Interim head coach Mike Kafka
Q: What did you see on the interception at the end there?
A: I'm going to go back and look at the tape on it. I didn't get a good picture off the replay. I'll go back and look at it. But here's what I do like is that our guys were playing aggressive and (quarterback) Jameis (Winston) had an aggressive mindset all day. I think he's trying to give his guy a chance right there at the end in the end zone to go score a touchdown. But I'll go look at it and see what happened exactly.
Q: It looked like (wide receiver) Jalen (Hyatt) just kind of stopped his route a little bit. Did you talk to him at all on the sideline?
A: Yeah, I haven't had a chance because we were just kind of on to the next one and just so again I have to go back and look at the tape and see if that was the case.
Q: What's going on with your defense here? This seems to be a theme in the fourth quarter.
A: Our defense is battling, playing their butts off. At the end of it, we've got to make a couple more plays. But I really, really like how we approached it today. Aggressive mentality across the board. There were some one-on-one opportunities on the back end and the front end that we got to make. I'm going to continue to challenge those guys to do that in practice and then it will eventually turn over for us.
Q: Is that something that you talked to (defensive coordinator) Shane (Bowen) about this week, about an aggressive mentality?
A: It's something I talked to the whole team about, just staying aggressive no matter the situation and that's what's going to get us over the hump.
Q: How did the wind factor into the way that you called the game today?
A: It was a factor. It's something we talked about, special teams, defense, offense, just kind of knowing where it was at, where we had field position wise. So, a certain direction might have affected a little bit more. Another direction, not as much. But our game plan was our game plan. I thought our guys went out there, just came up a couple of plays short.
Q: You were obviously aggressive, too, with the fourth down plays. Why is being aggressive going to get you over the hump?
A: Regardless, we want to be aggressive. That's, to me, as a former player, being around a lot of good play callers, head coaches, like you want to have an aggressive mentality on offense and defense, special teams. So that's really the messaging throughout. We continue to be aggressive, whether it's one-on-one situations, whether it's by play call, or whether it's just by style of play. I want that to be a stamp of what our team's about.
Q: Why didn't (linebacker) Abdul (Carter) play on the opening drive?
A: That was the coach's decision. It's something we talked about. I want to make sure it was my decision. So, we'll just keep the rest of that in-house.
Q: Was it discipline related?
A: Yeah, we'll keep the rest of that in-house. Just it was a coach's decision for me and talked to Abdul.
Q: There were a number of cases where you had the pile moves in your team's favor. What did that say about effort beyond the execution?
A: Yeah, I love the effort our guys play with. Love it. And we'll continue to stress it. It's what we're about. It's finishing longer than the guy with the football. That's what we're about, offensive, defensive, and special teams wise. And you saw that. We've got to continue to make that a staple of us and the consistency throughout the work week and practice.
Q: Are you trying to set an example there with Abdul? You said coach's decision there with not playing him on the opening drive. He played every other snap the rest of the game.
A: Yeah, he played his butt off. He practiced his tail off, played his butt off. I'm really happy about Abdul and excited to watch him continue to grow and continue to play a lot more as a pro.
Q: The original question was, are you trying to set an example there? Is that important to you to do that to the rest of the team? Whatever it was, that's not acceptable.
A: I love Abdul and what he brings to this team, the skill set he has. This guy loves ball. I'm excited again to watch him attack this week of practice and continue to work and grow and be the great player that I think he is.
Q: What kind of adjustments did you have to make now that you're the head coach versus your previous role as the assistant head coach?
A: Yeah, you're talking a little bit more with the special teams and defense. You're still working with the staff and just communicating and collaborating and getting everyone on the same page. But those are probably just the two things off the top of my head, just a little bit more communication with the rest of the coaches and players on the other side of the ball.
Q: What was your message to the defense before they went out for that, what wound up being the go-ahead touchdown there.
A: Yeah, let's go get it. Attack, be aggressive, and let's go get the ball back.
Q: Were they aggressive enough, did you think?
A: I thought they played really aggressive. I really did. We'll make some more plays. We'll continue to work at it. But I like the style in which we called it and in which we played it.
Q: What was it like for you today overall, just in general? How unusual or comfortable were you?
A: I haven't had a chance to really go back and think about it yet. It's still fresh off the game. So, we'll go back and evaluate it, look at some of the things that we've got to improve on and have those focused for the remainder of the week.
Q: Were you planning to go for two if you scored on that last drive?
A: Yes.
Q: Was there ever a point today where you, before the game, you looked around and said to yourself, I'm the head coach in the national football league for the first time? Just emotionally, what did that feel like to you?
A: No, my focus was on the game. My focus was on the players, putting them in the best positions, just thinking through how we were going to play the game. Again, talking about some of the weather stuff, some of the substitution stuff. So that's really all my focus was, just on the game.
Q: Is there a way to get your team to make game-winning plays? You know what I mean? On defense, (Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan) Love has a lot of time, then (outside linebacker Brian) Burns gets late pressure, the ball just floats up there and (cornerback) Cor'Dale Flott is there, and he doesn't make a play. If he makes a play, maybe you win the game. So, is there a way, repeatedly, to see if your team can make those plays instead of not?
