a little bit of miscommunication. It's just something that at that point in the game can't happen. Looking back we had our timeouts, we had plenty of time—it would have been fairly routine for us to drive down, but that turnover made things difficult.
** (on if spiking the ball on first down was an automatic decision)
Yeah, because at that point in time, time is more important than downs—obviously you want to save some downs, you're not going to spike it on third down unless it's dire, but in any situation like that with no timeouts it's always important that you preserve as much time as possible.
**(on the confusion after not getting the first down on the last third down of the game)
Yeah (I was yelling to kill the ball), I thought it was a first down. I dumped it off to Lump (Kregg Lumpkin), he does a good job of turning around and getting up field. I looked over and I saw the official appeared to be on the other side of the first-down marker, so I'm running up 'Kill it, kill it, kill it.' We wanted to save some time, good field position, we've got some time left, it's first down lets kill it. Then they're like its fourth-and-inches, so I thought, 'shouldn't they be measuring this?' I tried to get the measurement and the ref said to play it, so I tried to call a sneak. Enough time had already run off the clock and I was just trying to get a first down. They didn't have a chance to dry off the ball, so it was just a mess.
**(on LeGarrette Blount's overall performance)
I thought LeGarrette ran hard. He did a good job running the ball; he had another 100-yard day. It's all for not, we're in this business to win football games and today let one get away.
**(on what was said on the sidelines and in the locker room about ball security today)
There was a lot. We started talking about if you're in a circumstance where there are a lot of guys around you trying to hold you up and strip you then you have to fall and get down. When you are fighting for extra yardage that's when bad things happen—especially in this situation with the rain. It was a shame, what did we have five turnovers today? Four fumbles and we lost them all. It makes it hard to win.
**(on if the rain impacted the team's performance today)
It was a little wet, a little slick, but all-in-all I felt like we were prepared for it—all week coming into the game we talked about getting the right shoes on, being prepared, being ball secure. It's really a shame we couldn't execute better.
QB JOSH FREEMAN (CONTINUED)
**(on if the officials usually wipe down the ball in weather conditions like this)
Yeah, most of the time they do, the ref wipes it down with a towel and puts it down—you usually have a fairly dry ball. On that one it was a little slick, they had a little penetration off the bat. They kind of whistled it a little early, I was trying to throw it and they blew the whistle before I had a chance to throw it. Hats off to the Titans, they capitalized at the end of the game and executed.
** (on the team attitude after losing six of their last seven games)
We feel like we're a better team than our record portrays. We have to stop doing the things that have been killing us all year long. We have to come together and finish this thing out. There is nobody in that locker room that doesn't feel sick every time we lose. I know we can't wait to get back to the facility and get next week going and get to play a Carolina Panthers team.
**(on the holding penalty and ensuing false start that took the Buccaneers out of field goal position)
That has to be avoided. You're in field goal range, if your guy beats you LeGarrette is going to get back to the line of scrimmage—there is no need to tack on 10 yards. Our guys are out there playing hard. I would say it was a very inopportune time. That was a moment in the game where we really needed those points; we just keep shooting ourselves in the foot.
**(on if today's loss hurts more because they had a fourth-quarter lead and are typically a strong fourth-quarter team)
Really a loss is a loss is a loss. I can't really say that any particular loss hurts more than the next. It's really a shame, nothing drives me more crazy—I'm really frustrated right now. At the same time, we've got to go back next week, we can't get down on ourselves, we have to continue to prepare and find a way to raise our intensity even more and win the next game.
OL DONALD PENN
(on the game)
Penalties hurt us. Penalties stop us from winning and that is the story of the season. Until we fix it, we have the record we've got. Turnovers and penalties are the story of the season until we fix it.
(on the frustration)
It is very frustrating, especially when it is stuff that you could stop on your own. We get back to that same word, penalties. Penalties and turnovers.
(on the end of the game)
It seems like we don't ever get a call to go our way. I hope (Roger) Goodell sends us a letter explaining why we didn't get that measurement down there at the end. You know that is the story of our season so far penalties, turnovers, and you don't blame it on the ref, but they have a big part.
(on if he thought it should have been a first down)
It looked at least like a measurement. A measurement would have at least let us get everything going. I swear if any other team would have been like that it would have been a measurement. It is crazy how we just keep getting the grunt of it, but I am not going to make any excuses. We have got to get better and we are going to go get better this week.
(on if the rain was an issue)
Not for me. I block. Not for me, but it must have been a big factor, because the ball kept slipping out and kept flying everywhere. People were slipping and falling everywhere. It is a factor, but you can't make excuses. We had two chances to win, but we lost the game.
DE DA'QUAN BOWERS
(on the game)
I think we came out with a lot intensity. Chris Johnson being the back that he was made a lot of plays in the second half that we couldn't stop. I think we put up a hard fought battle, but we are going to back to work on Monday and correct our mishaps.
(on what happened in the Titans touchdown drive)
That is Chris Johnson just doing what he does best. Finding holes and hitting them hard. He is a hard runner. He is fast and he is going to find a crease somewhere.
(on the frustrations of losing)
It definitely is tough on us. We just need to correct some things and get into the win column as soon as possible.
