Brian Flores – September 19, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 19, 2021
Postgame – Buffalo
Head Coach Brian Flores (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Q: How is Tua doing?
COACH FLORES: We’re getting some tests run. I just asked. They don’t know the severity of the injury right now. But we’re going to run some tests tonight and tomorrow morning, hopefully have a little bit more information.
Q: How do you explain what happened out there today?
COACH FLORES: I mean, we didn’t play well in any area. We beat ourselves, you know. Penalties, dropped passes, missed tackles. That starts with me. I got to do a better job. I got to do a better job getting us ready to go.
That wasn’t the case today. Give Buffalo credit, they’re a good team. They played well in all three phases. We need to do a much better job from an execution standpoint and give ourselves an opportunity to be in the game, which I thought early we missed a lot of opportunities, so…
Q: You’ve obviously spent a lot of draft capital on the offensive line in recent years. How did the offensive line perform in your view today and where is that rebuilding process?
COACH FLORES: We didn’t do well enough really in any area today. Offensive line, defensive line, coaching. I think we just need to regroup, make the corrections, and do better.
Q: You get the big crowd and the excitement and your quarterback goes down early in the game. What does that do for a team and how do you regroup from that after Tua goes down?
COACH FLORES: I think we have to regroup. We have to regroup. We didn’t do a good enough job of that. I mean, we talk about it, kind of a next man up mentality. Jacoby has to go in the game. It’s a team effort. Really across the board, O-line, running backs, tight ends, receivers. We didn’t get good enough execution across the board.
Including defensively, we didn’t get enough good execution, or in the kicking game. When you don’t execute, you miss opportunities, you don’t have success.
Q: How do you assess Jacoby’s game?
COACH FLORES: Not good enough. That’s across the board. I think as an offense, as a defense, as a special teams, as a coaching staff, we didn’t do anything good enough today.
We’ll go back, we’ll make the corrections. We need to perform better if we want to give ourselves a chance to have success.
Q: They came out with seven or eight-man front blitzes, right from the first play. What went wrong schematically with you? Or was it individuals?
COACH FLORES: I got to go back and watch the film. We got a lot of protection issues. I know they were up on the line of scrimmage. When they weren’t, we still had some issues. I have to go back and watch the film to have a lot more understanding of what happened from that standpoint after I watch it.
Q: Is there anything prep-wise this week that would give you an indication that you guys would play like this?
COACH FLORES: I thought the preparation was good. We didn’t execute. I mean, that’s really what it boils down to in any phase. When you have drops, when you have missed assignments, mental errors, when you have fumbles, when you lack ball security. We didn’t play well.
I thought the preparation, I thought we had a good week of prep. Obviously not good enough. I got to do a better job of getting us prepared. But we didn’t execute. That was what it was more than anything.
I think — yeah, we got to do a better job executing. I got to do a better job of getting us to a point where we can execute better.
Q: What can you tell us about Jesse Davis and Jakeem Grant that were hurt as well?
COACH FLORES: Yeah, I mean, we’ll have more information tomorrow. Both tough guys, I know they’ll do everything they can to get back out there.
Q: Do you think a lot of dropped passes today had something to do maybe with wide receivers not knowing Jacoby’s rhythm or anything like that?
COACH FLORES: I mean, there’s a lot that plays into it. But throwing and catching, that’s kind of a fundamental that we talk about. If the ball is there, I think we should have an opportunity or give ourselves – if we’re given an opportunity to catch it, we got to catch it. Whoever is throwing the ball. We get enough reps with Jacoby and the other receivers. I don’t want to use with that as an excuse.
Q: You have a veteran backup in Jacoby. Where is the team’s confidence if you need him next week against the Raiders?
COACH FLORES: I mean, we’ll see where we’re at with Tua. Like any position, if he’s not able to go, I think we’ve dealt with this with COVID, injuries, it’s something that’s not new to anyone. The next guy’s got to play. That’s the case with me as well.
Q: What is the mood like in the locker room when you talked to the guys after the game?
COACH FLORES: Look, I mean, guys are disappointed. As you know, I mean, any conversation I have with the players I try to keep private. But guys are disappointed. I’m disappointed.
I think we need to just regroup, come in tomorrow, make the corrections, and start fresh Wednesday and get ready for our next opponent, which is going to be another tough game on the road.
Q: Considering how the last few years have gone, is there any sort of mental hurdle this team needs to get over playing the Bills?
COACH FLORES: I think we need to just do a better job of executing. I think if we do that, things take care of themselves. It’s hard. Every week is hard in this league.
But give them credit. They did a great job today. They played well in all three phases. We’ve got to be better.
Q: Was there any chance, I guess, today for Tua to come back once he got hurt?
COACH FLORES: No.
Q: If Jacoby were to have gone down, do you have an emergency quarterback?
COACH FLORES: We’ll talk through that this week. I’m hopeful that Tua is back and we don’t have to go into that. But we’ll talk about that this week.
Yeah, I mean, right now on the roster we don’t have anyone. We have Reid Sinnett on the practice squad. We would have to make a move to do that. Hopefully we don’t have to.
Q: But today – it’s looking back but if Jacoby would have gone down, who would have…
COACH FLORES: Yeah, we had a plan. We have a third quarterback.