A: Absolutely. We're going to keep on stressing it. We're going to keep on working our tail off in practice and keep on putting our guys in those situations, because I believe in them. And I think if we get more and more opportunities at those plays, we're going to make them.
Q: (Quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) was here today on the field before the games, is it your expectation that he clears before next week's game against the Lions?
A: I don't want to get too far ahead on that. I know he's still in the protocol, so we'll just kind of play it as the protocol goes.
Q: He's here.
A: We had our whole practice squad here. We had anybody that was up on the sideline to help create some energy, just be a great sounding board for our team. We're all in this thing together. So those guys are a part of the group, and so they'll all be here for home games as long as we can, because those guys are a critical part of the team.
Q: You said you liked how aggressive Jameis was, but overall, how would you assess his play?
A: I don't think there's anything much else I would add on Jameis. I've just got to watch the tape. But I love where his mindset was the entire game. He was very positive. I thought he was completing a lot of footballs. I thought when he had opportunities downfield, he took them. And that's just kind of my snapshot view, but I like where Jameis was at. At no point was there any kind of indecision. He was very decisive and played and managed the game and got us in and out of good looks, got us out of plays on the line of scrimmage, handled that tempo very well. So I was happy with Jameis.
Q: Do you think there will be a moment when that will happen (emotionally understanding new head coach role)?
A: I'm sure there will be. Not right now, but I'm sure there will be at some time.
Q: (Cornerback) Nic Jones was in at slot corner. What prompted that change?
A: Yeah, the defense, they wanted to make a substitution there to put him at nickel. It was a good idea, and I think he did a nice job and made a nice little play there on third and two.
Q: I know you have to watch the tape, but ultimately what was the difference today?
A: I'm going to go back, again, like I said, and watch the tape. I think there's some one-on-one opportunities that we could have taken advantage of. We'll look at it, see what those plays were, where those players were, and then see how we can work at it fundamentally, kind of go back to, all right, how can we make this thing better? Really just be really, really critical of that as a staff, really, really be critical of that as a player unit and a leadership group, and then go get those corrections fixed.
Q: What was it like having (wide receiver) Isaiah Hodgins back this week?
A: Isaiah, man, I'm so proud of him. Stepping up on a short week, short notice, coming in on a Thursday and being a huge part of the offense, critical fourth downs, critical third downs, critical blocks on the perimeter. This guy just stepped up. I'm super proud of him and happy we have him.
Q: What about your running game today? Everything was pushing forward even though it was pretty good defense.
A: Yeah, the run game went. I'll look at the tape again and evaluate what we did well and what we didn't do well, but they came downhill. We adjusted kind of early from some of the outside zone stuff, a little bit more downhill stuff, and our O-line accepted that challenge versus a really good front. I thought we had some good production of it. I don't have the exact number of it, but (running back Tyrone Tracy) Trace and (running back Devin Singletary) Motor ran well. The O-line ran well. So, we'll just go back and look at it and see what the overall looks like.
Q: I know that you're happy with their aggressiveness and some of the adjustments on defense, but at the end of the day, you guys lost this one. The defense gave up a game-losing touchdown drive to end it again in the fourth quarter. Will you reevaluate or evaluate your defensive staff and potential changes there, either on the staff or at coordinator or in play calling?
A: That's the beauty of football. It's a team game. It's never about one person or one side of the ball. Every unit had opportunities to make plays, and so it's a team game, and it's the best team game in all of sports. So, we're going to look at it. We're going to evaluate everything. We're going to evaluate all the players. We're going to evaluate all the coaches, the calls, be hypercritical of that, and then find out those areas where we can be better and knock those things out, and that's what we're going to do this week in practice. So, it's all of us. It's all of us together on it, and we're going to get arm-in-arm and go get back to work.
Quarterback Jameis Winston
Q: What did you see on that interception late in the fourth quarter?
WINSTON: I saw that timing and execution is so important in this game. When you don't have the reps with some of your teammates, you've got to capitalize on those moments and continue to work even harder and find solutions because when the game really matters, timing and execution is the most important thing.
Q: How did you feel out there, your first start?
WINSTON: So grateful, man. I was so grateful. I really wanted to win for these guys, man. How we dominated the line of scrimmage, we ran the ball effectively. We did some good things in the passing game. (Interim head coach Mike Kafka) Kaf did an incredible job calling this game. I really wanted to win this one for us.
Q: Important first drive? Kind of got you back in a groove to start the game.
WINSTON: I think our coaches do a great job of studying the opponent and putting us in great situations. It's just our job to execute it and play good football.
Q: Kafka said here that he was very positive even in the loss. Do you sense that that's what he's trying to do, to establish an attitude about staying positive?
WINSTON: Yeah, Kaf is very poised and he played the quarterback position. He saw great fight in our team. We fought hard, we fought to the end. It was unfortunate that we finished the way that we did, man. That's why I really wanted to win this game and I'm just going to keep getting better, man. But Kaf is a great coach, man, he brought great energy and it's tough that we didn't pull it out.
