Josh Grizzard & Baker Mayfield Look Ahead to TNF | Buccaneers Press Conference

Josh Grizzard & Baker Mayfield Look Ahead to TNF | Buccaneers Press Conference

T Josh, this offense has kind of struggled to capitalize on turnovers. Have you guys been able to pinpoint that issue? We need to be able to do that to play complimentary football. I would say it’s getting off on the right start on some of the first down calls, the early down calls to ultimately get another explosive. That way those drives continue and turns into seven points and not three like it has the last uh last couple weeks. So really on that side it’s the execution on the first and second down part to to keep those drives going to uh play complimentary ball. That’s what it’s all about. They get it from the defense to get it from the offense. We score and uh give it back to them. Joshua was a big ask for someone like Ben Shaquila to make his first start, right? and he hasn’t doesn’t have a lot of experience playing left tackle, but thought he played really well. How did it how did it degrade out with you guys going up against the likes of Chase Young and Carl Granderson and Cam Jordan? He did a he did a good job. There’s definitely things that from a rookie perspective and his first start in the NFL that he wants to clean up, but from an effort and mentality and how he approached it going into it was really good to see from his end of it with not having played much and now he’s starting. And to your point, that whole game he was going to go against uh Chase Young, which is a tall task. And that guy’s having a hell of a year. And I think he did a good job. I think he’s able to build off of that. And we told him going in and said once the once the ball is snapped, it doesn’t matter that he was a first round pick and second overall or whatever he was and you’re undrafted. He’s got to get off the block and you got to block him. So it comes down to mono emano. And I thought he uh he met the challenge and and played really physical. We saw Baker hit his first eight throws the other day. We know the conditions, right? They were bad for everybody, but to go 6 for 22 for like 30 something yards. What was not going right in the passing game and for him specifically? You said it the conditions are what they were in terms of us playing in it. Those guys playing in it weren’t able to connect on some of them. Um I think I get him in better play calls on some of those to try to get more into a rhythm, be able to take some of the conditions into play to to help him out a little bit when it comes to that. But uh we start off fast there and then ultimately we just got to be able to continue that. We talk about that that killer mentality of once we get to seven, we got to go be able to get that every drive. And there’s definitely something I can help him with when it comes to that. And in general, like his play, right? We know he’s dealt with a series of injuries, right, going through the whole leak and whole thing. Um, but if you look at his first, I don’t know how many games through the Patriots game, he’s got like 16 touchdowns, two interceptions, and since then, six touchdowns, six interceptions, and and you know, the passing rating is down certainly completion innings. So just Baker, for Baker, what do you think has been the decline in these last month or so? When it comes to that side of it, I think is ultimately all all 11 because I think what he’s done a good job of is no matter who’s in there is being on the same page and trying to get these guys in the right order in terms of a walkthrough rep, a practice rep to go out there and compete. A couple of those interceptions were not on him. Not throwing anybody under the bus on that, but it kind of is what it is on that side of it. But I thought he’s done a hell of a job the whole year on being able to adjust his game to who’s in there, whether it’s up front, the backs, the receivers, the tight ends, and ultimately it’s not good enough as a unit. And that does just fall on his shoulder. So I can always help him out with that. The uh the rest of the guys on the field can help him out with that. But looking forward to this week is another great opportunity versus Atlanta to get back on track and know flush that last game and it’s none better than playing on Thursday to uh get back on the right side of that win loss column. Josh, obviously third down this NFL hasn’t been the same this year having three for 13 on Sunday. Um it’s not only one thing, but what’s the key to getting to where you want to be on third downs right now? It’s one of those where you don’t want to be in the third and longs. So if you’re not efficient or we had had a couple games there where we had cleaned up some of the penalties and those were not good to see on some of the false starts that put you in first and 15 and now you’re trying to get half of that back to get back to a manageable third down. So I think that’s part of it. I think that when it comes to the protection side of it and being on the same page, I know there’s things that Bake would want to get back in terms of a throw, I know there’s definitely some play calls that I would want to get back to put these guys in a better position on a on a scheme that might work better versus that front, different things in the route detail. So, ultimately when it comes to that, it’s really all 11. It starts with me on being able to convert those because when we do that and we continue the drives, we put together good drives and go get seven and we don’t, it ends up in a uh in a bad result. And it’s definitely something that we need to be able to do. And when we’ve won, I think we’ve done a good job of that. And some of the losses, we’ve done a done a poor job of that. Josh, Bucky Irving’s big run, it kind of helped