Kamu Grugier-Hill – September 5, 2020
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Saturday, September 5, 2020
LB Kamu Grugier-Hill
(I had a question for you about kind of working in coverage as a linebacker and when you have so many guys on this team that can lock up in man coverage, how does that kind of impact the way you approach whether it’s dropping in zone or playing in man against a running back or a tight end? How does that help your job on defense?) – “I think it just ultimately takes away any kind of confusion there is. You have your guy and you just go and lock him up. It’s really one-on-one. It’s a passing league now like we’ve said, and you’ve got to be able to play man coverage. That’s just what it comes down to.”
(You and QB Tua Tagovailoa seemed to really hit it off here in Dolphins camp. I wanted to ask how much did you know him before this experience and what has it been like kind of sharing it with him?) – “Yeah, it’s been cool. Me and him actually didn’t know each other at all coming out. I’m obviously a lot older than him. I kept up with him when he was at Alabama and stuff, so just kind of watching him do that and then to see him here and both being from where we’re from, it’s awesome. I think we – like you said – I think we hit it off and it’s just nice to have someone here that also grew up the same way as you.”
(Just kind of piggybacking off that. What does it sort of mean I guess to the Polynesian culture and the Hawaiian culture to have someone like QB Tua Tagovailoa – kind of having that big name frame and possibly being a starting quarterback here one day?) – “I think it’s awesome. Hawaii is a very proud state and just a very proud culture, so just anyone that makes it out and goes on to do what they want to do and be successful; it’s cool to see the whole state and all the islands and the people there just have each other’s backs and be so supportive. So I’m excited for Tua (Tagovailoa). Whatever he does in his career is going to be awesome, so I’m excited.”
(What part about this defensive scheme excites you the most?) – “I think the biggest thing for me is just the diversity – being able to play so many different positions. So many different situations, you’re doing so many different things and it just keeps things fun and keeps things exciting and will ultimately keep people surprised. So I love it.”
(Obviously you’ve been really good in your career as a coverage linebacker. How do you sort of view I guess your role going forward in this defense? Do you see them using you in that role going forward?) – “I think we have a good linebacker group. We have so many different guys that can do so many different things and like I said, that’s one of the reasons I even came here in the first place, was just the diversity of the defense and being able to do so many things. I can’t tell you I know the answer to that, but I know for sure week-to-week it’s going to be something exciting.”
(Speaking of the linebackers room, your coach Anthony Campanile had a good answer the other day about Sunday family dinners for him growing up back home in Jersey. Have you guys had any of that kind of Jersey influence – that family atmosphere – like a family dinner type of situation in the linebacker room?) – “With ‘Camp’ (Anthony Campanile), yeah he’s passionate. He’s a great coach. We get good vibes from him about everything. He loves talking about his family and you can definitely tell he’s a very family-oriented guy, so he fits in perfect and we have a good thing in that room for sure.”
(Speaking of food, have you and QB Tua Tagovailoa brought any Hawaiian dishes or got together for any Hawaiian dishes out here yet?) – “(laughter) No, we haven’t been able to actually because of all this COVID stuff. We haven’t really been able to do much, but we talk about it all the time and we talk about eventually when our families get to come out and the dishes that they make and all that kind of stuff, so we’re excited for when that can happen.”
(One more on QB Tua Tagovailoa – I guess what’s it been like for you guys to kind of hang out? What are some things that you guys do if you do hang out and do you kind of feel like a responsibility maybe just because you’re a little bit older to kind of take him under your wing a little bit and kind of show him the ropes of being in the NFL?) – “I wouldn’t say the ‘responsibility,’ but I think just the bond that we have is cool and I get to answer any questions he has and just kind of put him at ease and just at the end of the day, it’s still football. I know it’s business – bigger platform, bigger performance – but it’s still football. It’s still the same thing he’s done as a little kid.”
(You’re talking Hawaiian food. You really got my attention there so tell me what’s the ideal menu when you guys get together? What would it be like?) – “For me I’ve got to have my Kalua pig, my laulau, my poi. I’m a big barbecue chicken – Korean barbecue chicken – guy. The list can go on. When my mom comes out here she kills it, so we’ve got to get that going soon for sure.”
