Todd Bowles Says Viral Video of Expletive-Laden Press Conference 'Wasn't By Design'

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles commented Friday on his expletive-filled press conference following the Bucs' 29-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Bowles said: "It definitely wasn't by design. It was how I felt at the time. Usually I don't cuss as much, but I was pissed off."

After the Buccaneers blew a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead at home to fall to 7-7 on the season, Bowles was highly critical of his team's performance (h/t NFL.com's Kevin Patra).

"It's inexcusable. You don't make excuses," Bowles said. "You got to f--king care enough where the s--t hurts. You got to f--king care enough where the s--t hurts. It got to f--king mean something to you. It's more than a job, it's your f--king livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can't sugarcoat that s--t. ...

"It was f--king inexcusable. There's no f--king answer for it. No excuse for it. That's what you tell 'em in the locker room. Look in the f--king mirror."

Because of Thursday's defeat, the Bucs dropped to second place in the NFC South behind the 7-6 Carolina Panthers.

Wide receivers Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan returned from injury to play in Thursday's game, and with running back Bucky Irving in the lineup for a second straight week as well, quarterback Baker Mayfield had nearly his full allotment of weapons for the first time all season.

The Bucs played well offensively, converting 28 first downs and scoring 28 points, but the defense had no answers for Falcons running back Bijan Robinson and tight end Kyle Pitts.

Atlanta piled up 476 total yards of offense with Robinson accounting for 93 yards and a touchdown on the ground, plus eight receptions for 82 yards, while Pitts caught 11 passes for 166 yards and three scores.

In the fourth quarter, the Tampa defense allowed three scoring drives, including a game-winning, 43-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez as time expired.

▶️ Full Falcons-Buccaneers Recap

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The Tampa Bay offense failed to close out the game as well with Mayfield throwing an interception that led to an Atlanta touchdown to pull within two points of the Bucs.

On their final offensive drive of the game, the Buccaneers gained just eight yards on six plays and punted the ball back to the Falcons with 1:49 remaining.

That was more than enough time for quarterback Kirk Cousins to get Atlanta into field goal range and spoil what was supposed to be a bounce-back game for the Bucs.

Tampa has now lost five of its past six games, and its four-year division title streak and five-year playoff streak are both in jeopardy.

The Buccaneers do play the Panthers twice over their final three games, so they still control their own destiny, but two wins over Carolina is far from guaranteed given the Bucs' recent form.