Buccaneers
Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles and QB Baker Mayfield now need a win in the final game if they want to make the playoffs this season after a big loss to the Saints on Sunday.
“We have to,” Bowles said of the must-win, via NFL.com. “It’ll sink in today. Obviously, we know we have to win next week. We weren’t trying to bring it to next week. Obviously, we wanted to win the one today. We didn’t win the one today. We have to come back on Tuesday, and we have to be really focused. We’ve got to be ready, and we have to execute. [It] doesn’t matter who we played today — a good team, a bad team, a college team, a high school team — we wouldn’t have won the game.”
“I think we prepared great all week,” Mayfield added. “I think mentality-wise, preparation — we were great. We just didn’t come out and bring it to Sunday. Didn’t translate. And so, can’t have that. We’ve got to be able to show up when we need it. But luckily, we have one more game to seal this thing. Once again, back’s against the wall. So, somewhere we’ve been before and we’ve got to get it fixed and move forward.”
Panthers
Panthers QB Bryce Young was unhappy with his performance in a scoreless loss against the Jaguars. Meanwhile, Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence can relate to Young as he was once under the pressure of being the No.1 pick on a struggling franchise and sees similarities between the two situations.
“I was just frustrated with myself,” Young said, via David Newton of ESPN. “I’d just missed a third down we’ve got to make. … I was just frustrated with myself We’ve got one more week, one more opportunity to get better,” Young said. “Be better and put a better product out there next week.”
“It seems like our rookie years are kind of going similar up until this point,” Lawrence noted. “I would just say for him to just stay the course. There’s no denying he’s a super-talented guy. He has all the tools and tangibles.”
“Just stay the course [and] hopefully he’s going to have a long career,” Lawrence continued. “He’s definitely got the talent and the abilities to do that. Obviously, things are a little gray with how the season has gone, but continue to plug away. Things will get better. If he just continues to be the same guy every day, then that’s what you need in those situations. He’s a guy that I think is easy to root for, just his personality and the way he carries himself. Those are things that I appreciate.”
Panthers
Panthers DT DeShawn Williams views Derrick Brown as “one of the best defensive tackles in the league” but Carolina’s 2-13 record means he often gets overlooked.
“Arguably, right now, he should be the talk as one of the best defensive tackles in the league,” Williams said, via David Newton of ESPN. “Our record is our record, so he’s not going to get a lot of publicity… But it’s a beautiful thing to see how he controls his one side of the ball. If you put on the tape, you’ll see he’s doing some crazy things.”
Panthers DC Ejiro Evero reiterated Brown has been one of their most impressive players.
“You gotta watch the tape,” Evero said. “You’re not going to find a lot of players playing at a better level.”
Brown recalled entering the league as a rookie in 2020 and how the game was chaotic for him at the time.
“My head was spinning so much,” Brown said. “I was trying to take tidbits I was getting from the vets. My head was all over the place. The game was faster. It was chaos.”
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