NFC Notes: Todd Bowles, Baker Mayfield, Desmond Ridder, Arthur Smith, Buccaneers, Falcons

Buccaneers

Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles told reporters that QB Baker Mayfield is someone the team rallies around in games. 

“I’ve been bragging about his mettle all year,” Bowles said of Mayfield’s leadership, via ESPN.com. “He’s a guy that we rally around. He’s a guy that puts us in position to win. He doesn’t get rattled easy, and he came up with some plays.”

“We came back this game … I can’t say enough about these guys fighting, the competitiveness they had coming in here. It was a huge win. It’s going to be like that every week for the next four weeks.”

Mayfield added that this is just his mental approach to the game. 

“It’s just a mentality to not be denied — to be persistent in it and just to go after your goal,” Mayfield said. “I just see nobody flinching. Nobody’s wide-eyed. Everybody seems really calm, just ready for the next play.”

• Buccaneers LB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka was fined $10,927 for unnecessary roughness.

Falcons

Falcons HC Arthur Smith told reporters that their “spirit is not broken” following the disappointing loss to the Buccaneers. 

“We didn’t get it done today, but our spirit is not broken,” Smith said, via AtlantaFalcons.com. “We’re still in it. It’ll be a wild adventure through the end of this season. Things change so much from week to week. . . . Down the stretch, we have to win games.”

Falcons

Once again, it was an up-and-down performance for Falcons QB Desmond Ridder. Ridder threw for a career-high 347 yards and scored twice, including a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter on the ground. But his two turnovers — one interception and one lost fumble — directly led to a touchdown and a safety for the Buccaneers. 

“I thought at the end of the game he made some big plays, made some big throws,” Falcons HC Arthur Smith said via the Athletic’s Josh Kendall. “There’s always things we can all do better. We have to go back and watch the film.”