Head Coach Mike Macdonald

Obviously very disappointed. Our guys played extremely hard. Fought all the way to the end, but I told the team, look, this game is my responsibility. You got to give Tampa Bay a lot of credit. We knew they would fight to the very end, which they’ve done all year, and are a very tough and very good football team. But I have to do better with our defensive game plan and execution and how we call it. When you put up a performance like that it means that I didn’t prepare them well enough. It hurts. It stings. It should, because our guys work extremely hard and they care. But we’re going to use this to move forward and that’s the only thing we can do. We’re going to take it on the chin and move forward tomorrow and move on and grow and go get ready to play our best game against Jacksonville. It’s that simple. Offense played great. Special teams played great. I’m sure there are things on that end too with penalties we got to fix. We’ll learn from all these things and move forward but we have to do that.

A lot of injuries on the back end. How big of a factor was that?

Yeah, look, they were banged up, too. Injuries happen in the NFL. I have to design better plays and put our guys in better positions consistently to play better on defense. It’s that simple.

Sam was prolific and had the hiccup at the end, but how to you assess the whole of his performance today?

Sam was great. Played a tremendous football game. Thought we were going to have a chance to win the game there at the end. What was it, 99-yard drive, fourth down, extending plays. I thought Sam played tremendous.

You guys have been able to really stifle quarterbacks all season long. What was it about Baker? Seemed to have a lot of guys that were wide open most of the game.

Well, they did a great job of scheming stuff open. We obviously have to play better. I mean, so it goes both ways. But we knew they were a great offense. We just didn’t get it done. When you have guys open like that, that can’t happen. That’s my job to make sure that doesn’t happen.

With the pass rush was that just the lack of — just a matter you think of not having Tank and D-Hall?

No. Our guys went in there and played. The expectation is the same no matter who is out there. But again, we got to design better things. Pressures have to be more locked in. Got to call them at better times. All these things. Our pressure coverage was very weak today. That’s something we need to look at.

Seemed like there was some missed tackles and things like that, too.

Yeah, missed tackles, diving on the ground, not doing the things that we’re trained to do. Look, when it doesn’t come to life on the field — I’m responsible for what comes to life on the field, and it doesn’t come to life to do so it’s my responsibility. But we will definitely be looking at that. We missed way too many tackles.

The fourth down to Sam, was there any doubt about going for that?

No. We were going for it. No, at a certain time, at a certain length we weren’t going to. I think it was a definite go at two.

Seem to rule D-Hall out pretty quickly. Does that signal it may be serious?

Yeah, we will image it tonight. It’s his oblique. We’ll see how bad it is.

Tariq? Any update on what it is?

Yeah, it’s a concussion, so you know how those things go. The protocol starts and we’ll work through from there.

Why were you caught in between maybe blitzing more and applying more pressure and not leaving your back end exposed with the injuries you had?

We wanted to pressure this game, and we didn’t do it well enough. And so like I said, it wasn’t designed well enough and didn’t call it in the right spots and we didn’t get it done. But you’re right, against this team it’s kind of pick your poison at a certain point.

What do you think of just another loss at home? I know you guys really want to get that fixed.

I’m thinking about how well we played as a football team and how well-prepared we were. Us playing at home or on the road doesn’t have anything to do with that. We got to defend our home turf. We know that. But that doesn’t make you execute better. Doesn’t make you call better plays. It’s really important that we play better at home. It’s been an important emphasis since I was hired. Hasn’t come to life yet. We’re determined to make it come to life. Our fans were awesome today. The 12s were on fire.

We’re asking you pretty much every week about Sam and Jaxon and the connection. They had another big game.

Yeah, both guys played great. Thought our whole offense played a great game. Protected Sam really well up until that last play. Guys are fighting really, really hard, making big time plays in those spots.

What did you think of the run game?

Our run game we knew it was going to be tough sledding against this front, and thought our guys did a great job. Coaches got the good plays and felt like we were blocking through the echo of the whistle. Our guys were running hard, too. So thought we took a step in the run game.

AJ Barner, talk about his play. You talked about blocking and running.

They’re (the tight ends) right in the thick of all the things on offense, right? Just they’re instrumental in the run game and in the pass game, them coming to life, we knew we would need them in this game and they continue to come up and make plays for us. So AJ is the leader of the pack there. He’s doing a great job.