Xavien Howard – September 5, 2020
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Saturday, September 5, 2020
CB Xavien Howard
(How tough have the last few months been for you with COVID-19 and the knee recovery, and do you expect you’ll be ready for the Patriots opener?) – “It’s been good. I’m here today. I’m focused on – we should be starting on the Patriots real soon, so I’m just focused on that right now. Everything has been good. I’ve been taking care of myself so I’m good.”
(I know we haven’t talked to you since they signed CB Byron Jones. What do you think about potentially playing the opposite of him and having another top corner on the other side?) – “That would be great. We can do a lot of great things, just having another top-tier corner on the side. However that plays out – also we have Noah (Igbinoghene), so there’s a lot of competition in that area right now. So, whatever happens, happens. It would be a great idea, me and Byron outside.”
(You’ve mentioned CB Noah Igbinoghene. I wanted to ask what you’ve thought of him and his progress so far. He seems to be really pesky out there, kind of like a ball hawk.) – “Noah has been getting better each day. (He’s a) very strong, fast kid. He’s been learning, and trying to learn from the older guys. He’s been improving each day.”
(I wanted to ask you a little bit more about yourself and CB Byron Jones. When you look at the tandems of cornerbacks around the league, where do you think you guys are going to stack up? Are you willing to put yourselves at the top of the list?) – “It’s too early for that. At the end of the season, you’ll see where they put us at. Right now we’re just focused on getting better each day and we’ll go from there.”
(Has your recovery from the most recent surgery taken longer than you expected?) – “No. I feel like it was perfect timing. Me and the Dolphins, we did a great job. We stayed and believed in the plan that we had. With that plan, it worked perfectly fine. I’m here today. I’ve probably been here for about a week going with the team and stuff like that, so everything has been good.”
(It seems like at the end of 2018 season, you were starting to make your name as the co-leader of interceptions and whatnot, then the injuries started to happen last year. Do you feel like you got to prove to people again what you are as a corner?) – “I always feel like that each year. Each year, you’ve got to set the bar higher. With that in 2018, (we are) way behind that. It’s 2020. Through the ups and down that I’ve had the last two or I’d say one year, at the end of the day, put the work together and I should come back on top again.”
(From this time last year until now, there were a lot of changes in the secondary. In particular, a couple of former cornerbacks in S Eric Rowe and S Bobby McCain are playing safety now. I’m just curious from your perspective on the perimeter, what does having two guys that can come down and cover like that do for your skillset and your place in this defense?) – “It should make a lot of guys’ jobs easier. The coaches put us in position to make plays They put us in positions to make plays so I feel like everything should be easier for a couple of guys that are in the secondary.”
Ereck Flowers – September 5, 2020
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Saturday, September 5, 2020
G Ereck Flowers
(How much stronger do you feel now that you’ve had some time to practice more after being out?) – “I feel a lot better. Definitely a lot more confident. I’m just trying to keep on working and get ready for this week coming up. It’s the real deal.”
(You’ve been playing next to T Austin Jackson a lot. I wanted to see what you’ve seen from him and his growth so far in camp.) – “Yeah, he’s getting better every day. He’s taking coaching and really just trying to work on his game. I’m excited to see how this game goes and where he builds from there. He’s excited too, so we’re ready.”
(You guys obviously haven’t played a game yet. You all have practiced against each other. But how do you sort of see the battle in the trenches? Since you haven’t played anybody yet, is there an advantage that goes to one side of the ball or the other in this offseason?) – “It’s kind of an advantage because we kind of have the same kind of defense as the Patriots, so to say. I think that’s great. Whenever your defense is going to resemble who you’re playing, coming up on the first game, I think that’s definitely an advantage; and also a disadvantage if your defense doesn’t play what you’re going to see Week 1. I think it’s been to our advantage being that we don’t have any preseason games. It’s been good.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores said today that you guys are going to roll with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and QB Tua Tagovailoa as your quarterbacks. In what ways have you seen Tua progress?) – “Yeah, he’s learning his plays, watching film, watching Ryan (Fitzpatrick) and I think it will be good for him. Taking time to – how he’s doing things, he’s been going about everything the right way. I think when he does get his shot, I think he’s going to do very well.”
(I’m curious to ask you about maintaining your weight along the offensive line. I know you have to put a bunch of work into your bodies to maintain that high weight. Have you noticed any challenges going from a place up in the northeast like Washington or the Giants compared to down here in Miami, and the extra effort you’ve had to make to maintain that weight?) – “No, it’s actually been pretty fine for me. I’ve been down here my whole life, from little league to college. It really was harder in New York for when it got cold, for the weight to stay down as opposed to being here. I’m here every offseason so nothing really changed for me. I would say it’s pretty hard for other dudes who aren’t from here, having to do more hydration and eat more carbs and stuff like that. But for me, this is just what I’ve always been at.”
