FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons refused to fire back at a report out of Tampa Bay that injured Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy questioned their effort in last week's NFC South clash.

McCoy, who didn't play in Tampa Bay's 23-19 victory, made reference to how the Falcons failed to tackle Bucs rookie quarterback Jameis Winston on a crucial, third-and-19 play where Winston scrambled for 20 yards. It set up Winston's game-winning touchdown pass to Mike Evans.

McCoy said this about the play and the Falcons' effort on the Buccaneers Radio Network:

"Just go back and look at the play and look at Jameis’ speed, and how he was playing, as opposed to look at the Atlanta Falcons and the speed they were playing at. They had thought he was down -- guys walking around, jogging to him. Even when he started running again, guys were just jogging, ‘Oh, we’ll get him down.’ And Jameis was running for his life. You could just see the difference in how he was playing opposed to how the other team was playing. I mean, you just, we want it, man."

Falcons defensive end Adrian Clayborn, a former teammate of McCoy's in Tampa Bay, declined to respond. The film showed Clayborn stopping on the play as if he figured Winston was down following the initial contact before Winston somehow kept his footing and dashed for the first down. Rookie Vic Beasley and veteran Justin Durant also appeared to hesitate, while linebacker Brooks Reed thought he stripped the ball from Winston and admitted not making the proper decision of securing the tackle.

Linebacker Paul Worrilow, one of the guys who failed to wrap up Winston initially, reacted to McCoy's criticism.

"I'm not worried about it outside this building," Worrilow said. "What bothers me is there was a chance to get him down on that play, more so than anything. You don't worry about what other people say. It's holding each other in this building accountable.

"Just looking at that play, we're past that. When you get an opportunity to get somebody down, you've got to, especially on a key part of the down. But I ain't worried about what anybody outside of this building thinks on any circumstances."

Linebacker O'Brien Schofield wasn't on the field for the play but took McCoy's criticism seriously.

"That's not who we are at all," Schofield said of the loafing label. "And to hear that from another player, I take that to heart. You don't want to ever put that on film to give anyone the opportunity to say that about you.

"That was a rough play to watch on film. It was a lot of people that were unhappy with that once we saw it on film. (Dan Quinn) was definitely not very proud because that didn't represent who we are and what the philosophy of this program is. At the same time, a lot of guys thought (Winston) was down."

Schofield didn't have anything negative to say about McCoy.

"I think he's a good player, a hard-worker," Schofield said. "I don't know him personally. I played against him only a few times. He's very active. To come from one of the more elite players in the league, that holds heavy weight for me to hear that."