Q: Talking about that energy and Kafka talked about an aggressive mentality being really important. How much of a shift do you notice under his regime?
WINSTON: I think this team wants it. We're right there, close in these games. But when you've got a leader that's optimistic, that has drive and has that player perspective, he's probably been in our situation before. I'm just grateful to have a head ball coach who brings that optimism, brings that energy and leadership.
Q: What do you think the key is to being able to win some of these close games in the fourth quarter?
WINSTON: Simplicity to me, finishing out as a team. All of us collectively can do one small thing to continue to get better to finish this game. I think that's the important thing. We're right there at the end of it. We just have to finish the game and we will, we'll find a way to finish because it's required to finish in this league.
Q: What did you see on that last interception with you and (wide receiver Jalin) Hyatt? What happened on that play?
WINSTON: I believe timing and execution is so important when you're in crucial moments. When defenses see routes, you and the receiver have to be elite in timing and execution. I believe Jalin and I, our timing and execution could have been a lot better.
Q: Kafka talked about just being aggressive. He liked how you were being aggressive. I know that's your style, but did you get the sense that he was encouraging you guys to take more chances and just put it all out there?
WINSTON: It started with the offensive line, man. They just played amazing against an amazing front. They played incredible. When you have an offensive line that's dominating up front and you're efficient in the run game, you can be more aggressive, you can challenge their DBs a little bit more. Our running backs and our offensive line really controlled this game for us. That was the key to allowing us to be more aggressive.
Q: Your clip of singing Hamilton went viral, did you hear from anybody?
WINSTON: I didn't hear from anybody. That's the joy that I bring to the locker room. We would have so much joy celebrating a victory. That's what we're striving for. That's what I'm striving for. I can sing Hamilton, sing it with my boys all the time, but I would rather sing the victory song with my teammates.
Q: (Wide receiver) Isaiah (Hodgins) obviously comes in on Thursday. He's been in this offense before, but he just comes in. You found him a lot today. What made him so effective today?
WINSTON: The work he put in. I think when you've got a guy that you're like, oh my goodness, he got in the day of the game, he's going out there and playing, he just put in a lot of work in his preparation, and he was prepared for it. I'm grateful that he came in with the attitude that he came in with. Obviously, our coaches had a lot of confidence in him, and he went out there and did a great job for us.
Q: What was your mentality the first couple months of the season waiting for your chance?
WINSTON: I wasn't waiting, I was preparing, doing the same thing every single day. Staying locked in, serving as much as I can to my teammates. The same thing. I believe in preparation is the key. Pressure is for the unprepared. I just try to continue to prepare like I am the starting quarterback. I'm grateful that I have this moment, it's just unfortunate that we didn't finish it.
Outside linebacker Brian Burns
Q: Up 20-19, you guys took the field with a one-point lead. What's your thought at that point?
BURNS: We got to get a stop.
Q: Were your confidence levels high that you were going to get a stop there?
BURNS: Yeah.
Q: What do you remember about that 3rd and 10 play? You looked like you had some late pressure?
BURNS: Yeah, we took too long. We had three one-on-ones, we didn't win. Can't leave the coverage covering that long, (cornerback Cor'Dale) Flott was in position, that's a hard down for him. Gott to help him out on that, so that's on the D-line, in my opinion.
Q: How difficult is it when these things keep piling up for you defensively in the fourth quarter? Obviously, you played a lot of good ball today, and then it still doesn't reward at the end of the day.
BURNS: Just got to make better plays. Bigger plays, bigger and better plays. We had a turnover that they took back. I mean, not to say that that's going to do so much, but I mean, that's momentum that we could've had. We also had two more punch outs that the ball ran out of bounds, I mean the ball fell out of bounds, but we just have to make bigger and better plays to impact the game, all of us.
Running back Devin Singletary
Q: First, your thoughts on head coach Mike Kafka and how he handled the entire bench as well as the offense today.
SINGLETARY: Yeah, man, I think he did a great job, but we expected that. We expected that.
Q: What kind of feel might've been different with the change?
SINGLETARY: You know, it was more even-keel, it wasn't a lot of, no matter what was going on, everybody was even-keeled. I think that was the biggest difference.
Q: It looked like you guys were really able to establish a run against a team that doesn't give up much on the ground. How proud are you guys of that factor?
SINGLETARY: Very proud, man. Big guys up front, they were moving guys. But we expected that, we knew they was capable of that. Me and (running back Tyrone) Trace, all we had to do was run. Even the receivers got in on it, the tight ends got in on all the dirty work, so that was big for us today.
Q: You get the go-ahead touchdown there, early in the fourth quarter, and again unfortunately it slipped away. What goes through your mind and your stomach as you see this happen again?
SINGLETARY: Yeah, I mean, it's a sick feeling. It's never a good feeling, especially when you know we had a good chance of winning, but we all were sick about that one.
