Game Quotes: Panthers vs. Buccaneers

HEAD COACH RON RIVERA On adjustments on defense after first half: "I wouldn’t say we struggled on defense. I would say that we were able to hold them to field goals. That’s probably the best thing. The thing we didn’t do is we didn’t protect the football. We turned it over twice on the offensive side in the first half and didn’t give ourselves the chance to score. That’s the thing we can’t do. We have to be able to protect the football and give ourselves the opportunity to score." On Mike Remmers performance on the offensive line: "I thought the offensive line did well. We rushed for 136 yards and we had over 270 yards in passing. I thought they did nice job. I thought they gave the quarterback ample time to throw the ball. Again, as I said, we just didn’t protect the football. They made some plays and unfortunately we didn’t." His message to players in the locker room after another tough loss: "That’s part of it. It’s still early in the season. We have started the second quarter but the truth in the matter is we have to start getting things rolling. We have the Saints coming up pretty soon. We have a short week so we just have to start getting prepared and move forward. You can’t look behind. There is nothing we can do about it. That’s pretty much what I told them. I said I’m going forward and I expect them to go forward as well." Positives from the game: "There were some positives tonight. We did some good things at times but the bottom line is again, we can’t be careless with the football. We can’t make mistakes and that’s what we did. We have to look at those things and make sure we get those things corrected. Again, the disappointing part was we came out and we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had. We are in the fourth quarter and we have the opportunity to get them out on a three and out and get the ball in good field position if we make them punt and we didn’t do that. That’s the disappointing thing. We didn’t do the things we needed to do to win this football game." On the goal line interception: "Most certainly but again it was a good play call. The guy just made a tremendous play. He hinged on underneath the throw. If that ball is maybe a little bit higher or if he missed timed that jump, it’s a touchdown. We have a guy open in the corner of the end zone. Again, you have to give him credit for the play." On aggravation setting in over same mistakes: "It’s aggravating when you lose. It’s easy to be aggravated. Last year we had penalties and won football games. This year we have penalties and its costing us. We have to make sure we are not making those mistakes. We have to make sure we are doing the things that we are capable of. As I said earlier, we have to make sure we are putting them in position to have success." On Cam Newton’s return and if he will be at practice soon: "We will find out. Again, he is in the protocol. He is going through the protocol. We will see how he is tomorrow morning." Assessment of Derek Anderson’s play: 'I thought DA played pretty well. I know he probably wishes he had one throw back and that was in the red zone. If he gets that ball a little bit higher or out a little bit sooner, it’s a touchdown. We had a guy open in the corner. It’s unfortunate the guy made a really good play and you have to give him credit for the play that he did make." On Greg Olsen’s big offensive performance: "I thought Greg had a great day. He did some big things for us. He put us in position and helped give us a chance to win. It’s unfortunate we have to waste a great effort from what he did."QB DEREK ANDERSON Statement on the game: "It wasn’t good enough. Plain and simple. You know, we had a chance to win in the end and we didn’t execute properly and unfortunately, turnovers got us today." Thoughts on what happened at the first-and-goal at the one-yard line: "I think I had him. I just obviously have to throw it a little higher. I had a good play, I think, but unfortunately if I could have a back-up, I would obviously throw it away. But it’s football. They’ve got good players too." On how turnovers made the difference in the loss: "They didn’t turn it over. We turned it over four times. Two of them, I think, the defense got stops and they didn’t end up hurting us but obviously the interception at the end on the one-yard line is the difference maker. We punched in, they’ve got to score a touchdown in the last drive or kick a field goal or we go to overtime. But we moved the ball when we wanted to. We did a lot of good things. Unfortunately we had bad plays at the wrong time. I think that’s what it came down to." On Greg Olsen breaking the team’s tight-end receiving yards record: "I think he did a great job. Obviously they blew covers a couple times when he was wide open. Greg is just consistent. He works every day and you know what you’re going to get out of him. He’s obviously a great, like I said earlier, he’s a great asset to our team. You know it’s going to take all of us to get this thing going." On frustrations during the first half: "I think we ran three plays in the first quarter and didn’t throw a pass until the first five minutes of the second quarter. That’s probably the first time I’ve ever done that so it’s obviously a little bit difficult to get into a