“We Kicked Our Ass”

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles spoke candidly about his team’s 35-7 loss to the 49ers. Bowles covered many topics from his team’s poor play to injuries and whether or not he would make coaching changes after Sunday’s loss. The Bucs are now 6-7 and their NFC South lead has narrowed it to just one game with Carolina’s win in Seattle.

Here’s a transcript of Bowles’ post-game press conference in San Francisco:

On 49ers rookie QB Brock Purdy’s play against the Bucs:

“Kyle [Shanahan] did great. They put us on two double moves. He ran the offense. All we knew, we had it coming and we just have to… in short, we kicked our asses.

If Tom Brady’s Hand Injury Affects His Throws:

“He didn’t say it affected him. I don’t know how it feels yet. It is too early to say and we will go from there.”

On the Bucs defense, which played well prior to Sunday, and San Francisco’s poor play offense:

“We were bad in all phases. We coached badly. We got coached. Thanks to Kyle and his men. They did a great job. We got our butts kicked in the attack. We kicked our butts in defense.”

On DT Vita Vea’s injury:

“He’s got a sprained calf now.”

On Donovan Smith’s holding penalty that nullified Mike Evans’ 68-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter:

“It’s devastating because we’re playing the 49ers and the Bucs – and we can’t beat two teams. We beat ourselves and we praise them – they beat us too. They had a good plan, but we also beat ourselves up and make it even more difficult.”

On updates on OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka’s hip injury and CB Jamel Dean’s toe injury:

“Not at this time.”

If the short week of Monday Night Football and travel interferes with the Bucs’ prep for the 49ers game:

“Not at all. We play for the division and it’s December football. It’s a credit to them. They beat us up. No credit to us, we coached badly and played badly. We were coached out and outplayed. Simple as that. “

If the lack of film on rookie QB Brock Purdy left the defense unprepared:

“Not at all. It was the schedule. It was [Christian] McCaffrey more than anything. Out of our run game gaps and blown phone calls at the end and having brain farts.

On what he said to the team after the Bucs lost 35-7 to the 49ers:

“We have to decide which team we want to be. We can’t be one set of Bucs and another set of Bucs. It has to mean something. We have a one game lead, with four games to go. Either we want it or we don’t want it. You don’t care more than the rest. As a coach you don’t go on the field. But we were coached out, so we’re not free from this at all. We were also outplayed. So as a team, as a group, we have to we brace ourselves and must decide our fate in the coming weeks.

About or protections Antoine Winfield Jr. and Mike Edwards may return for the Bengals game:

“We will see as the week progresses. It doesn’t matter if they are on the field or not. We have guys stepping in and playing. You must leave when your number is called. If you get the chance to play, you have to show that you can play.”

On the play of rookie return specialist Deven Thompkins:

“He gave us a spark. He has to hold the ball, but he gave us a spark. But he’s quick and we know he can do some things with the ball. He showed that today.”

On whether he would consider making changes to the coaching staff after losing 35-7:

“We always adjust some things, but it is much too late in the season to just make changes because the system is there. But you can coach it better and you can play it better. Every time you win, it’s coaching and playing together. Every time you lose, it’s coaching and playing together. And we have to coach it better and we have to play it better. It’s that simple.”

On whether he would consider benching Donovan Smith for his outburst of punishment:

“We are a bit low on tackles with Tristan down but we need to play better. We have to play better. We know what Donovan is. We can’t have the penalties – it’s Bucs beating Bucs. Last week he had something. He had some this week. He has to play better. We have to play better as a group. We need to coach better as a group.”

On whether Tristan Wirfs could return for the Bengals game due to his ankle sprain:

“It’s too early to say.”

On when he feels the team let QB Tom Brady down in his home game to the Bay Area:

“You feel bad about the team. We don’t play for one man, no matter who it is. We don’t play or coach this game for one man. We play it as a team. We have to block for him. We have to play for him defensively . He has to throw the ball for us. It’s a team effort when we win. It’s a team effort when we lose. Today was a complete team effort of losing and kicking our butts.

On RB Christian McCaffrey’s play with 49ers:

“He played a good ball game. They blocked for us. We got out of the holes a bit. We largely need to see what happened on the tape. We played badly in defense and he played great in attack. He’s a great player He is difficult to handle in any plan and he did his job today.

On the Bucs losing some early momentum with Keanu Neal’s penalty on the game’s opening sack:

“He tried to lower his goal. He’s a smaller quarterback to begin with. We talk about it all the time. We work on it all the time. He understands that. We can’t get the penalty.”

On his message to his 6-7 Bucs team:

“Decide who we want to be. We can’t be an up and down team. We still have four weeks to figure out who we want to be this season and reach our goal.