out in the his rushing yards per carry, but before that, he only had 13 carries for 20 yards. How do you find more ways to, you know, get him going earlier in the game? Yeah. Get him in get him in space more, get some things that he has a better feel for. A lot like we’re talking about someone on some of those interceptions. It’s not on on buck on some of those where it wasn’t blocked up properly and needs to be better executed on that end of it. So when you have runs that go for minus five or minus eight on the stat sheet it looks like his end of it where it’s not on him if we didn’t block this thing properly or get the thing u ran in the right direction. So that’s part of it but getting him going and um once he gets off that you guys feel the energy that he has when it comes to now being able to get it to him more get into that rhythm and then really going from there. How do you come alongside a guy like acha who’s struggling with some drops to get that confidence back to what we saw early in the season? I don’t even think it’s really confidence. He’s a he’s a very confident guy. I think that what we’ve asked him to do in terms of a rookie that gets taken for granted a lot even from the coaching staff and it’s not easy to do what he’s done on playing all three positions. He’s a guy that came in here from day one and has prepared the right way. He’s played all three spots. He’s won games for us. So, we have all the confidence in the world in him. Again, we’re going to try to get it to him early, often with the game on the line, which he’s proven he can do. No one’s more upset with him than himself. And that’s why he’s ultimate competitor and a great leader is because he doesn’t want to have that happen. But, uh, from our end of it, we’ll keep getting to him. He’ll make some plays and expect a big game out of um this uh this Thursday night. And if you get Mike Evans back, how much does that change for you with this offense when he’s out there? We know that from the defensive coordinator’s perspective that that him being on the field deserves attention. So within the game, how are they playing that to do they shift the coverage there? It could be a double in man coverage where they could have the safety over the top which ultimately creates a softer coverage away from it. So without having had any full speed practices this week, we’ll see how he progresses in terms of his chance at playing on Thursday. But once he’s out there, we know that uh he deserves all 11 attention on the field to include the D coordinator. So, uh, it’s always great to have Mike. I know it’s next man up, but we had you on on the podcast back in in August, and you were talking about Jaylen McMillan, how he was going to be a key to this season, and obviously with that injury, you even had him this season, but what what could he have done this year? What how much have you missed him and what areas could he have succeeded and excelled and really helped out this offense? And it’s good you’re getting him back, but just speak to what your offense has been missing without him. It’s a little bit the same thing like you talk about with Mike where if you know that Mike’s on the field and now J-Max’s getting singled up. We like his ability to beat press coverage and then with the ball in his hands, he’s really good with Yak and screens and things. You saw towards the end of last year and him being able to carry over the momentum he had from the spring into training camp. He was in a really good place with his production and his elevation to be able to play different positions and things like that. So, anytime you can have someone like him or a Chris Godwin or a a Bucky Irving or you get the ball in their hands, they can make that first guy miss and you can turn a five-yard completion into a massive completion. And I thought he’s done a really good job in the run game as well. Some of these guys come in from college and they’re not used to blocking and they’re blocking for bubbles and RPOS’s and I thought he’s put a lot of effort into that. And hats off to BMAC, too, for for getting them right. The last five or so games, I mean, you look at all total points, right? He had a game against the Rams and that, but like Where do you want it, Ben? You want to score 40 a game, but why do you why do you think you guys have struggled to get the ball in the end zone as much as you have? I’d say as a a general number around 30 points per game leads the NFL. So, you always want to be the top offense and shoot for that. Generally, that’s enough to uh enough to win. But, you’re saying more spec specifically in the red area. On that side of it, it’s really the the execution of it like we’ve talked about. We just there’s been times where we’ve got down there and we’ve had I know even the one last week where we talk about the penalties and you can’t have the penalties to go first and 15 on that drive and now you’re trying to get back that yardage in that area of the field. So especially down there you don’t want to have it in the the open field either. But when you go first and 15 down into the high red, you’re really shooting yourself in the foot on trying to convert now a third and long in a very reduced field where you now can’t push it past their head and it needs to be more lateral. So, we end up hurting ourselves when it comes to that and ultimately turning the thing into three, especially in the game, but we could have got uh we could have got seven there. And sometimes guys just got to make plays, right? I mean, like we’ve seen Goten, we’ve seen, you know, Mecca probably felt like he should have caught that ball. Comes down to that. Yeah. And that you hit it as well sometimes where it might not be completely schemed up and somebody beats them or breaks a tackle and they go out there and