rhythm. Obviously that was our game plan, to run the ball as much as we could, shorten the game. He (Jameis Winston) didn’t turn the ball over. I turned the ball over. I think that was a point of emphasis for them. He hasn’t been turning over the ball lately and they weren’t going to let him. Unfortunately it happened." If it was in the game plan to pass to Greg Olsen over other players: "It’s just the way they come up. I felt like we had a good matchup. When they try to play man coverage, obviously I feel like he’s a good matchup with most guys in this league. They played some more zone and a little bit different than they’d had, a little bit, but nothing we didn’t adjust to. We were ready for it. I don’t go out and just try to throw it to Greg every time. Obviously if he’s in the read and he’s open, he’s getting the ball. That goes for all the guys." On his two turnovers: "The one to KB (Kelvin Benjamin) was just unfortunate. The guy set it up in the air and the guy happened to be there. I’m not really sure what happened on the fumble. I knew I was really close to a first down so I tried to dive and the next thing I know, I didn’t have it. I don’t know, I’ll have to watch it. It kind of happened quick." His thoughts on Olsen’s comments about having to create the team’s own luck: "When you’re 1-4 now, you just have to tighten the screws and make good decisions and kind of force the issues of controlling the ball and run the ball better, I think. I think for the most part we did a good job today. But just overall in the first five games, running the ball and controlling the clock, not turning the ball over. That’s our recipe for winning games. It’s bad when you look at it but in this situation with those sorts of things, balls get tipped, when you’re 12-0, balls get tipped and hit the ground. When you’re struggling, it seems like, it’s not what happens but it seems like how it feels. We just need to tighten the bolts. Like I said earlier in the week, we’ve got a bunch of good dudes that come in and work every day. It’s going to take all of us."DE CHARLES JOHNSON Regarding this season’s start after last season: "I’m not worrying about last year. I’m just going to focus on trying to get a win. One game at time, just trying to get a win. That’s all I’m focused on." On what it will take to improve: "It’s going to take a lot of hard work and dedication. A lot of people are going to have to have a gut check. We have to stay with our motto – Keep Pounding." Thoughts on if this team can still make the playoffs: "Yes, of course. We’ve just got to get some wins." DE KONY EALY On being 1-4 at the start of the season: "Losing sucks. Nobody likes to lose. All the preparation we put in just, you know, it’s a bad feeling." On the challenge Jacquizz Rodgers presented: "They executed, we didn’t. Obviously on some plays, we’ve got to be better at the end of the day." On the adjustments made in the second half: "We just played on our side of the ball. It’s nothing special. We just played hard on the run defense." CB DARYL WORLEY On what the team needs to do to cause more turnovers: "We just have to work on it more. That’s honestly something we need to do more – more turnovers we need to see in practice. That’s where it transitions into the game." Thoughts on how the defense performed: "We were playing hard. We’re going to go back and watch the film. I don’t know exactly how everyone played, assignment wise, but everyone felt as though we were doing our job for the most part, stopping them when we felt that we needed a stop. Sometime son those third-downs, we have to get of the field."RB CAMERON ARTIS-PAYNE Regarding the loss to Tampa Bay: "Yeah it’s a tough loss. We just have to execute better down the stretch and we say what we have to do better. We’re going to get back to the drawing board on Wednesday and try to fix that so we can turn the season around." On Tampa Bay’s defense: "It was a successful defense that they were playing. They were trying to cramp the inside so we saw we had some room on the outside. The guys we have pulling are very athletic so we felt like we could get on the edge and gain an advantage out there which we did." On how the team will bounce back: "We just know what we have to fix. We know we can play better in all facets of the game. That’s what we aim to do. We didn’t make it to the Super Bowl last year by accident. We have a lot of the same guys back, we just have to fix some of these little mental mistakes that we’re making down the stretch. We’ll get that fixed and we’ll turn the season around." On Tampa Bay winning the game late: "It was frustrating – them running the clock out. At the end of the day, we have to stop them down the stretch, our defense did a great job running with them down the stretch. We just have to make some more plays." TE GREG OLSEN Assessment of the game: "It’s been kind of the story of our losses this year. Missed opportunities, self-inflicted wounds, obviously turnovers are big. We can go down a laundry list of things that didn’t go our way. In this league, the reality is you make your own luck, you make your own fate. You can’t sit around and hope the ball bounces your way. Right now it’s not and that’s just the nature of this league. It goes in flows. There are times where it seems like everything you do is