Sam do anything different on that final play?

I got to take a look at it.

QB Sam Darnold

Obviously a tough loss. I thought in the first half being down 13-nothing the way that we kind of came back in that two-minute drill, scored, and then able to score right away coming out of the second half, it was awesome to see our offense do that. To be able to just double them up right there in the middle eight was great. And then the last turnover, definitely on me. I was just trying to throw it away. I think it might have deflected off a helmet. Once I saw it was going to be hot to my left I just tried to throw it away, and I think it deflected off somebody’s helmet. At the end of the day I got to protect the football in that situation and can’t give them a short field to put the game away like that. Also want to give credit to those guys, Tampa Bay. They’re a tough team. Every game they’re in I feel like they fight until the very end, so you got to give them a lot of credit.

Sam, does this feel like you guys had one in your grasp and you let it get away?

For sure. I think being up late the way that we were, the way our offense was rolling, too, the confidence I have in our offense in two-minute situations even with them tying it at the end there, I felt like we could go down and put Jason Myers in a position to be able to win the game there. So that was disappointing for sure. But at the end of the day that’s football. We’re going to look at it. We’re going to look at the tape, grow from it, and just continue to get better.

Outside of the late mistake, do you feel like that was as complete a performance as you’ve had offensively this season?

I don’t know. I got to look at it. The first half could have been a lot better. Obviously second half we were rolling pretty good, put some good drives together. Again, that first half, to not score until the two-minute drive, we got to be better there.

AJ Barner has four touchdowns, three in the last two games. What makes him a good red zone weapon for you?

He’s just a good player. I think flat out he’s a really good player. For me, I’m just going to continue to go through my progressions and the ball is going to find whoever the progression tells me to go to.

They had no sacks today in this game. Offensive line seemed like they were really in control. Everybody knows Todd Bowles likes to bring a lot of extra pressure. How do you feel about the way those guys were able to — you had extended time back there to be able to make plays and get some of those downfield shots?

I think the times that they did pressure I felt like our offensive line, tight ends, running backs did a really good job picking it up. I guess that’s why I’m so disappointed in the last play, because I saw that look during practice a couple times. Had an opportunity to do something else with the protection. But at the end of the day, like I said, that’s football. I always give a lot of credit to whenever we go against Tampa, Coach Bowles and his staff and the players on defense. They do a really good job of making their scheme come to life with all the pressures and the coverages they play behind it.

In terms of doing something different on the final play, you’re saying it’s not necessarily about what happened post-snap, you’re saying you could have done something pre-snap?

Yeah, felt like I could have changed the protection and been aware of if they’re bringing it to the other side; I had a good answer to that side, and I think Tory was open as well on the right side. So I just got to be a lot better there pre-snap.

Take us through Tory’s touchdown.

Fourth and short I think. Just love the aggression there by Coach Mike and obviously Klint. Just going through my progression, and late in the down just scrambling. Tory ended up being wide open, and I was trying not to throw him out of bounds, trying to put it on his back shoulder a little bit so he could turn up and get in the end zone.

Was the protection in the play you went with on the last snap, was that one of the protections you had practiced?

Yes.

And you had alternatives you said?

I feel like that was bad quarterback play on that last snap.

What’s this take you guys to put this behind you and bounce back?

We got to look at the tape, grow, get better. It’s the same thing I would say after a win. Just got to continue to look at ourselves in the mirror and see how we can grow, get better, how our process can be a little bit better throughout the week, and then move on and get ready for Jacksonville.

I think between this, Arizona, and the Niners you’ve had three game winning or potential game-winning opportunities. Just looking at those three, anything that stands out to you?

No. After the Arizona game I think we practice it so much, so I think with all that practice you have all the reps and different looks, especially going against Coach Mike’s defense throughout camp, through OTAs; he’s going to give us so many looks in two-minute so we’re ready for every thing. Like I said, got to be better in the last drive.

