HEAD COACH GREG SCHIANO(On the final third down call)

"That's what we thought was the best way to get a first down and keep the clock moving. We felt good about the play, the way were closing in on the run. [It was] a little bit of a specialty play."

(On the performance of the defense)

"I thought there were a lot of good things on defense. Unfortunately, it'll be overshadowed by the loss, but that's team sport. We need to keep getting better. We had, really, two bad plays, maybe three, but that's life. It cost us dearly. One was for a touchdown, and one put them in position [to win]."

(On reducing penalties)

"We just need to keep working on the strike zone, make sure we're hitting where it's legal. You don't get to practice that, because you don't hit live during the week, so you just have to emphasize it. We'll continue to emphasize it. But our guys are playing very hard. [We've] been through stretches like this, and then it kind of balances out usually. So, hopefully, that'll occur."

(On the performance of the offense)

"I'm going to have to look at the tape to tell you what's going on, because it isn't just the quarterback. It, squarely, is on me. I'm the head football coach, and when we're not doing things offensively that we're capable of doing – mostly in the pass game; I thought we ran the ball very well today. I thought [running back] Doug [Martin] and the [offensive] line – I thought it was a good effort that way. We have to look at what we're doing coaching-wise, what we're doing execution-wise, and, again, it falls on me. It doesn't fall on anybody else. It's my job to make sure that we get it prepared and executed on game day, and certainly we didn't do that today."

(On if quarterback Josh Freeman will start Week 3)

"I see no reason why he wouldn't be. I have to evaluate the tape. That's out of left field a little bit. I'm not even thinking about that."

(On if he considered punting on the final drive)

"No. The only decision is: do you go for it on fourth-and-3 or do you kick the field goal? I have confidence in [kicker] Rian [Lindell], and I will have confidence in Rian moving forward."

(On how the team can bounce back after two close losses)

"This team's a resilient team, their head coach is a resilient guy – he's tough – and we're going to fight our way right off it. I understand that there'll be a huge contingent that will try to make it difficult for us to do that. It doesn't matter. These guys are tight. They'll stick together. They'll work together. We'll work at it. We've got a great challenge next week, playing a good team coming off a little bit of extra rest. It doesn't matter. [We've] got to get it ready, and go up to New England and find a way."

(On Freeman reports today that rumored Freeman to be seeking a trade)

"It's new to me. We've not had any conversations along those lines."

(On if he was avoiding putting the ball in Freeman's hands on the final third down)

"No, not at all. An incomplete pass and the clock stops. They have no timeouts. We thought it was a run that wasn't your everyday run, it was a specialty run, and we thought that it had a great opportunity to make the first down or get, at least, real close where it's fourth down and you've got to decide. It just didn't get as close as we thought it would. We certainly had time to talk about it. It was a unanimous decision; we all thought that was the play."

(On communication breakdowns)

"It's very disappointing, and, again, it falls on me. It's my job to make sure that our staff and our players understand those procedural things, and I'm not getting it done. I'm going to get it done, and we will get it done. I'll get my staff, and we'll all get it fixed, and the players - we'll get it fixed. This is a good football team. We'll be back."

QUARTERBACK JOSH FREEMAN 

(On struggles with the passing game)

"Tonight we had a few shots, missed them by a little bit, but [if] you hit one of those, you get something going. A couple of times there were footing [issues], a defender had good coverage, call it what you want. We've just got to find a way to be more productive. 21 attempts – today obviously we wanted to come in and run the football. I thought [running back] Doug [Martin] did a great job with that."

(On rumors that he is interested in being traded)

"The first I heard of it was literally 10 seconds ago, or right before I walked in here. Without a doubt, I'm a Buccaneer. I'm continuing to prepare and try to go out every week and give my team a chance to win the game."

(On if there is a game plan within his 'camp' to seek a trade)

"If it's going on, I need a new camp because there is nothing I've heard [on that subject]."

(On if recent negative headlines frustrate him)

"No. I mean, the picture thing, it is what it is. I don't know – it went from a picture to a team meeting to whatever it was. It's not where I'm focused. My focus is on the game plan, it's on preparation, it's on finding a way to go out and win games."

(On if he would have preferred to pass on the final Tampa Bay third down)

"I can't say that I would have. Obviously, you want to do what's going to work. At that point in time, the Saints had exhausted all of their timeouts and if you get a first down there the game is over. And I think that Doug [Martin], the way he ran the ball today, who's to say that he wouldn't have popped one free? I'm just going along with the game plan. It's not my job to second-guess any play call. It's not my job to go out and say, 'If they had just let me…' Hindsight is 20-20. In the heat of the moment, coaches come out with a plan and I'm all for it."