right, the ball bounces your way, they fumble and it bounces to you. That’s not the case right now for us. We’ve got to make our own luck. Nobody feels sorry for us, that’s just the reality for us right now." Regarding what he saw on the interception in the end zone: "It was just tough. We were trying to make a play there, had a lot of momentum. Obviously it’s one we’d like to have back, but you try to make a play in the end zone and we came up a little short." On being 1-4 compared to last year’s success: "The reality is, we told you guys, what happened the year before has nothing to do with this year. We’ve been saying that since the day after the Super Bowl. That’s just the reality of it. It’s unfortunate we had to learn it by being 1-4, but that’s the way this league goes. You’re not promised anything in this league. No one’s going to roll over because of what you’ve done in the past. You’ve got to earn everything and right now we’re not earning anything."LB LUKE KUECHLY On staying focused and keeping the locker room together: We’ve got enough older guys on this team we’re not going to have any problem staying together. We’ve got to play better football. That’s really what it comes down to on defense. We need to do a better job of creating turnovers. We haven’t done that in the past few games and it’s hurt us. We do a good job stressing it in practice, we just have to get the ball out. I don’t think there’s going to be any issues with guys jumping ship. There’s a guy in every room that’s an older guy that’s going to keep this thing together. That’s something that’s never crossed my mind, we just have to play better football and get back on track. Thoughts on the start to the season: It’s not what we expected, but that’s how the NFL works. We just have to rebound. That’s really what it comes down to. You don’t expect to be in this position, but we’re in this position and now it’s how we’re going to respond. Like I said, we’re going to be OK, we just have to get back to the fundamentals and doing our job. We’ll have a good practice on Wednesday I’m sure and we’ll be ready to go. Thoughts on fourth quarter defense: When we’re out there at the end of the game we’ve got to get a stop and that’s what it comes down to. We’ve got to find a way to get off the field on third down whether it’s a sack, it’s a tackle, it’s an interception, it’s a fumble, something like that. CB ROBERT MCCLAIN Regarding Carolina’s defensive performance: "It was a tough first quarter. They held the ball a long time with their time of possession. It’s just about coming up and making tackles. I missed a couple tackles that first quarter to where we could’ve put them in longer down and situations. It’s all about rallying together and holding strong." On Tampa Bay’s third-down conversions on the final drive of the game: "We knew what they were going to do. It’s about making plays on the ball when it comes our way. I wish I could’ve broke inside instead of outside on that third-down in their two-minute drive. I broke to the outside shoulder and he threw it inside. There are a lot of plays that we all wish we could take back. There are a lot of plays I wish I could come back and make better decisions to help the team win." On his split-sack: "With our defense and the D-line rushing, the blitzes we had, the combination of blitzes we had, the zone coverages and disguises we had during the game – it really helped us in getting pressure on the quarterback and getting him to hold onto the football. Being able to get sacks like that, we all work as one piece on the defense. There are no individuals on the team. I was thankful I was able to get off the edge. Tre made a great move on the guy cutting him to help get that sack." Thoughts on performance of Buccaneers RB Jacquizz Rodgers: "My path crossed with his a couple times. He has a low center of gravity. Good running back. I played with him when we were with the Falcons. I know his style of run. I know his game style. He’s a tough runner. He’s a tough tackle. Defensively, we have to be able to get in our gaps and make those tackles." CB TEDDY WILLIAMS If the team has lost hope: "No. Most definitely not. No lost hope. No heads down or any of that. It’s a long season. We’re five games in so we really have to stick together, we have to depend on each other and depend on our coaches. Stick together and come together on Wednesday and just go back to the drawing board. Get ready for New Orleans, get ready for next week and hopefully we get a good win going into our bye week." On colliding with Ted Ginn, Jr. on the fumbled punt: "Ultimately, it’s just bad awareness by me. I had a matchup with that guy and I had him where I wanted him but the punt got hung up and it was a shorter punt. By the time I got my eyes around to see Ted, I saw him fair catch at the last minute so I tried to jump over him. When I jumped over him I think my leg hit his shoulder. It was just a bad situation. In situations like that, you really have to bounce back. You know you let your team down in that situation so I just had to come back and play defense and do anything I could to make that field goal go bad. Ultimately, they didn’t get any points off that drive so I just tried to let my teammates know, instead of putting my head down, I’m going to fight with them."