Here are quotes from key figures in the Bucs loss to the Rams Sunday courtesy of the media relations staffs of both the Bucs and the Rams.

QB JOSH FREEMAN

(On the game)
“We’ve been working, working hard. This week was one of our best weeks of preparation; it’s just untimely turnovers in the past couple of weeks. I’m the quarterback, I have to put it on me and find a way to limit those, because when you have a team like us that’s been in a little bit of a rut, you can’t make those mistakes that cost you. Once again, our guys played for 60 minutes, offense and defense, but it just wasn’t quite enough. You talk about those earlier drives where you get in the red zone and go for it on fourth down and don’t get it, those are the ones that if we score two touchdowns, you’re looking at either a tie ballgame or a one-point ballgame with plenty of time left in the fourth quarter. But we didn’t do that. We’re going to have to go back and take a real hard look at ourselves as an offense. Me personally trying to find a way to cut these turnovers out of the game and win.”

(On the loss)
“(I’m) not depressed, just, I’d say, frustrated. As anyone who goes out each week and does everything they can to win (would be). When you lose, it’s frustrating. Like I said, the Rams are a good team, they came in here today, but I like my team. I feel like we can go out, without those turnovers, find a way to win. Even with those turnovers, we still had a few drives in the second half that we could have cut it close, we were just unable to capitalize. No, I’m not depressed by any stretch. Just definitely frustrated.”

(On the past two games)
“Frustrating, they really have been. That’s all you can say. The Saints game and then this game, not really the brand of football I expect to play. Two games (where) you feel great, you feel prepared going into, and a few things don’t go your way and you find yourself on the wrong end of the win-loss column.”

ST. LOUIS RAMS
HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER

(On the win)
“Well, it’s huge for us. We talked about, earlier this week, taking one of two approaches: one – we’ve won three out of our last four or, we just lost to Minnesota. So this team, now, I think, is taking the approach that we’ve won four out of our last five and we’re not perfect, but they are playing hard. They’re having fun and, fortunately, we got great effort out of the defense today with the turnovers, and a turnover for a touchdown. To come out of the blocks like we did, to start the third quarter with the one play for a touchdown pass, was huge. All in all, with the sacks and the fourth-down stops and the turnovers, that was, obviously, the difference in the ball game. We ran the ball very well when we were managing the game, and at the end, (it was) difficult to run against them. They’re first in the league in run defense; we knew it’d be difficult to run. We managed the clock. Great, great coverage and (that) was a great part of that job. Overall, all three phases contributed.”

(On the Lance Kendricks touchdown reception)
“It was a play-action pass. We’re trying to pull the guard, the linebackers bit and the safeties were deep. Lance had a good takeoff (and) it was a good throw-and-catch.”

(On Janoris Jenkins’ chances for Defensive Rookie of the Year)
“There are a lot of good players out there. We’ll let his peers vote on that, but he’s really been playing well as of late. It was a good catch and a good return (today). He’s been tackling well.”

(On the season)
“Well, we’re going to play hard. We’re going to finish up strong and go up to Seattle. It’ll give us a chance to finish out on a winning note and a chance to be undefeated in the division. I think if we’re able to do that, I’d say we can jump into the offseason with optimism for next year. We got seven wins now and I don’t think many people thought we would do that, but we got a chance to get eight.”

LB JO-LONN DUNBAR

(On forcing multiple turnovers)
“It is definitely a boost. Any time you get turnovers, it’s good for your defense and good for your offense. It creates short fields for the most part, and it’s a momentum changer. We were fortunate enough to create those turnovers and we just have to keep that rolling.”

(On giving up some big plays down the stretch)
“They’re a good team, they’re going to make some plays. They came up with some big plays at a key time to kind of get them back in the game. But, defensively, we bounced back and we were able to make some stops. It was a full team effort. They are a good team, and they’re going to make some plays.”

(On the win)
“It feels great to get back in that win column. We had that bad taste in our mouth for a week now, so it feels good to out here and get back to work and make sure we are focused for next week.”

