What Chris Tabor Said Following the Loss to Tampa Bay

Carolina Panthers interim head coach discussed Sunday's loss.

Author:
Schuyler Callihan
Jan 7, 2024 9:24 PM EST

In this story:

Opening Statement

"No injuries to report after the game there. I tip my hat to Tampa Bay, congratulations to them. We shot ourselves in the foot and we scored a couple of times and self-inflicted took those points off the board so that's obviously very disappointing. I like how our guys bounced back from a previous week and how what we were trying to do and, you know, with regards to running the football. I thought our defense playing really well limiting those guys to field goals and giving us an opportunity. I thought our special teams handled field position. It was definitely a windy day out there. Had to do some navigation through that. But the season's over now. That's it, and with that I'll answer any of the questions."

Message to the team

"I just said that this room will change. This room will now change, and I think that the motto of character and compromise will still continue for those kids, myself included. And I say that you'll probably pass that down to your kids as you become a parent. You can never lose sight of those lessons. Learn from it and move on."

Learning from his 0-16 season with the Browns

"I think everything that I've said since I've taken over is about the tape. What does your tape say? I mean, yes, 0-16 is horrible. This isn't much better, and how you go from here is obviously is going to talk a lot about how you are as a person. I learned a lot that year and, you know, just kind of continue to try to keep getting better."

What hindered the offense aside from turnovers

"Well, obviously those turnovers were killers and I'll say with the penalty, it's a turnover and I know because -- was that -- correct me if I'm wrong, was that after the touchdown when we got the, I don't want to call it a sack fumble but the guy came around the edge, so, yeah, you're talking about plays that we did to ourselves that we are in control of. That's disappointing. I guess I'm being really nice about that, but, you know, we said that we were going to come in here and run the football, and even if they stuffed us, we were still going to try to run the football and I thought we stuck to that plan pretty good."

What's next and if he wants to return

"What's next for me is I'm going to watch the film. I'm still going to stick to my process on that. We've got another team meeting tomorrow with the guys and I'm still going to cherish my time with those players. As I've always said, it is about relationships and that's not just coach speak. I really care about all these guys and the coaches that we have. You know, when it's final, that's the one thing about the NFL that I learned when I first got in. You know, when the season ends, it just stops. You're so used to a process and a routine and then all of a sudden it shuts down. What's next for me? We'll always see how that goes."

How difficult this season has been

"I think if you follow this context: I have a job to do in my special teams area and to be a pro and to coach the guys as best I can regardless of who the head coach is at that time. Whoever the head coach is, I'm always going to be a guy that's going to work for that guy and do whatever we can to help him win and I'm a big chain of command guy."

Playing with effort

"I think that's going to be big and I told the guys that last night and told them that this morning again. Especially these last games, how do you play when adversity is at its highest? I'll be honest with you, that tape out there, we were still in it. We were playing, and got a lot of respect for those guys in that room. How they battled. So I tip my hat to those guys and I'm very appreciative of the effort they gave me."

What he hopes Bryce Young takes away from this season

"I think when he's in year 12 winning a lot of games and slicing people up a little bit, dicing it around, throwing it around, I say you'll remember this first year and you'll probably look back and say you know what? It stunk at the time, but this really helped me get to where I'm at. He has a really bright future."