TAMPA, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is a sack-and-a-half away from 10 on the season. But he isn't concerned about that.
"What I am concerned about is how bad my teammates are going to feel when we beat Clemson," McCoy said Wednesday during his weekly session with reporters.
McCoy believes his alma mater, Oklahoma, will get revenge against Clemson on Thursday night in the College Football Playoff Semifinal. On Tuesday, The Players' Tribune published an article by McCoy citing reasons why Oklahoma will win. On Wednesday, in between talking about Tampa Bay's regular-season finale Sunday in Carolina, McCoy took time to throw jabs at the three former Clemson Tigers who play for the Bucs: receiver Adam Humphries and defensive linemen Da'Quan Bowers and Kourtnei Brown.
"When we play this game, you don't play to lose," McCoy said of the Bucs' finale. "We just want to go up there and win. Just like Oklahoma is going to do."
Humphries, who played in Clemson's 40-6 win over Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl last year, said he has mostly stayed away from the trash-talking.
"They're playing well right now," Humphries said of Oklahoma. "They have a great quarterback [Baker Mayfield], so I mean they're a very good team that's hot right now. I'm sure [McCoy] has a couple of arguments there. But right now we're the best team in the country, 13-0, and I think we have the best quarterback in the country [Deshaun Watson].
"I'm probably not going to write an article, but I think we have the best team in the country and I'm looking forward to the matchup."
While Humphries has stayed mostly quiet, Bowers and Brown -- McCoy's teammates on the defensive line -- have picked up the slack.
"Gerald has been talking all week," Bowers said. "I just kind of believe you're only as good as your last game. The last game we played Oklahoma, it wasn't nothing pretty for them."
McCoy said the loss to Clemson in last year's Russell Athletic Bowl was in the past.
"I hug you right now and we're going to hug [Thursday evening]," McCoy said to Brown. "I'm going to comfort him after this beatdown we put on [Clemson]."
That response led to this back-and-forth:
Brown: "Last year?"
McCoy: "See everybody lives in the past. You have to stop living in the past. You really have to stop doing that. It's about now and tomorrow."
Brown: "We will see."
McCoy: "We will see. We will see. Now get out of my interview. Boomer Sooner! I love you guys."