make a massive play like we’ve seen them do. So, there’s definitely a combination of all that when it comes to it. All good. Appreciate it. Take care. See you guys. Baker, can you speak to to Ben Chickwa going out there and doing the job he did on Chase Young and others in his first NFL start in a in a big game? Yeah. Uh, I thought he did a great job. I know there’s things that he wants to get corrected and get fixed, but uh, yeah, for his his first real NFL snaps, thought he did a really really good job. Um, yeah, was locked in. No pre- snap penalties, none of that, which that’s kind of what you you look to eliminate. Uh it’s your first start. And he did all that well. For for a Thursday night game convincing seven days in four, I’m sure it helps to have it at home, but what’s the key for you physically, mentally being ready to turn around and play on Thursday night? Just overcommunicate. When we start to get the game plan in, you know, you have to squeeze a couple days into one. Uh overcommunicate what the looks we’re expecting, uh what what the checks are, the alerts. Um especially, you know, when it comes to blitz pickup stuff, you know, they’re they’re able to that’s for me that’s really the the really important part just because they pressure a lot. They they bring a bunch of different fronts, different pressures, guys kind of all over. So, uh that’s that’s really the emphasis uh for us this week. Um yeah, and after that it’s just overcommunicating what we’re trying to get done. You played a team like Buffalo before, but this is the Falcons, a team that you’ve already played before. They’re in the conference. Does that make it somewhat easier because of the familiarity with personnel and schemes and stuff, especially the second time around a little bit? Yes and no. Um, just since we played them week one and and whatever week we’re in now that there’s different personnel guys, injuries and all that. So, uh, some some changes, but yeah, schematically what we know what they want to get done with, how they want to attack, but there’s also just based on who they have in there, they they’ve changed a little bit. So, um, yeah, it helps some familiarity, but uh, you got to adjust. A lot goes into passing games. I mean, a lot, right? Blocking, running, throwing, all that. Forget it. Um, you started out as a as a team, you know, you were, I don’t know, 22 and and two or something like that. Touchdown, interception, last game, 66, whatever that is, percentage down, all that. What What has kind of been the difference? And I know blocking injuries are a big part of it, receivers, but from your perspective, from the quarterback perspective, what is what has been the difference? A little bit of dip here. Um, I mean, I think it comes back to what I’ve kind of hit on after the games that we’ve lost. It’s the little things, whether it’s me being on time with my footwork, getting the protection aligned, um, to where we can all be on the same page and it can come out on time. Um, the depths of the routes, all that stuff. It’s just and then it just comes down to executing. And so, it’s it’s not one thing that you can point at it. Um, but yeah, it’s it’s a culmination of all those things. And, uh, yeah, we’ll get it fixed. You get that back just out here. I know you’re not doing reps this week as far as that goes, but just Yeah, I I think just the the emphasis on how important the details are of what we’re doing against this this defensive look. Uh I think that’s being overemphasized and that’s where we need to be. We’ve always said that this is a good group overall and a lot of times when a team is down and losing some games, you know how it goes. Sometimes some guys start squawking. What has been the mindset? Has it still positive even with these losses? Yeah, I mean we’re still in control of our own destiny and that’s that’s just the fact. Um you we’re tied for the division. We would love to be ahead and in a different spot, but we are where we are and we control our own destiny. Win one game at a time and see what happens. What’s the um the mindset to your point when you can control your own destiny? When you get to this point in the season where there’s a few left, um there’s teams clearly obviously that are not in it. There’s teams that are fighting for their lives. There’s teams that control their own destiny. when you have just a couple left on the schedule, um very much in it, you’re in the driver’s seat. What does that do to guys mentally when you step on the field as opposed to um it’s that playoff mentality and you know looking at we’re playing a divisional opponent. They would love nothing more than to beat us and screw up our chances. So, uh you go into it expecting, okay, are do they really have a lot on the line? Yeah, because they’re trying to knock us out of the playoffs. So, it’s uh that’s the mindset. It’s playoff mentality for us and we have to expect to get their best. I don’t know if you’ve had any history with Jason Pierre Paul when a guy like that walks in back into the building. What’s it like for the rest of the team to see somebody that’s been a Super Bowl champion? Yeah, obviously a guy that’s had a ton of production over the years. U that’s was a huge part of the Super Bowl here and um yeah, just a little bit more juice in the building. Guys get excited about that. Uh just it puts the pressure on. You know, it’s obviously when you bring guys in like that, you’re trying to elevate the standard, the the performance level, uh, and it pushes us on offense cuz we just we haven’t done enough um to score enough points quite frankly and uh to put our defense in that position. So, we we got to be better overall and that that in turn will improve the whole team. Thanks, guys.

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