Quotes from the lockeroom
The Tampa Tribune, published 24 September 2002

Head Coach Jon Gruden - (On the victory) "It was a very emotional win for us. We needed to come out of the chute and play well. Hopefully, we can build off this and finish off the first quarter of the season the right way against Cincinnati."

(On whether the play of TE Rickey Dudley surprised him) "No, I was not surprised. Rickey's a guy who really needs to get into football shape. Once he does, we feel he can really contribute to this football team even more than he did tonight."

(On what defensive scheme worked against the Rams) "The zone blitz was a good call tonight. Simeon Rice, when we fall into a zone, has the ability to make some great football plays."

(On what tonight's game showed) "It shows what kind of football team we have. We came back strong after a tough loss to open the season. Our defense was dominant and I think America saw that tonight."

QB Brad Johnson (On the victory) "It was a huge win for us, being at home on Monday night. It was a special game for us. We needed this one to propel us for the rest of the season."

(On the offensive performance) "We set the tone right away and we didn't let up. We were going to challenge them point for point, drive for drive."

G Todd Washington (on replacing Kerry Jenkins) "This is like my fifth year being in the backup position and when I go in, I have to go in and do my job."

(On the Bucs' defense) "The defense gave us good opportunities and we were able to take advantage of them."

< DT Warren Sapp (On the defense in the second half) "We definitely found ourselves in the third quarter. After the first five (minutes) of the first quarter we took a back seat and said, 'Whoa, what's going on?' We then came back in the third quarter with a different game face on."

(On the Rams) "Not giving the ball to Faulk, the greatest running back in the game, less than 25 times, they're not going to win."

TE Ken Dilger (On his play against the Rams' secondary) "I don't remember who was out there guarding me, but I had a chance to over some DB's, and it's fun to get a ball on a DB and run him over. Any time we get into the secondary, I should win that battle."