Brian Flores – August 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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(What were your thoughts on QB Tua Tagovailoa? Nine straight completions to start the game and he finished out the first half pretty well. Even two touchdown drives.) – “I thought offensively we moved the ball effectively. We had a pretty good time of possession there and really throughout the game. Tua (Tagovailoa) obviously was a big part of that. He threw the ball well, had command of the offense, made good decisions. I think overall it was good execution.”
(The operation – your guys coming in and out the field, guys in motion. Just how did you like how your operation looked out there today?) – “I mean, it could always be better. There were couple instances where we could have been a little bit cleaner. We had to take a timeout there at the end of the second quarter that I wish we had; trying to get the ball back defensively, so we’ll talk about that as a team and as a staff and as a team, how important that is. But I would say by and large it was good. But definitely a lot of room for improvement.”
(What was going through your mind – I don’t know what your perspective was, but we saw on television was Jaylen Waddle appearing to be in some pretty bad pain and then not long after that he was back in the game. Can you tell us about that situation?) – “Yeah, he got dinged. He came out of the game. We’ve got a great training staff, so they took a look at him and he went back in. That happens. I’m sure that happened to a few other players, but he’s a tough kid and he went back in there, and I think he caught a couple balls after that. That’s part of playing in the National Football League. Every once in a while you’re going to get dinged and you come out. If you can go back, you go back in there and help the team.”
(On the field, how would you describe his quickness and what impressed you most?) – “I think he’s quick. He’s fast. He’s tough. He did some good things today. I’ll go watch the film. I’m sure I can find something that was not so good and we’ll critique that and correct that. He’s a young player in his second preseason game. I don’t know how many practices it’s been, 15 or 16 practices. Still got a long way to go but definitely making some improvement.”
(How important is the toughness that he has shown throughout all of OTAs and training camp, getting hurt and then going back in? I guess it would have been easy to just say “Okay, sit on the sideline.”) – “It’s important for him to play. I think we’ve got a lot of guys like that. They want to be out there. They want to help their team. They want to help us perform well. There’s a lot of guys like that on this team and I think Jaylen has done a nice job.”
(Your impressions of LB Sam Eguavoen, as well, tonight?) – “Sam (Eguavoen) played really well. He was down for a couple days with COVID, so he’s got fresh legs, and showed it today, showed it tonight.”
(You started RB Myles Gaskin tonight – what you got out of him both running and in the passing game as well.) – “Yeah, we talked about the backs, and they’re all a little bit different. I thought Myles ran the ball really well. I thought he caught it out of the backfield. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but he made a couple catch-and-run plays for us, some good yardage, good ball security. Punched one in from the 1-yard line. I thought he did a lot of good things, but I thought Malcolm (Brown) ran the ball well. I thought Salvon (Ahmed) had a couple good catches. I thought as a group the backs played – I’ll watch the tape, but from my vantage point they did some good things.”
(LB Sam Eguavoen – he’s had an interesting career, comes here from the CFL. Immediate starter. Grows a little bit. His next year he was kind of moved to a pass rushing role. Now he’s back to an inside linebacker role. What has he done that’s kept him around or allowed him to persevere from the situation?) – “Sam is a good player. He’s tough. He’s smart. He can play multiple positions. Does a good job in the kicking game. Has found a niche and role as a pass rusher, can play off the ball, can play on the ball. And he’s a great teammate. I would say that. I mean, his energy is infectious and guys were fired up for him tonight. We like Sam Eguavoen. He’s a good player.”
(There were four running backs who averaged more than four yards a carry. The team allowed only one sack tonight. Without reviewing the film what was your initial impression of the trench play offensively?) – “That’s something that we’ve talked about a lot, both on the offensive line and defensive line. I thought we ran the ball effectively. I thought the protection was overall solid. Again I have to watch the tape. Hopefully – look, these guys have been working hard. They’ve been working hard in practice, joint practices. I think ‘Lem’ (Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre) has done a nice job with the offensive line, kind of bringing that group together. But we preach consistency. We’re going to have to go out here and practice, continue to practice the right way, and if we do that we give ourselves a chance to have production in the game.”
(With TE Mike Gesicki it seems like he’s taken another step ever since you’ve joined the franchise. How dependable is he? How reliable is he? Seems like he might be your most reliable on offense right now.) – “He’s a very talented player – big, tall, big catch radius. He’s fast. I don’t normally like to say that, but he’s got some speed. What do you think, Tua? Mike has got some speed, right?”
Tua Tagovailoa: “Yeah, he gets open. (laughter)”
Brian FLores: “But yeah, he’s (Mike Gesicki) done a nice job. He’s become dependable in the pass game. I think his run blocking has gotten better. He loves to play. He’s another guy who’s a great teammate. His teammates really cheer for him and are happy when he makes plays, and he’s happy for them when they make plays.”
(S Jevon Holland was held out tonight. Was he dealing with something?) – “Yeah, he’s dealing with a little something. We just felt like it was better for him to not play in the game tonight and see how – getting treatment and doing rehab and hopefully get him out there as soon as possible.”
(Your first three drives were all 11 plays. Is that amount of sample for your first-team offense, 33 plays in that respect, beneficial when you’re looking at sustained drives, play calling and so forth?) – “Yeah, I mean, any time you can stack good plays together, put good drives together, you kind of have control of the game a little bit. Getting first downs, running the ball, good protection, hitting the open guy. So that’s always good and when you can – I think consistency is a big thing, so I didn’t know it was three drives of that length, but any time you can have that kind of consistency, that’s what we’re looking for, really in all phases – offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. Good game to build off of. I’m sure there’s a lot of corrections. Well, I know there’s a lot of corrections that we’ll have to make. We’ll try to make them and continue to go out here and work hard in practice and try to improve and get better. That’s really what this time of year is. We’re still growing as a team. We’re still building as a team. Still a long way to go, if you guys are still keeping count on that.”
(Every coach has to make a decision about what’s best for his team. You’ve made the choice to play QB Tua Tagovailoa in the first two games. How glad are you that you’ve done that, and what do you feel are the benefits that will be sowed?) – “I think the No. 1 benefit is that Tua loves to play football. He wants to be out there, and we want him out there. To me if you want to get better at football, you’ve got to play football. That’s just my opinion. That’s kind of how we’ve handled it.“