WR Cooper Kupp

On how Sam Darnold played today

That was an incredibly impressive performance by him. There were so many guys that stepped up and made big plays. It’s crushing for it to end there. Even in that situation, Sam is making the right decision, he’s trying to dig the ball, and it hits off someone and stays up. It’s unfortunate. Shoot, we had so many opportunities out there today. Caught a lot of breaks. It seemed like in the first half we couldn’t catch a break, and in the second half we were catching all of the breaks until the end there. A lot to clean up. Shoot, we have to be better offensively. There’s a lot left out there that we got to be better at. I’m looking forward to watching the tape.

On the mood of the team

It hurts when a game ends like that. You just feel like you’ve battled that whole game to put yourself in position to go down there on that last drive and win the game. To not do that, and put the defense out there in a position where they are able to just kind of run the clock out and kick a field goal. That hurts, man. It’s a tough one. The guys that we have on this team, we’re going to be eager to rebound. Eager to get back to work. We got a Make It Right week. Fix the things that have gone wrong, and an opportunity to go out there next Sunday and make it right.

On what changed after the first three possessions

Things like the first half, until that last drive, it’s our own stuff. It’s all self-inflicted wounds. Our own issues, across the board, whether it’s receivers in terms of distributing the field. How we’re handling the run game. The penalties, obviously, set you back. There’s the fumble. There’s so many things that we do, we’re not getting forced into that. We are causing those ourselves. We just can’t do that. Like I said, we were able to clean up some of that stuff, but there is still a lot of stuff. We got some penalties to go our way that really saved some really big negative plays as well in that second half.

TE AJ Barner

On losing despite having an effective offensive performance

That’s the league, some things happen. It’s one game and its Week 5. Obviously, you want to win the game and it’s no excuse to lose it, but you have to turn the page. We go to Jacksonville next week, so time to make it right.

On what was working well for the offense

I felt like we were beating ourselves at the start. In the NFL penalties are huge, and we were just getting behind the sticks. We didn’t do that in the second half, so we’ve got to continue to play clean football.

On Sam Darold’s performance

Sam’s (Darnold) fantastic. He’s doing a heck of a job. Just how consistent he is, how hard he plays, how he leads, we have a very special quarterback here, and I think people are starting to find that out. We’re going to continue to ride with him.

On Sam Darnold’s ability to escape pressures and make big plays

I feel like it’s his growth in the league. When you have a guy that’s a veteran quarterback like that, their experience, they know when to keep their eyes downfield, when to throw the ball out of bounds, and that’s what he’s doing. We’ve got to continue to keep playing for him, and we know he’s going to do a heck of a job.

On his touchdowns

I am able to get open, get an opportunity, and I feel like Seattle’s a great fit for me. In the past, I always characterize my college career as I was a misfit. I went to Indiana, I went to Michigan, didn’t really have all the things work out for me, and when I came to Seattle, I was like, all right, this is home, this is where I’m meant to be.

S Coby Bryant

On what he’s assessing in terms of the amount of passing yards the Buccaneers had

Everyone to be on the same page, executing, going back to playing our style. We didn’t do that today.

On how hard it is for everyone to be on the same page when missing guys

It can be tough, but at the end of the day, it’s like I said earlier, the next man up mentality. Whoever is out there, we’ve all got to be on the same page. We didn’t do that today.

On how tough it is to play a team that put up these numbers

It’s always tough, but like I said, we’ve got to go back to work. We’ve got a game on Sunday. Fix the errors and go back to work.

On how he can use his anger going forward

Motivation to go out next week and perform better. In practice, we’ve got to fix the things that we struggled with today and it’ll show up.

On missed tackles by the team this week

Technique. When we watch the film, know what we can do better at; the angles, driving our feet. The little things.

LB Uchenna Nwosu

On why the pass rush has struggled to get sacks during the last few weeks

Credit to the Bucs, they did a good job blocking today. There were definitely some opportunities where we could have more sacks that we didn’t capitalize on, definitely late in that last drive that they had. I’ve got to go back and watch the film and be able to see what happened.

On how he feels physically

Yeah, I’m getting there. I’m definitely feeling better than I felt last week and the weeks prior. I just want to take it one day at a time.

On how he felt the offense played today

When the offense can keep us going like that, as a team, that’s what we do. We picked each other up and the offense definitely held their own today.

On if there were any plays that they felt they didn’t go over in practice

No, it was all the same stuff. They were a big screen team. We tried to rally to that the best we can and do what we could.