(T Austin Jackson, I don’t know if you heard but he said he’s going to buy ice cream for everyone for the night before the Patriots game. Do you have a request? Any flavor?) – “Shoot, I’m a cookies and cream dude but I think teams have snacks. He hasn’t been to a game yet so he’ll find out the team has snacks after meetings. (laughter)”
Brian Flores – September 5, 2020
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Saturday, September 5, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I was wondering your thoughts on the decision to move on from QB Josh Rosen.) – “This time of year, every decision is tough to let go of a player. At the end of the day, Josh – he worked hard, he competed, he did everything we asked; but at the end of the day, we just felt like moving on was the best thing for the Miami Dolphins.”
(What do you think I guess went wrong with QB Josh Rosen’s tenure in Miami where it didn’t work out?) – “Like I just mentioned, he’s a hard-working kid. He competed. I think he fought through – last year was a difficult year for him. Being up, coming down. He fought through it. He came back. He competed this training camp. I don’t have any bad things to say about him. It just didn’t work out and we felt like it was best for us to move on. I wish him the best. He’s immensely talented; but we just felt like this was the best move for the Dolphins. Again, like I’ve said before, there are a lot of factors that go into every decision we make. They’re long conversations. They involve a lot of different circumstances and we just feel like we try to make the best decision for the team right now. That’s how we felt about the situation.”
(Obviously this is a unique year with the COVID-19 situation. Some folks might say “well why not keep around a talented third quarterback considering there’s always a risk of injury or this year virus?” What about that?) – “Again, we talked about a myriad of circumstances, situations – that being one of them. A lot of factors go into the decision-making, but we felt like even with that, this was the best move for the Miami Dolphins. We don’t take any of this lightly. We put a lot of thought into every decision we make. Josh (Rosen) competed. I wish him all the best; but that was the decision we wanted to make.”
(The move with QB Josh Rosen would seem to make a statement about your feelings toward QB Tua Tagovailoa and his preparedness to get into a game if need be right away. I’m wondering if you could address that, just how confident you are if Tua had to play almost immediately really.) – “Again, Tua (Tagovailoa) had a good camp. ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) had a good camp. Josh (Rosen) had a good camp. All of these guys were competitive. There’s a lot of things that go into making a decision. Obviously from a health standpoint, we feel good about where Tua is. At the same time, we’re not saying that Tua is No. 2; we’re not saying that he’s No. 1. We’re going through it. We’re still making evaluations. We’re still looking at every possible scenario. We’ve got a bunch of guys who are going to be released this evening; but yes, at the end of the day, we feel good about where Tua is and same as ‘Fitz,’ and we’re going to move forward with those two guys and we could potentially add another quarterback or someone at another position as well.”
(I just wanted to ask how important is it for you to have a quarterback on the practice squad and maybe is bringing back QB Jake Rudock a possibility for you guys because of his familiarity?) – “Again, those are conversations that (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore) and myself, we have – and (Assistant General Manager) Marvin Allen. You can never have enough quarterbacks, so I could see us having one on the practice squad, but I think it’s too early to say, ‘hey, we’re going to do this, that or something else.’ There’s going to be a lot more players on the wire tonight. We’ll take a look at all of them and we’ll see where we are from there.”
(I know obviously last year you guys spent a second-round draft pick on QB Josh Rosen. I guess when you look back at that trade, is there any regret? Is there any looking back and figuring why it didn’t work – the trade?) – “I think the most important thing is to kind of move forward and not look back and worry about today and worry about this season and not worry about what happened last year or – look, you don’t hit on every play, on every trade, on every draft pick. Show me a team that’s hit on every one and I’ll applaud that team. So I’m not saying that there’s any regrets. I feel like in the moment, we felt like that was the best move for the Dolphins. It didn’t work out and we moved on from Josh (Rosen) and we’ll leave it at that.”