(On the illegal formation penalties that wiped out big plays)

"It's definitely frustrating. We'll go back and look at the cards. You don't really see it, but I guess on the field that's what the guy saw and that's his call. I'm interested in going in tomorrow and pulling those couple of plays up and seeing what it was that we didn't do correctly."

(On the need for the offense to score touchdowns)

"As an offense, you want to score points, that's our job. You can't say, 'Oh we're going to go out and score X amount of points every game.' Really, you just have to look at it from a play-to-play standpoint and in this situation, in this play, they run this defense, we're going to have these calls and you have got to kind of formulate a plan of attack, and if it varies, you've got to find a way to vary with it. Yeah, just get more points because obviously one offensive touchdown… we've got to find a way to sustain these drives and hopefully end them in touchdowns."

(On Tampa Bay's defense)

"They've played unbelievable, especially this game. When you are playing a quarterback like Drew Brees, holding them to the numbers that they did and the score, the amount of points, they gave us a chance. Offensively, we didn't come out and have the type of game that we really felt like we needed to have to win this game, but our defense kept us right in it, even the [linebacker] Mason Foster touchdown return. Hats off to those guys. I think they played tremendously tonight."

LINEBACKER MASON FOSTER

(On losing two consecutive games by last-second field goals)

"It's tough to lose no matter what it is, but definitely when you play great as a team like [New Orleans], and it comes down to the last second. But that's the NFL; it is what it is. You have to make plays. You have to make more plays than [your opponent] makes and you have to tip your hat to Drew Brees and his receivers making great plays in the game."

(On what to take from a game like today)

"No matter if win, lose, draw or whatever, you can always get better. So you turn on the film, and I feel like we have to continue to get better. You can't be 0-2, especially losing games the way we've been losing. You just got to keep pushing. It's right there and we have what it takes to win those games, so you just got to keep pushing."

(On his thoughts during New Orleans' final possession)

"There is always a remote chance when Drew Brees is on the field; you never know what's going to happen. He's a great player, we did against him all game and we knew he was going to make his plays, so you got to tip your hat to him."

(On bouncing back following a tough loss)

"We got a very resilient group of guys and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. We are just going to keep working. We know how close we are to being 2-0. Even though you don't have to talk about that but we right there, we just have to keep pushing and close games out. We're a team so we have to do what is necessary in closing games out. "

DEFENSIVE TACKLE GERALD MCCOY

(On handling losses)

"It's the NFL – we lose games, you move on. We have an opponent next week, move on. Yeah, it sucks now, but we have a 24-hour rule, so we'll look at the film and see what we could have done better and [then] on to the Patriots."

(On the final drive)

"It's our job to stop [Drew Brees], it doesn't matter how many times we have to be on the field. It's our job to stop the opposing offense. No matter how much time is on the clock. "

(On penalties over the past two weeks)

"If they are going to come, then they are going to come, you can't blame them on the refs. We just got to get better. There are a lot of different plays where we could've been better. We got to fix those."

CORNERBACK DARRELLE REVIS

(On the Tampa Bay defense)

"The defense, we play tough, we play really aggressive. We've got a new foundation here as a defense. We've just got to keep on doing what we're doing, not let [the opponent] get in the end zone. Our offense will put points on the board."

(On improving going forward)

"We are doing what we have to do. It's just those last minutes that we [have] got to finish. I'm sure Coach [Schiano] is going to bring that up, because there were some great things that we did do today. We played our hearts out today; we played our hearts out today. We are sad about the loss but we've got to move forward."

(On playing against Drew Brees)

"He is a great quarterback. We tried to show some different looks for him. Nothing against him, he is a great quarterback, but he is not that tall, so we wanted to get guys in his face and try to disrupt some throws. That's what we did and it worked out. We did great on defense."

CORNERBACK LEONARD JOHNSON

(On the Tampa Bay defense)

"We just executed the calls that [were] given to us from the defensive coordinator. [The New Orleans Saints] are a great team. We [have] got to do a great job of finishing, just like they finished their drive, that's what we [have] got to do."

(On whether he thought the game was over on the final drive)

"You can't think like that, especially in this league. Great teams learn how to complete the game no matter how much time is left on the clock; you see crazy plays all week. We've just got to man up and finish."

(On New Orleans wide receiver Marques Colston's reception that set up the game-winning field goal)

"He just caught the ball. Great throw, great catch, but one play doesn't put a stamp on the game, it definitely doesn't. But like I say, we just [have] got to execute things a lot better."

(On frustration with the loss)

"Definitely frustrated because we're so close and we are showing a lot of great things on our defense and as a team. We just [have] got to complete the mission in all phases, not just one phase. We [have] got to come together as a team and get it done as a team."