T Abraham Lucas

On his overall thoughts around the game

Yeah, it sucks. The way I look at it, it happens. Unfortunately, that’s just the reality of it. All we can do is control what we can control and go look at the film so we can see where we need to improve so that it doesn’t get into situations like that where it’s decided in the final seconds. You got to give credit to the Bucs too, I mean they’re a good team – high-powered offense and defense. It was a slug fest today, we just didn’t come away with the win.

On the flow of the offense

Kind of like you said; in the first half we just kept going. I’ve said it every week. It’s all a softening process, you just keep chipping away at it and then eventually you kick one, you get a good drive together, and then you’ve got life back in your team and you keep it moving.

On his thoughts on the run game

You’d have to ask Klint (Kubiak) about that. I’m not the O-Coordinator. I know what you mean, I guess I haven’t really thought about it since we came off the field. For me, whatever it is – if they call 90 runs in a row, let’s do that; if they call 90 passes in a row, let’s do that, I’ve done that before.

RB Kenneth Walker ll

On his emotions following the game

It’s always tough to lose a close game. We just have to go watch film, critique what we need to critique, and just get better and get ready for Jacksonville.

On how he felt the running game worked

The O-line did a great job today. They made me and Zach’s (Charbonnet) jobs easier. We just hit the hole and got what we could.

On the interception at the end of the game

They just made a good play. They keep talking about the interception, but Sammy (Sam Darnold) played a great game all day. I’m not going to harp on that play.

On how he felt the offense played today

We played good. I feel like we played a great game. I know we had a couple of penalties – you never want to have penalties, but we bounced back and played a great game.

CB Nehemiah Pritchett

On Sterling Shepard’s touchdown

We just have to not let Baker (Mayfield) get out the pocket and make those kinds of throws. We just have to play better all the time.

On if it was tough getting up to speed after coming into the game in the second half

I wouldn’t say it was difficult catching up to the speed. We just got to be better on defense. That’s the real answer.

On if there were any unscouted looks during the game

As a collective, we just have to do a better job on defense. Whether it’s the D-line containing the quarterback or DBs covering receivers, we just have to be better one body on body.

CB Derion Kendrick

On what they have to do differently and if it is a mental thing

Everything, starting off fast, communicating, all that type of stuff. Telling us what we see, telling everybody what we see out there, come first drive and play.

On how they were able to overcome injuries during the game and almost put the offense in a position to win

Next man up; no drop off for real, so we expect when somebody goes down, next man comes in, pick up the slack. That’s what it’s about.

On how long he stays with this game

Stay on this game for one day. Watch the film, corrections, and then on to the next one.

WR Tory Horton

On Sam Darnold’s touchdown pass to him on fourth down

He has some magic up his sleeve. He’s always on top of his game. Just the way he moves in the pocket is very underrated. That’s stuff that we repped in practice. I threw my hand up and me and he made eye contact and we knew we had a play. He’s doing all he can out there. He’s playing at the top of his game. At the end of the day, we know we still can accomplish more. That’s just that edge that we want to get on teams. We’re ready to go back to the board.

On how he would rate Sam Darnold’s day overall

He’s a great leader. There’s a lot of outside noise that people make to try and bring on to the team, but we block those out because deep down what goes on in this locker room, we know that he’s a great competitor, he’s a great player, he makes a lot of great plays. One play doesn’t define his game. We know he’s a great, outstanding quarterback. He goes out there and puts his heart on the field every game. You can tell with his game. He’s always on point, he’s sharp. He’s a great quarterback. I have nothing bad to say about him. Even if I tried to, I will always have his back because that’s just a quarterback that’s always working hard, he’s always trying to get better, and same for me. We’re all trying to get better in the locker room. One play doesn’t define us.

On the difficulty of the offense finding rhythm when there weren’t many plays in the first half

I don’t know, really. I feel like we kind of knew that we had limited plays, but at the end of the day, we all came together, and we told ourselves we have to make the most of our opportunities. And that’s what we went out there and did. We just try to make the most of our opportunities. Just play by play. We go a play at a time. We don’t try and let a play that happened in the first quarter dictate what happens in the third quarter. We go a play at a time and that’s what we try to go out there and do. The outcome wasn’t what we wanted, but it’s a good learning lesson that we go back and learn from. We know we’re a great team. Just got to go and get better.