(The dynamic in the quarterback room primarily now is going to be QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and QB Tua Tagovailoa, and we’ve talked almost every day about how wonderful that combination is. The dynamic of ‘Fitz’ and Tua, is there an advantage from your perspective to that on and off the field practice reps included as opposed to having three quarterbacks in the room and sharing practice reps?) – “I think the dynamic, whether it’s two or three, I don’t really see much of a difference. I don’t think there would be much of a difference as far as what that dynamic would look like. ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is ‘Fitz.’ Tua is Tua. And whoever the third guy is – whatever kind of personality that person brings, I think it would fit in with those two specifically – to include Josh; I think there was a good dynamic when Josh was in the room as well. What we do next from a quarterback standpoint is yet to be determined. We’ve made no decisions. We brought Jake (Rudock) in for a visit, seen him work out and look, there’s still going to be a lot of transactions. There are a lot of transactions left to be made throughout the league. We’ll take a look and do our due diligence on players at all positions. I know we’re focusing – locked in – on the quarterback right now, but there’s 52 other or I should say 51 other players on the roster and that makes a team, not just one position. But I understand it’s a very vital position and I understand all the questions on it, but at the same time, it’s a team game. We need 53 guys who can help the team win and that’s kind of the type of team we’re trying to build.”
(To that point, I guess are you guys prepared to play QB Tua Tagovailoa a little earlier than you anticipated or than you may perhaps want to?) – “He’s had a good camp. He’s been competitive. He’s improved. I think if he had to go in, I think he’d prepare himself and do the best he could. Obviously he’s shown improvement and right now I would say he’s – he’s shown a lot of improvement. If he had to go in and play, that’s how it’d be. Now a rookie playing early on, we may have that at some other positions and if that were the case, then that’s what it would be. But I don’t like to speak in hypotheticals. I know everybody else does, but that’s where we’re at.”
(Last year you guys were aggressive on the waiver wire with five claims along with the number of trades that you did. Do you anticipate yourself being that aggressive and what are you looking for on the waiver wire – not necessarily positions but young players, moldable players, things like that?) – “That’s yet to be determined as well. We’ve got to see what’s out there. If there’s a player or players that we feel help us or improve our roster, we’ll have conversations about it and potentially put a claim in. But tonight’s going to be a long night from that standpoint across the league. I think every team’s going to be checking the wire, watching film and I think each team, to include us, is going to try to improve their team as much as they can tonight and obviously there’s probably going to be transactions over the next few weeks with teams making moves and trying to improve their team and we’re no different from that standpoint.”
Eric Rowe – September 4, 2020
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Friday, September 4, 2020
S Eric Rowe
(It looks like your group has come together. Obviously there’s a solid front four, established linebackers, two high-end corners, safeties who are really good. Should this defense be top 10 in the league this year? Top 12? Top half? What’s realistic in your mind?) – “It’s hard to put a number because there are a lot of factors that go into it and it’s a long season. You’ve got injuries. Some people don’t play to their potential. I can’t put a number on top anything. All I know is we have good pieces and we’ve just go to come together.”
(I know last time we talked, you talked about the points system and creating a lot of turnovers and competition in your room. I wanted to get an update as camp is finishing up on how that point battle is shaping up.) – “It’s actually, this afternoon – it’s being revealed today, the final total. We only kept points through training camp and I guess technically since camp broke, we’re getting the final total today. Last time I checked, the corners were up; but we safeties made a good push the last couple of days before training camp broke.”
(With New England being your Week 1 opponent, I was wondering what your interactions have been like with LB Kyle Van Noy and what has he brought to the defense in general when you’re in the huddle with him?) – “It’s been good. He brings instant leadership. Obviously it’s a defense that he already knows and has run before, so he brings instant leadership and experience on the edge. We’re hoping this year – last year we got off to a really slow start on defense and kind of with him coming in, he already knows the defense and already has experience with it, and his leadership, we should get a faster start.”
(Did anybody end up catching S Bobby McCain on the individual part of the point battle? I know he was leading early. Did anybody end up catching him?) – “Yeah. Who caught him? I can’t remember point for point; but yeah, he had a couple of picks. I had a couple of picks. Shoot, the corners – I remember they had a nice number of pass breakups and that kind of got them ahead. You’ve got to ask me the next time I’m up because this afternoon we’re going to have the final total.”
(What makes QB Tua Tagovailoa so hard to kind of defend against?) – “I mean he has an arm. He has an arm. He can put zip on the ball. I’ve noticed through camp that he’s gotten his better with his eyes. At safety, we just kind of read the quarterback and beforehand, he was kind of staring down at routes but he’s gotten a lot better with his eyes and from what I can tell, his progression. Obviously he’s only going to keep getting better. What makes him hard to defend is kind of tough to answer.”
