Todd Bowles will continue calling defensive plays for the Buccaneers

The Buccaneers have lost three of their last four games and one of the primary reasons for each loss has been the play of the defense.

They gave up more than 500 yards in losses to the Falcons and Ravens in the first two losses before falling short again against the Falcons on Sunday. Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins threw four touchdowns and the Buccaneers did not come up with a turnover in a 31-26 loss that leaves Atlanta in control of first place in the NFC South.

During a Monday press conference Bowles was asked about potential changes that the team can make to find better results. Bowles said he won’t give up play calling duties, but left the door open to personnel changes.

“We look at personnel changes every week and see what’s best for us,” Bowles said. “Sometimes, we can’t do anything. We’re doing everything this week to try to put the guys out on the field that will hopefully help us get better and kinda go from there. If we don’t have ‘em, we don’t have ‘em, but if we have ‘em on the team we’ll definitely put them out there.”

The Bucs have games against the Chiefs and 49ers before their bye and heading into that break with a 4-6 record would leave little reason to think the team can find its way back to the playoffs. That makes fixing things on defense a matter of great urgency in Tampa.