(On CB Janoris Jenkins)
“He’s a huge playmaker. Any time that ball is up, he has a play to make on the ball. He’s proven that over the course of the season, and I think he’s just going to turn into a great pro if he just keeps working at it and stays humble.”

LB JAMES LAURINAITIS

(On playing well defensively)
“Our coaches do a phenomenal job of getting us prepared. We felt like we had a good bead on these guys going into this game and what they were trying to do. They had some tells, so we have to credit the coaches and then credit the guys for studying hard.”

(On giving up a few big plays)
“We just had some miscommunication, that’s all it is. You can’t let those big plays happen, but it’s football, it happens from time to time. You have to move on to the next play, but I’m proud of the way our guys buckled down on those fourth-down plays deep in the red zone. We gave up more yards then we should have, but I couldn’t care less as long as we get the ‘W.’”

TE LANCE KENDRICKS

(On his touchdown reception)
“After I caught it, I looked (and) nobody was over there so I just took off running. I noticed that they were catching up to me, that’s when I started getting tired. I saw Danny (Amendola) coming, I’m like ‘Okay, when Danny comes, you stop, take a step back and try to go around him.’ That’s what I ended up doing.”

(On the route he ran on his touchdown play)
“It was just a seam route up the middle. We had I think Danny (Amendola) and Chris (Givens) on the outside. The safeties know we throw a lot of deep balls to those guys, so the safeties kind of bit on them. I guess they were thinking play-action to Danny or Chris and that left me open down the middle.”

(On St. Louis’ mindset)
“I think of us as a team that can overcome a lot of things, and that’s what we’ve done all year. We would have a bad game and then the next game we would try to really play hard and try to really overcome that loss or whatever. We came out with the mindset of we still have a chance. Whether we make the playoffs or not, we’re coming to play and we’re coming to get better.”

CB JANORIS JENKINS

(On his interception return for a touchdown)
“I got a feel for the ball. I want to thank my front seven for getting pressure on the quarterback first. I just got the ball in my hand and made a play.”

(On taking risks to make plays)
“I’m a DB (defensive back). Everybody’s going to get beat. If I get beat, oh well, but I’m always going to try and come back and get that next play. That’s just something you got to have as a DB in this league, because each and every week you’re going to get thrown at a lot and you just make the best of it.”

(On the difficulty of the game)
“It was a great team on the other end. They played, came out, played hard, fought. We just played overall football better than they did.”

(On having a feel for the ball)
“Every time I touch the ball, I feel like I can get in the end zone. That’s my mentality and I’m going to keep having that mentality.”

S QUINTIN MIKELL

(On CB Janoris Jenkins)
“I’ll tell you what, the guy’s incredible. Not only does he make the interception, but he brings it back for a touchdown. We love to have him. Great to have him on the team and hopefully he’ll get some more next week.”

DE CHRIS LONG

(On the win)
“It’s just about controlling what you can control and today we had a chance to win a football game. We’ve won four out of the last five. We’re just one day at a time, one game at a time. It’s about proving to ourselves every week that we go out to win and we did that today.”

(On CB Janoris Jenkins)
“Some guys make mistakes and don’t make any big plays. So I’ll take the guy that’s scored four touchdowns this year. He’s got a really bright future. He’s done a great job of just being mature and continuing to work at his craft. He’s grown up a lot this year.”

RB STEVEN JACKSON

(On attempting to reach a 1,000-yard rushing season)
“We were hoping that we could knock it out and get it out of the way, but they are a very tough defense; No. 1 against the run. We were very pleased with how we were able to move the ball on the ground as a running offense. They are very stout, very tough to run against, but the offensive line created lanes for me to run through.”

(On the significance of having a winning season with a win next week)
“We have a lot to play for, a winning season, undefeated in the division. It’s something to build off of and go into the offseason feeling happy and strong and make it appealing to free agents as well.”

(On pulling off a tough road win)
“This team is very resilient. Our defense is tenacious. They are going to create turnovers. They are going to get after the passer and they are going to make it tough on the opposing offense. As an offense, it gives us opportunities that we’ve got to take advantage of. A lot of times we weren’t really smooth as an offense, but when we had to make plays we showed up once again.”