Everything Steve Wilks Said Following the Win Over Tampa Bay

Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks met with the media following Sunday's game.

RE: Opening Statement

I’m extremely proud of the men in that room. I just told them that they continue to impress me by the way they just overcome adversity. Circle the wagons and come together. That definitely wasn’t a team out there today that was trying to tank it. These guys right here have come together. They believe in one another and it’s about trying to win football games. I’m excited about the win today. It’s a lot we can build on. We are going to get back in here tomorrow, watch the tape, continue to build on the things that we did well. Correct the things that we need to correct, and see if we can try and go on the road and get another divisional win. With that, I’ll take your questions.

RE: How would you grade each phase of football today and where do you go from here?

I think it’s hard to try and grade it without really trying to look in depth at the tape. But we got a win today. I thought it was complimentary in all three phases. I thought we did a good job on third-down defensively, getting off the field. Of course up front, offensive line did a great job in controlling the line of scrimmage. We were at 173 yards rushing and I thought we executed in the kicking game.

RE: How big of a boost was D’Onta [Foreman] for the running game?

He was a major boost and as we talked about before, it was going to be by committee. I thought all those guys did a great job. [Raheem] Blackshear came in there and he got his first run. I’m very proud of the game plan that we had offensively. I’m proud of the coaches and how they got these guys ready to play. I’m mostly proud of the players and how they executed.

RE: How much did that word ‘tank’ bother you this week?

It didn’t bother me because I really keep my focus on the men in this room right here each and every day. But I just want to put it out there and let you know these men in this room have too much character to even dive into something like that. Again, just excited about the win today.

RE: Did PJ [Walker] earn a chance to start again next week?

PJ had an outstanding performance. When you look at what he did today, still got to evaluate the tape, it’s going to be hard to try and pull him out.

RE: You needed to stop the run on defense but the passing defense really showed up in this one in a lot of rotating pieces. What did you take away from the performance of your secondary?

I would say this, we always want to try and make them one dimensional. I told you guys earlier in the week, I didn’t want to get [Leonard] Fournette going. When you talk about the best that ever played the game, and really any of these quarterbacks in this league, it’s going to be hard to really stop them from getting that passing yardage. But we do got to do a much better job and tighten things up a little bit. I felt like we were getting too much on the outside, on the perimeter with the quick outs and the hitches.

RE: Can you take a moment to celebrate the personal milestone as a guy who went to West Charlotte to get the hometown win the first time?

It feels good but I know it’s a broken record man, but I really try not to keep the focus on me. It’s about team, 1 of 11, many parts and one body of work. That’s what I believe in.

RE: You touched on the adversity this team has faced. Did these men need this win?

We needed it in a big way because I feel like we were just so close and we wanted to really see the fruits of our labor. That’s what I kept telling the guys, you know, we are close. Just keep pressing. Keep pressing. We found a way to finish today.

RE: Is there any way that without Christian [McCaffrey] it sort of forced Ben [McAdoo] and yourself to kind of be a little bit more breath, a little more spread out in terms of getting others involved offensively?

I don’t want to say that was the case. I thought we pretty much had a great game plan coming in. Our focus was to do exactly what we did regardless of who was in there which really trying to spread it out a little bit and push the ball down the field which I thought PJ [Walker] did a great job today.

RE: This defense have had games where they played well early and kind of yielded late, whether it was too many plays out on the field or what. What was the difference today?

I think the difference was the mindset that those guys wanted to finish, you know. That was a huge fourth down stop. I think it was a momentum builder for us, just confidence wise, to be able to stop those guys and get off the field. I thought the defense did a good job today.

RE: Last week you said you were impressed by DJ Moore’s effort blocking. Where did he impress you the most today?

We targeted him a little bit more today and I thought he came up with some critical catches at key times. He is a guy we definitely got to get the ball to more and I’m really excited moving forward and just really seeing him continuing to grow this year.

RE: In the second quarter, there was a decision not to go for just a little over a 50-yard field goal. Can you talk about that decision?

Again, it was just the mere fact I felt like we had good momentum and I didn’t really want to press it. I talked to the special teams coach and we didn’t really feel too confident on it so that’s the reason why.

RE: I know you don’t want to make it about you, what does it say about the locker room that they have kind of gravitated towards you taking over after all of the adversity they felt originally?

Again, I just think It’s just really trying to set the tone and I make it about them. I make it about us. I stood in front of these guys at the beginning when I first took over here and I said, ‘you know, in order for us to go forward, we are going to have to surrender their individual me for the greater we.’ That’s what it’s all about. It’s not about certain individuals. It’s not about me. When we continue to keep the focus on us, I think we have a chance.

RE: Now in the division, what statement did this team make today?

We came back from LA and I told the guys on Monday, we played hard. We didn’t finish. But three of the next four are divisional games so we can find ourselves by taking it one at a time, really being right back in the mix of things. It was good today to get this win, divisional win and we are on the road next week going to Atlanta and we have to have a great week of preparation and practice and we will see what we can do when we get down there.

RE: You are only about 48 hours removed or so from dealing Christian [McCaffrey]. That followed the Robbie [Anderson] trade. Was there something that galvanized this team in the last couple of days? Something you said or one of the players said in team meetings or at the hotel?

Well, I mean, last night we talked about and really went back and had a highlight film of the past and the great divisional games and the rivalries we had. It talked about really making that jump. We emphasized and talked about that. I told guys, ‘man, we got to go out there with a leap of faith and believe in one another and know that we can get this thing done. Once we do, we will take off.’ That was really the point of emphasis last night and guys really bought into that. We took the jump today so I’m excited.

RE: You threw deep with PJ [Walker] on the very first play of the game. What did that symbolize?

It showed that we weren’t going to sit back. That we were going to be aggressive and it showed that we wanted to push the ball down the field and try to really see what we can get. Again, a divisional game at home, we felt like we wanted to be able to be aggressive today.

RE: What did you think was his [PJ Walker’s] very best throw today?

It’s hard to say that. That one to Tommy [Tremble] in the corner route of the end zone was pretty impressive.

RE: Was there a game ball given out and if so, who received it?

A game ball was given out to PJ [Walker] just with his performance today. Recognized the offensive line and running backs. What a great job that they did upfront. That was all the game balls given out to the players. 

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