(I wanted to ask you how CB Xavien Howard has looked this week, his first full week back; and also, did anyone catch your eye in your nickel package among the young guys competing there?) – “From what I see, ‘X’ looks like he’s getting back to form. Obviously there’s going to be a little rust in the beginning because he hasn’t played since – I think he went out whenever we played Pittsburgh in that Monday night game – a long time ago. It looks like he’s getting back to form, so it’s great to have him back – another experienced corner back there. With the slot position, honestly, I don’t know. It’s competitive. Both guys – they’re all making plays in the slot. Obviously I’m not the one setting the depth chart but from what I’ve seen, it’s been pretty competitive.”
(Last time we talked to you, you mentioned that you can’t really go out in the offseason and get four or five guys together to work on fitting the run. I’m curious now that you’ve had some time in camp, how has that progression been for you this training camp?) – “It’s been a lot better. From the beginning until even now, beforehand – now, I’m having a better feel of if I see some tackle pulls or guard pulls, stuff like that, and which way the (line)backers are, they’re spilling blocks. It’s gotten a lot better for me. Obviously we haven’t seen live live action but for right now in practice, even during the scrimmage, I’m getting a little more comfortable with it.”
(I asked RB Jordan Howard earlier this week who had the advantage he thought going into the season between the offense and the defense because of the lack of preseason games. He said he thought it would be the offense because the defensive guys haven’t tackled anybody in a while. What do you think about that and I guess the lack of real football yet to be able to tackle?) – “It definitely goes both ways. Yeah, I haven’t done live tackling in a while. We’ll hit and thud up. We’ll have some good hits. But going to the ground play after play, that’s a different type of conditioning. Shoot, on the other side, they haven’t gotten tackled going to the ground or calling for sacks whenever we get a good pass rush. It goes ways but he’s not lying. We haven’t gone to the ground yet.”
Austin Jackson – September 4, 2020
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Friday, September 4, 2020
T Austin Jackson
(I was thinking about how close we all are to your first pro game and I was wondering are there any habits or superstitions that you have had in college or high school a day before the game, night before the game, day of the game, in the locker room before the game that maybe you could repeat that would help you feel comfortable prior to your first pro game?) – “A big part of my routine in college was just every night at the team hotel I would do treatment before I went and got the team ice cream at the hotel, so I should be able to still do that. It’s a new schedule for me, but that’s really my biggest superstition. I have to do that before every game.”
(We saw you with the starters at the training camp practices the reporters could watch. Has that continued this week and are you ready in your mind to be an NFL starter if you’re named starting left tackle?) – “Yeah, I think all in all just taking it one day at a time and just making sure I do what I need to do in practice, make sure I handle everything, being assignment-perfect, technique-perfect. And I’m ready for whatever as long as I keep working and putting myself in a position to win, but ultimately whatever’s best for the team is best for me.”
(What kind of ice cream does it for you? What kind of flavor? What’s your favorite flavor? Is there a certain flavor that gives you better play for a game? Is there a flavor that you try to stay away from that maybe you had a bad game you don’t want to go back to it?) – “Definitely I stay away from strawberry. Strawberry and cookies and cream. I keep it real, real simple – just a little bit of chocolate, little bit of vanilla, little bit of fudge and maybe some Oreos on top. Just real simple.”
(I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t appreciate the cookies and cream slander. That’s the best ice cream there is. Check out the butter pecan, too.) – “Oh, butter pecan is valid. (laughter)”
(But I do have an actual question. What is the chemistry like that you’ve been building with G Ereck Flowers at this point and how comfortable do you guys feel playing next to each other?) – “He’s entering his sixth year in the league so he’s definitely somebody I look up to. He has a lot more knowledge about things and how things go. He’s just real helpful and he’s definitely somebody I look up to on the o-line – we look up to – and it helps him playing right next to me. So just getting to work with him and pick his brain about stuff. It’s really helpful.”
(I’ll go ahead and cast my vote for Chocolate Devotion from Cold Stone Creamery. Just going to go ahead and throw that out there. You’ve got to go with that chocolate. That’s the way to go. I do want to go back to the football question here and follow up – just kind of 15 or so practices in now, just curious if there’s any particular thing whether it’s your pass sets or getting better at drive off the ball in the running game. What’s one thing you’ve really focused on and you think improved so far in training camp?) – “The biggest thing for me was just picking up the playbook in training camp making sure my technique is specific – consistently specific – to whatever scheme I’m trying to do. So I think my consistency is the biggest thing that picked over training camp. Just doing what I need to do consistently over and over and over again to the point where it’s muscle memory. That’s probably the big thing for me.”
(I have a football question. If you purchase ice cream for the linemen how many gallons do you estimate you would need?) – “For all the linemen?”
(Yeah, you’ve got to bring enough for all the offensive linemen, right?) – “Yeah, I guess I do. (laughter) Honestly, I’d probably say about three. Three gallons.”
(Three gallons? [laughter]) – “Two-and-a-half. Two-and-a-half gallons. Three gallons just to be safe. Not everything’s going to get taken, but three just to be safe between all of them.”
(Here’s my football question. Texans T Laremy Tunsil is a good player and I think you guys have – coming out of college – similar traits in terms of being big guys who can move. You have good feet. I’m curious if you’ve ever watched Tunsil film. If you have what’s your thought?) – “Yeah, I remember him getting drafted to the Dolphins. I feel like he’s not too far away from me in age, so I saw him get drafted. I saw his Ole Miss tape and I saw his tape with the Dolphins and he’s a great player. Great feet, like you said, and I think he got in the Pro Bowl last year if I’m not mistaken or something like that. But he’s a great player, great feet and definitely respect his game.”
(I do not have an ice cream question, but I do have a question I’ve wondered about. With Offensive Line Coach Steve Marshall what kind of offensive linemen whether it be Laremy – which has he encouraged you to watch on tape just to sort of observe things? Are there any ones in the league you think have a similar skillsets that you’ve studied on tape?) – “With Coach Marshall, I think what he’s good at is just knowing what a lot of guys do and understanding that. Everybody’s different. With me, he’s been real good with working individually with what I need to work on and in terms of what other people to look at I’d say pretty much I’ve looked at guys like Tyron Smith, Taylor Lewan, ‘Big Trent’ (Trent Williams) up in San Fran, a little bit of Ronnie Stanley. Just pretty much all the tackles that the league just kind of adding to my toolbox, seeing what everybody does and creating my own rhythm and my own set of tools.”
(I want to say I will not tolerate any strawberry slander. Strawberry is an excellent ice cream. With DE Shaq Lawson how much has he helped you walking you through things that you need to improve on those daily matchups that you go against him?) – “A lot. Shaq (Lawson) is a great rusher and again he’s one of those older guys who’s been around the league for a while so he’s been pretty good at just pulling tools out of the toolbox randomly. Randomly throwing new stuff in. He’s caused me to get a lot better so yeah, I definitely think he’s helped a lot and I’ve gotten a lot better lining up against him.”
Emmanuel Ogbah – September 4, 2020
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Friday, September 4, 2020
DE Emmanuel Ogbah
(Obviously it’s great having you and DE Shaq Lawson not only for what you can do on the field this year, but you give good competition to the young offensive linemen to help them come along in training camp. What have you seen from T Austin Jackson as a young left tackle?) – “Austin is doing a tremendous job. I know him and Shaq (Lawson) have been going at it, and also I’ve been going at it with him too. He’s been doing a pretty good job at working and getting better every day. He’s got guys like me and Shaq helping him out and giving him some tips too, as well. He’s doing a good job for us.”
(The Patriots named QB Cam Newton as their starter. I wanted to ask what your experience is playing Cam and what do you think that will be like for the opener?) – “I’ve played Cam once in my career. It’s going to be a dogfight. He’s a former MVP. They’ve got a good quarterback and we’ve just got to be ready. It depends on what ‘Coach Boyer’ (Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer) has in mind for us as far as game plan. We’re going to be ready to go.”
(Also to that extent, talking about New England, what has LB Kyle Van Noy brought to the room? He plays behind you but to the defense, what does he bring to the unit? It seems like when we watch practice, he’s pretty vocal in terms of telling guys where to be and such.) – “Yeah, he brings that leadership. He’s familiar with the system, so he kind of helps younger guys to bring guys together and tell us that we’ve got to keep working and keep getting better, and the division is open. We’re just doing our best to stay up there.”
(How is your transition to Miami and this new team kind of going for you so far?) – “It’s been going well. South Florida is like my second home because I come here every year to train. I’m just blessed to be here and grateful for the opportunity. I’m just ready to go out there and bring home a championship.”
(You mentioned you were talking about LB Kyle Van Noy earlier and you guys have a lot of loud guys it seems like on that defense, between DE Shaq Lawson and LB Jerome Baker at times, and DT Christian Wilkins. Who brings the most energy and noise on that defense?) – “There’s a bunch of guys. We’ve got ‘E-Rob’ (Elandon Roberts), we’ve got Kyle (Van Noy), Shaq (Lawson) is always loud and outspoken. We’ve just got a lot of guys that come together that just know how to work together and play together. It’s a good group of guys.”
(Just wanted your thoughts on how good this defense could be. Obviously there’s two high-end corners, a very solid front four, linebackers who are established starters. How good could this defense be? Should it be a top 10 or 12 defense in this league, do you think?) – “We can be as good as we want to be. Right now we’re taking it one step at a time, working together, getting better together and just doing our work and doing our job. If you make your play, I’ll make my play. Setting the edge, taking care of the deep ball – the deep part of the field. Just doing our part. Each of us individually just have to do our part and we can be as good as we want to be.”
(Going up against QB Tua Tagovailoa in practice, what are some things that he does as a quarterback, that are probably a little bit harder to defend?) – “You still have to watch out for he could scramble on you. He’s pretty fast, too. He’s pretty mobile, so you have to watch that. He has a nice deep ball too. He throws the ball really well so you’ve just got to do your best to stay contained and keep him in the pocket or he might get out.”
(What’s the difference between defending QB Tua Tagovailoa in practice versus defending QB Ryan Fitzpatrick in practice?) – “I mean ‘Fitz’ will run on you if you let him. I feel like I’m more nervous about Tua’s speed than ‘Fitz,’ but they both bring their game. They both have something unique that each has.”
Brian Flores – September 4, 2020
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Friday, September 4, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I just want to follow up, I remember last year you telling us that you were the ‘turk’ at one point in your NFL career. I wanted to know, who is your ‘turk’ now and what’s that experience like when you’re having those conversations with guys telling them that “hey, your dreams of playing in the NFL are deferred?”) – “We’ve got some young personnel people who are handling that as far as who is making the first – having that first conversation with the players – then obviously they talk to (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and then they talk to me. That conversation is not an easy one. It’s one that’s – it’s a delicate situation. Obviously the guys are disappointed who are being released. I try not to tell them that their dreams are over, but I do tell them that when one door closes, normally another one opens up. I try to be supportive and give them some good feedback that could help them in their next endeavor. In a lot of cases, there’s opportunity to bring guys back to the practice squad. If that’s the case, we’ll let them know that; but we just try to be respectful and supportive and honest. I think that’s always the best way to handle a tough conversation like that.”
(Is there I guess a different strategy this year with the bigger practice squads about how you want to go about cutting guys to make sure you get them through? Like I know some teams may do it a few days early or a day early to try to get their crew through? Is there any strategy behind that?) – “I think we have conversations on every situation. As far as strategy for the practice squad, I think the additional practice squad players – we’ve had a lot of conversations about who we would want on that and that’s almost its own kind of roster itself. How many linemen, how many corners, how many receivers? As far as if there is a strategy on what day, I think no, to be honest. I think we’re just going to kind of go through the normal process and everyone who we release, we know they’re out there to potentially get claimed and if they do get claimed, then we’ve got to move on to the next guy on our list. So from a strategy standpoint, no. But again, honestly that’s probably more of a question for (General Manager) Chris (Grier), (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore) and the scouting department.”
(Do you have captains at this time?) – “No. We don’t have captains. We’ll go through that process probably later in the week.”
(This time last year, those on the outside weren’t expecting the amount of moves you guys made this coming weekend with trades and cuts and picking up guys on the waiver wire. Obviously you have a much more veteran team – a much more established team – this year than last year. Should we expect that kind of movement from you all this weekend or do you think you might be a little lighter?) – “You never know. It depends on who’s out there and who’s available. Look, we look at everyone and if we feel like there’s a player out there that can help us, then we have those conversations. Last year was different than this year so we’ll see. You never know who’s going to be on the wire, who’s going to get released, who’s going to become available. I don’t want to kind of pigeonhole us and say, ‘hey, we’re good with where we’re at,’ because if we can get better, we’re going to try to get better. I think that’s going to always be the approach.”
