RB LeSean McCoy
- Scored first two touchdowns of the season and now has 75 career touchdowns. Became the third active running back with 12,000 scrimmage yards and 75 touchdowns
Q: What did it mean today for you to lose the fumble and come back?
A: I mean that can't happen. That won't happen again. I've got to do better. I've got to play better. Those types of plays, I can't lean in the game like that, I know better. And the crazy thing is I penciled him [Buccaneers LB Lavonte David] down because his thing is he forces fumbles. But I mean, he made a play so I have to do better myself. It's as simple as that.
Q: What was the biggest difference today, LeSean, in the run game?
A: We changed the scheme up a little bit. I had more one-on-one opportunities and I felt I ran solid, too. I mean I know at the end it was kind of slow running the clock out, but overall I thought I ran the ball well. Maybe a play or two, I wish I could've had a difference as the outcome. But overall, we ran the ball solid. Tyrod [Taylor] really just took over today, throwing it and running it. DT [Deonte Thompson] was a big addition to our team. He just caught the ball and made some plays, he's fast. So we just got to build on it. As an offense we played solid, but we can play a lot better, especially myself. I've got to be smarter, with clock management and knowing the type of period it is in the game, or maybe go down and fight for extra yards, or whatever it is to protect the ball.
Q: You said you can get them in bunches, you talked about that before, that they tend to come in bunches. Do you feel like now that you got two now it will come?
A: Yeah, first two, get another two next week with maybe some more yards though. Maybe another one with something. But hey I'll take the wins. This game was a lot closer than it should have been, but I'll take the "W" also.
Q: Were you even touched on that second touchdown run? I mean that was a big hole there.
A: Nope. We could have got some more in that, spread them out. We could have ran like that a couple times. We ran like that twice, got some positive yards. It's one thing when they are trying to cover the guys, but they're covering the wide receivers with the linebackers so it kind of opened up the gaps. But it was a good play call. Eric Wood got up on a linebacker as a walk-in.
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HC Sean McDermott**
- Became the first Bills head coach to win his first three home games
Q: Do games like this lay the foundation that you talk about?
A: Yeah, it certainly helps the belief, right? These guys, I know these guys play hard and when you play hard, you got a chance every week. What more can you say? They fought, they fought. That's a good team on the other side, and a well-coached team. These guys fought, man. Down to the very end, the last play, even. Give Tampa credit. They came in here with the right mindset and we took it to the end here. But, good team victory, a lot of heart. I thought there were some good takeaways, things we can learn from obviously. The takeaways were key, the last takeaway included by Tre'Davious [White] there. I thought we ran the ball well, which is good to see coming off the bye. Third downs on the offensive side was obviously key to our success, keeping drives alive and then good to see a young player, Matt Milano, get an interception, a big interception, for us right there in the second quarter, I believe it was; and then congratulations to Stephen Hauschka on tying an NFL record for [field goals from] fifty-plus [yards], I believe. That's big time.
Q: What made it so easy for Deonte Thompson to come in after five days of being here and catch four passes for 107 yards?
A: Right. Well, I'm going to start by giving Brandon [Beane] and his staff a ton of credit. A player like DT out there on the market and they did a great job of being on top of it in a timely fashion so we could get him in and take a look. Give credit, obviously, to DT and to the coaching staff on offense for getting him up to speed. Love his attitude, man. Obviously, he loves that mentality that we have and that's tough and toughness and mental toughness, physical toughness, the underdog. He embraces that, and that's what you saw. I mean, he made a huge play obviously late in the game, but also a couple big plays during the game as well.
Q: What about the end of the first half? You gave up a chance for a chip shot field goal. Was that just time management?
A: That was my fault. That was all my fault. I thought we could get three plays off right there, meaning a completion or a shot [at the end zone], and then a spike after that. We'll go back and work on that. That's all my fault.
Q: You're 3-0 at home. I think it's been six years since you've established this –
A: [laughs] I love playing here. I do. These fans, I mean, what more could you ask for? These guys love [the fans], the fans love it, we love it; this is, to me, this is the place to play. When you come here, I came here a couple times as an opponent and I know how hard it was. It's like Heaven for a home team, in my mind. Coaches, it's fun to coach here. It's fun to play here. It's a great environment. This is what football is supposed to be about, right here.
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QB Tyrod Taylor**
- Threw for a season-high 268 yards
- Moved into sixth place on the team's all-time completions list (616) passing Doug Flutie (598)
- Produced 53 rushing yards – second-highest total on the season
Q: How cool is it to see Deonte come in here. I know you guys have some history and obviously a little bit of chemistry where he is basically a no name to probably 90% of the people in that stadium.
