Falcons 29, Buccaneers 28
Q. You were up two touchdowns with 12 minutes left in the game. Talk about that.
BAKER MAYFIELD: Disappointing obviously. But falls on my shoulders. Can't turn the ball over. Can't have that interception. Then just got to hit Mek in stride on that third down.
Listen, you can say what you want about being up two scores and the defense right there. We have to be better on offense. It comes down to how I play.
This one's going to haunt me. This falls on my shoulders.
Q. Talk about Mike, the effort, the production that you got from him.
BAKER MAYFIELD: Yeah, obviously Mike played really well. But I think not only him, but J. Mac as well. They both brought energy. Yeah, it was good to see that.
But it comes down to me executing.
Q. When you say it comes down to you, was it decisions or...
BAKER MAYFIELD: Making throws. Making throws. Then it's Dee Alford got me on wasn't even a disguise. Quarters coverage, playing outside leverage, which is really not what he normally does on tape. Just got to go through the reads. If it's not there, take the damn check-down. It's plain and simple.
Yeah, this one, like I said, is going to beat me up for a little bit.
Q. What did Todd say to you guys in the locker room?
BAKER MAYFIELD: He just hit the nail on the head, questioning does it mean anything to the guys. Does this hurt enough for you to actually make changes, to come in, do the work that you need to do, to do the things that we need to do as a team to get better, fix these things, and win ball games. He repeated it.
It really is as simple as that. We have talent. Talent doesn't get you shit, though. Doing the work and executing on game days does. We didn't do that today. Like I said, I did not do that.
Q. Do you feel like it's a preparation problem or execution problem?
BAKER MAYFIELD: Execution. It's not a preparation problem. Just flat out execution. Like I said, I didn't execute enough. When your quarterback doesn't execute enough in a tight ballgame, you're not going to win.
Q. Todd is angry. Is this an angry locker room?
BAKER MAYFIELD: Yeah, we're pissed off. We expected to win that game. We want to win that game. Should be pissed off. Like I said, when you're up two scores, your offense has a chance to put the game away, you don't...
Obviously people are going to blame the defense. It's not the defense's fault. It's our fault. It's my fault. That's how I view it. That's how I'm going to handle it.
Q. How do you rally this team after losing to a 2-10 Saints team, Falcons team?
BAKER MAYFIELD: We have to win out to get in the Playoffs. To win the division, we have to win out. We know that. It's as plain and simple as it is. We put ourselves in a position to have to do that. If guys don't handle that the right way, then we have a much deeper issue.
But I don't believe that we have a culture issue. We just got to be able to translate the stuff we prepare, we talk about and do on a consistent basis, we got to translate it to the game day.
Q. Whether or not guys care enough. If it's not a culture issue, what would you say that is?
BAKER MAYFIELD: I don't know if it's losing focus late in games. Mine was just lack of execution. But I don't know if it's losing focus late in games.
I mean, I can't speak for the defense. I can speak for the offense, I can speak for myself. That was just execution on my part.
Q. You took a lot of shots tonight. How is the shoulder?
BAKER MAYFIELD: Good enough to make the plays that I needed to.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports