Brian Flores – October 24, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 24, 2021
Postgame – Atlanta
Head Coach Brian Flores
Obviously to get the lead in the final two minutes and then to put it in your defense’s hands, that would be an ideal situation. What happened there on that drive?
BRIAN FLORES: We didn’t do a good enough job. They made some plays. Threw it to Pitts on the over route on the nine ball. Weren’t able to stop them there at the end. Tried to force a field goal earlier and get the ball back. Didn’t do enough. Especially when we got to have it. We have got to have our best. W have to play our best. We didn’t do that.
Q: What makes Pitts such a tough cover for anybody.
BRIAN FLORES: He is big. He is fast. He has good hands. He is a good player.
Q: How do you assess the performance by Tua today?
BRIAN FLORES: You know, I thought bringing us back on the fourth quarter, putting two drives together to give us the lead, that’s what you are looking for in a quarterback. From that standpoint, he put us in position to win the game, which at the end of the day, that’s all you can ask for from the quarterback. Obviously, some plays he wishes he had back, but overall, I thought he did a lot of good things.
Q: You guys made some plays when you were down double digits just to try and create some energy or a spark, and it seemed like that worked. You talk about the resilience of this group, but kind of shined in that moment, in that drive?
BRIAN FLORES: Yeah, resilient. That’s a word I would use for the group. Like I’ve said all week, it’s a slim margin for error. We’re on the wrong side of that for a lot of reasons. Starts with me, obviously, but we’re on the wrong side of that margin, and we continue to talk. We’ll continue to talk about it, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to produce more on the field. I would say we’ve had some opportunities. We had some today. We didn’t take advantage.
Q: What is the message to the team? What can be the message to the team considering the position that the team is in at 1-6.
BRIAN FLORES: The message is the margin for error is slim in this league. We need to eliminate some things that we’re doing first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, run game, pass game, run defense, pass defense, field goal, field goal block that are the difference between three points, seven points, no points. That’s the message. They know it. They understand it, when those situations arise. Our opponents are taking more advantage of those situations than we are, and we know it. We understand it. We’re just not doing enough really in any phase or — I shouldn’t say that. We do some good things in one phase, and then we’re just not putting it together. I think the end of the game is a perfect example of that. Offense goes down, scores, gives us an opportunity. Then, turn around defensively and we can’t play the complementary football we need to close the game out, and that’s the difference. I think there’s some instances where we did stop them, and then we did get the ball back, and then it’s just not enough.
Q: We’ve heard you speak about liking the system that you guys have in place, but at 1-6, where is the line between staying the course and things needing to change?
BRIAN FLORES: I think the line is that the margin for error that we’re talking about. Are the things we’re doing enough to get us on the right side of that margin? Do we understand those situations? Do we understand – without getting into specifics – if we make this play, this play, this play, and this play, the game is different. Whether or not we understand those things – and I think we do. We’re just not making those plays. We have to find a different way to try to teach that awareness, to try to help them execute better in those situations. We’ll just keep applying pressure to those guys to get it right. They want to get it right. That I know. Yeah, I mean, as far as we’re always looking for better ways to help this team execute and have success. We’ll continue to do that.
Q: Brian, on the network telecast during this game, they said that this week Charlie Frye pulled Tua aside and tried to help him focus on just this game and not the outside speculation that we’ve all heard. I know you are reluctant to talk about coach-player conversations. But what can you tell us about Tua’s ability to focus this week, and how much of a challenge he faced as opposed to maybe just a quote, unquote a normal week?
BRIAN FLORES: Look, I don’t — I had a conversation with Tua about all that was going on. The same conversation we’ve been having for a little while, which is he is our quarterback. His focus needs to be on our team, what we’re doing. In this case it was Atlanta. That day, whatever we were doing that day, third down, red zone, two-minute, and understanding that there’s some outside noise, some outside distractions, but just do everything he can to focus. I think he was able to do that, and I thought he did a lot of good things today.
Q: We have seen the team have good performances in the fourth quarter trying to come back. Why is it that the Miami Dolphins are not able to carry that over to the next game, to next week? What is the challenge there?
BRIAN FLORES: Every week is a little different. The opponent is different. The schemes, the concepts, the players are different. Every week is a little bit different, and I would say this team this year, we’ve done things in spurts. We played some good offense in spurts, some good defense in spurts, some good things in the kicking game in spurts. We just haven’t been able to string anything together consistently. It’s something we’ve talked about a lot as a team. We’re just not getting it done right now.
Jaylen Waddle had six first downs – a first down on each catch. He is being what you want. How much conversation was there before the draft about Pitts?
BRIAN FLORES: We talk about a lot of players. He was selected before we picked, so there was conversation about him. There was a conversation about a lot of players. Obviously, he is a very good player, but we’re very happy with Jaylen and the players we selected.
Brian, I know hindsight is 20/20, but is there any regret on not taking the bye week following the London game?
BRIAN FLORES: No. No. I thought our guys had juice, had energy. They were ready to go. I thought we got off to a good start. I don’t think energy — I don’t think that played a role today. Just a lot of missed opportunities. I think there’s a lot of things we could have done better. A lot of things we could have coached better, so I think it’s pretty clear. You watched the game. This play, that play, that play, that play. Then there’s a lot of plays that you probably you guys won’t see that we’ll watch tomorrow and will show up and say, hey, if we would have got to the right route depth on this or played the sticks defensively on this or made this block inside, we would have sprung a run. But, unfortunately, we just didn’t do enough. Thank you, guys.