(We had heard from I guess some of the DBs and Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander earlier a couple weeks ago about the point system that you guys are doing to kind of encourage turnovers, hands on the ball. I wanted to see if you could kind of give me your perspective on that strategy and then maybe what’s the state of the competition as camp wraps up.) – “Turnovers – they’re hugely important and in a lot of cases the deciding factor between wins and losses in this league, so we’re very conscious of obviously trying to secure the ball offensively and in the kicking game and try to take it away defensively and in the kicking game. It’s something we try to spend a lot of time on. The more turnovers, the better chance of a victory. My message to our staff was any way we can create more urgency, more energy, more competition and maybe a competitive points system; if that’s what does it and puts more emphasis on trying to create turnovers and it works, then I’m all for it. As far as the state of where we’re at, I’ll let ‘GA’ (Gerald Alexander) handle that, (Defensive Coordinator) Josh (Boyer) and the defensive staff. I’m doing some other things.”
(Getting back to the captains, what’s your thought process when trying to put that unit together? Do you have a leadership council? Do you expect it to be one person from every unit? How – is it player-voted, not player-voted, selected?) – “It’s player-voted. I think that’s the right way to do it – allow the players to select who they feel are the leaders on the team that they want to speak for them because those captains, we have a captains meeting every week and we have conversations about everything from the schedule to game plan to any issues surrounding the team. So I think that’s where – the players make that selection and I talk to them about that and the role of the captains. It’s not just on the field which that’s part of it also, but it’s on and off the field, the locker room – anything that they feel like they need on, off, scheduling. It’s a big role and it’s not one we – I think it’s an important choice for the players. I try to mention that as well. It’s not a popularity contest. This is a serious kind of position and they should take it seriously.”
(Now that we’re at the tail end of training camp, given what you were up against this summer with no OTAs and so forth, where are you in terms of preparedness? How far behind are you compared to if you had a full offseason training program?) – “Compared to years past, we’re 10 OTA practices and three minicamp practices behind; but every team is in the same boat so us being a young team with a lot of rookies and a lot of new players, that’s where we’re at. I feel like we’ve worked hard. We’ve improved; but as far as where we’re at versus past years, that’s what it is. But it’s that way for every team. We’re not making excuses or pointing fingers or placing blame or anything like that. It’s what it is and more time – it’s always better, but that’s not what we have and I think the guys have worked really hard and trying to build that continuity, that takes time as you guys know. But I think they’re working towards that and like any year, hopefully we’re better two, four, six, 10 weeks from now than we are today.”
(With the news coming out that Patriots QB Cam Newton is going to start for the Patriots next week, how much does that help, how much does that affect your preparation for the game?) – “I think we all had an inkling that that was going to be the case, so we were preparing for all three quarterbacks and we’ll still do that. You’ve always got to prepare for the backup and you have to know who the third quarterback is if there is one – the same at all positions. You want to know who the o-line is and who the backups are on the o-line and who the d-line is and who the backups are on the d-line. But with him being named the starter – I mean we’ve watched a lot of film on Cam (Newton). We’ll continue to do that, but we’ll also watch what (Brian) Hoyer and (Jarrett) Stidham and the rest of the guys on the team – they’re very talented. They’re obviously a well-coached team. It’s hard to win on the road. It’ll be a challenge. We know that and it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is, it’ll be a challenge against that team.”
(Yesterday there was a report that the team was kind of taking calls for QB Josh Rosen. Whether that’s true or not, could trading away Rosen maybe lend to the opportunity for QB Tua Tagovailoa to play maybe a little bit earlier than you want to play him?) – “As far as the rumors about Josh (Rosen), I think it’s the day before cut-down day and I think there’s a lot of names that are floating around and we’re fielding calls left and right – or I know (General Manager) Chris (Grier) is –about Josh and probably a handful of other players, and I think that’s the case across the league. As far as Tua (Tagovailoa) as you mentioned, no decisions have been made. We’re going to go out here in practice today and make decisions on the roster tomorrow. But yeah, we’re fielding calls on everybody – well, not everybody but on a handful of players – and I think every team is doing the same thing. But again, Josh has competed. Josh has made some great throws. Josh is, I think he’s gotten better over the course of training camp. That’s where we are with him. Hopefully that answers your question.”