A: It is great to see him come in and have the game he did. Me and DT go back to the US Hampton high school so I've been knowing DT for awhile now. Proud of the way he played. Proud of the way everyone played as a team. The receiver group, of course our offense as a whole. It wasn't a picture perfect game by any means but we stayed together for it all and were able to pull out a victory.
Q: What was the biggest difference in run game?
A: Just being persistent. Like I said, the guys up front did a great job of creating space for Shady and you know once he gets a hole it can be special. It was great to see him get going, great to see Mike make a couple plays and even the play on the last drive. To have Taiwan come in and make a play, something that we've sprinkled in throughout practice. Complete trust in him and we call him crazy legs but whenever he gets the chance to make a play, he makes it in practice and he had an opportunity today in the game and he did.
Q: What did you see on the 44 yard pass to Thompson down the sideline? He got creamed there.
A: Yeah it was a cover three. We actually ran the play earlier in the game the game was to cover one and I had to scramble. That was the play where they had Kown spying me but just a different look. We figured that they would carry with the post route and we were able to get a corner take off. Had to step off in the pocket and buy a little time but ultimately I knew once I saw the coverage that, by the way of their scheme, we had a chance to get a big play.
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WR Deonte Thompson**
- Produced 107 receiving yards in his first game with Buffalo this season. First Bills wide receiver with 100 yards this season
Q: Started off with kind of a weird week for you. It's nice to meet you, first of all, welcome to Buffalo. How weird of a week is it when it's like this, you come in Tuesday?
A: Crazy week, crazy week. They signed me Tuesday evening, I had to learn the offense and get ready for Sunday. Just a blessing though, I can't thank God enough for this opportunity to come here. I was in Buffalo once, but came back, the guys have embraced me so well, it's just been a great week.
Q: One thing you had, even coming in new, was kind of a relationship and chemistry with Tyrod [Taylor], right, you've worked with him before. Did that come into play at all this week?
A: Yeah, yep, most definitely. We picked [up] where we left off at. [We] were together three years in Baltimore, so we played a lot of ball together. We were on scout teams, we played a lot of ball together; all through preseason, all through different camps, and it showed today.
Q: Can you walk us through that 44-yard catch that you had down the sideline towards the end of the game? What did you see, what was the play call, and taking a hit and still holding on [to it]?
A: I just knew what time it was in the game. I was like, if he throws it to me, I'm coming down with this ball regardless. I had a corner-go route, he made a hell of a throw and I just made sure I caught it for him. I didn't even see the guy that hit me until he hit me, so I wasn't even worried about him.
S Micah Hyde
- Totaled four tackles and two passes defensed
Q: Obviously this is the most points the defense has allowed in a game so far for you guys but you come away with a win. Is it one of those maybe the offense owed us one and got us one?
A: We understand we gave up more points than normal and I don't know how many yards we gave up there. It seemed like they were driving on us pretty easily. I don't think we had a three and out today at all. However our offense came to play today. When needed, we got a turnover at the end of the game to force the game winning field goal. We got the win and there's a lot to correct, but at the end of the day we got the win.
Q: You guys forced three more turnovers on defense today. What is it about this defense that you guys seem to always be around the ball?
A: Honestly the number one thing about our defense is we're not talking about the three takeaways. We're talking about those missed opportunities that we had. I think that is the number one thing about our defense. We know we obviously complement each other when good plays are made and obviously Tre [Tre'Davious White] made a huge play at the end. However we're not satisfied with those takeaways because we could have had plenty more. EJ [Gaines] and I also had our hands on one. Then the fumble in the fourth quarter that we could have come up with. We're not talking about the takeaways that we had, we're talking about the missed opportunities.
DE Jerry Hughes
- Finished with three tackles including one tackle for loss
Q: One of the things that hasn't happened since you've been here is fourth quarter comebacks, it finally happened today, is there something about this team that's a little bit different than the past, in the way you guys kind of can come together like that?
A: Just the mentality Coach McDermott has brought over here. We're going to be resilient, we're going to fight for four quarters, and I think that's what everybody has instilled in them, and it's showing up.
Q: What does this game and what does this win mean for the team moving forward mentally, in terms of confidence?
A: It's huge, definitely huge to get a win off the bye, we certainly understand that. We're going to look at this game, see how we can learn because we know we still have areas where we can improve on defense. Just try to have fun, enjoy it for 24 hours and then get ready for Oakland.
