What Carolina Panthers’ interim head coach Chris Tabor said about loss to Buccaneers
Chris Tabor stood in unfamiliar territory Sunday following a familiar result for the Carolina Panthers in Tampa, Fla.
Tabor, the team’s debuting interim head coach, answered questions from reporters following a 21-18 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. The longtime special teams coordinator took over the Panthers from former head coach Frank Reich this week, and his efforts led to largely similar results.
The offense was mediocre. The defense did enough to keep Carolina in the game. And Tabor’s special teams unit was solid.
But, again, that common recipe left a bad taste in the mouths of all involved after the game. The loss also closed the book on any shot of a miraculous turnaround setting up a postseason run.
During a postgame news conference that lasted just over three minutes, Tabor offered up little explanation for the pitfalls behind the loss. Instead, he threw his support behind his staff and players, who have endured a nightmare 1-11 start to a lost campaign.
“I love those guys — I do, and I’ll jump in a foxhole with those guys any day of the week,” Tabor said. “I feel for them. I mean, losing stinks, and it’s hard and it’s frustrating. But at the same time, you can handle things two ways — and that’s what we talked about.
“You can either handle it with character or you can handle it with compromise. So which one is it going to be? And I like our guys, so we’ll just keep working.”
Here is what Tabor said about a list of topics after the 21-18 loss to the Buccaneers:
On the two passing plays to end the last offensive series:
“Those are the decisions, those are the two plays that they liked. So that’s what we went with.”
On if he had input on the final offensive series:
“No, I let those (offensive) coaches coach. And I’ve got a lot of faith in them. I think they do a great job, so that’s what we did.”
On the running game success:
“I thought we got our running games going there a little bit more, and we stuck with it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the win. So, right back to work.”
On Jaycee Horn’s pitch count in his return to the lineup:
“Yes, he was (on a pitch count). That was our original plan coming in — I mean, the guy just came off a major injury, and you just don’t put that type of player out there to play the entire game. He’s a really good football player, and I’m glad he’s back with us. And that’s what you have to do in order to have that player for the rest of the year.”
On getting away from under-center looks in the second half:
“I’ll get with the offensive coaches on that. I thought that we struggled there early in the second half, but then we kind of got going, and I was proud of the guys for putting together that (touchdown) drive, and sustaining that and getting us in the end zone there. So, we’ll keep chopping wood. That’s what we’re going to do.”
On the ejection of Brian Burns:
“Apparently there was — the officials told me that he hit someone in there, and he knows better than that, and I got a lot of confidence in him, and that was an unfortunate thing. So, we’ll address it and move on.”
On involving Chuba Hubbard and Jonathan Mingo more often in the offense:
“Both really good players, and they got touches. I thought that, really, for the most part, we tried to get the ball out quickly. We took some shots downfield. And obviously, I thought Chuba ran the ball well there. So, real proud of those guys. Something to build on, and hopefully, we can make it better next week.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2023 at 8:36 PM.
