Brian Flores – September 16, 2019
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Monday, September 16, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Have you made a decision on who your starting quarterback will be this week?) – “It’s ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick). But we’re – after a couple of weeks like that – we’re evaluating all positions: quarterback, running back, o-line, d-line, corner. We haven’t made any final decisions yet. We’re evaluating all positions, like I just said. Right now, it’s ‘Fitz.’”
(RB Kalen Ballage had a couple of drops yesterday and I’m wondering if you know the reason. Was it just lack of focus or was he trying to run before he caught the ball? Do you know?) – “It’s a fundamental we work on every day. He wasn’t the only one who had drops. We had drops at multiple positions. We had drops that if we make (the catch), the game is a little bit different. Kalen is a professional. He works extremely hard. I have a lot of confidence in him. I think he’ll get it corrected. But at the end of the day, he has to make those plays in the game, along with some of our receivers who had some drops as well. We all – as a team, there was a lot of good out there I thought – especially early in the first half. But we’re making those corrections right now that we need to make and we’ll come back on Wednesday and work to improve.”
(Speaking of that good, tell me a few things that you like that you saw out there, especially with the defense.) – “I thought guys played hard. I thought the communication was better. I thought we tackled better defensively. We didn’t give up very many big plays. I thought they fought. There were a couple of third-and-longs there I wish we were better on. It was a step in the right direction but we still have a long way to go – offensively, defensively and in the kicking game.”
(Is there something that can be done besides lineup changes to improve the offensive line?) – “Just constant communication, constantly working together, working through the protections, working through the run game. Communicating – we got a lot of games yesterday that we struggled with. We need to do a better job there. But again, when you work with a group week after week after week and you build a better rapport, I think that will help the entire situation.”
(What was your initial reaction when you saw QB Josh Rosen rolled up on the other sideline and what were your conversations with him when he came over to your own sideline afterwards?) – “It’s the same reaction I have when any player goes down. I hope it’s not serious. You want to see him pop right back up. When they’re on the ground for a minute, you start to think that it’s a little bit more serious; but he jumped up. We had to take a timeout to put him back in the game. He went back in there and finished, so that’s a good thing.”
(How would you evaluate QB Josh Rosen’s play?) – “He went in and obviously the game was where it was. He made some good throws. I thought we could have helped him out by catching a couple of those passes. He turned it over at the end. He could’ve thrown that ball away that he got dinged on. Overall, when you’re in the game in that situation, it’s pass, pass, pass. You’re not really managing the game. He’s trying to push the ball downfield to create some plays, which I thought he did a good job of that.”
(What does QB Josh Rosen need to show you to get a start?) – “It’s like everyone else. If you do a good job in meetings and do a good job in walkthrough and do a good job in practice – that’s at all positions, to include the quarterback.”
(Do you expect QB Josh Rosen to be a full participant in practice this week or would he be limited?) – “He’s in today. He looks good. We’ll see where he’s at Wednesday.”
(Looking at your offensive line, I think you had seven guys up yesterday. C/G Evan Boehm and G Shaq Calhoun were the two guys that didn’t start. What would you have done at backup tackle? Who was your backup tackle?) – “We had a plan for the backup tackle position. I’m not going to hand that out right now. We didn’t have to get to it; but yeah, we definitely had a plan for a backup tackle. We wouldn’t go into a game without a backup at every position.”
(We hear all of the talk all across the league. It’s a week-to-week situation and these guys are professionals who get paid to play. But how do you talk to them about the emotions of these historically bad losses the last two weeks?) – “I think we come in, we make the corrections and we move on. We don’t point fingers. We don’t make excuses. There’s a room full of guys who aren’t doing that. That’s how you do it. You move on to the next day, to the next practice, to the next meeting, and you start preparing for the next opponent. Like you said, it’s week-to-week, so we’ll try to turn things around as quickly as possible and we move on. I coach these guys to move onto the next play – play after play after play. The next play is the most important one and I think that has to be the case off the field as well.”
(You said after the game that S Minkah Fitzpatrick played well. Would you like to find a way to keep him here?) – “He’s here, and he played well yesterday. We’ll go through the Cowboys tape and find a role that we feel is best for him and the rest of the group as well. Yeah, I though he played well, and hopefully he continues to play well.”
(He looked like S Minkah Fitzpatrick played a lot of deep safety. He said after the game that he enjoyed that. Is that something that you can anticipate him doing more of?) – “He’s capable of doing a lot of things. Again, I’ve said that over, and over, and over again. He’s a heck of a player, he’s smart, he’s tough, he’s physical, plays deep, he can cover. I think at the end of the day, we’ll do what we feel is best for the team and put him in positions to do what he does well.”
(I’m sure a lot of it is necessity-drive but G/T Jesse Davis at left tackle, how would you assess the job he is doing and do you think maybe of sliding him back to guard?) – “I think he’s done a good job at left tackle. Again, it’s a new position. I think he’s done a really good job showing some leadership on this team and he’s a guy that obviously we extended him and we feel like he’s going to be here for a long time. I think we’ve got a good young nucleus of guys that we expect to be here for a while. He’s part of that. I think one of the things that’s – he brings his versatility. Left tackle, right guard, right tackle, left guard, we’re going to see if he can snap a little bit. I think he’ll do whatever helps the team and those are the kind of guys we want.”
(WR Antonio Brown has the touchdown yesterday I believe against CB Jomal Wiltz where it appeared he pushed off. Is that an example of something you would send to the league to get a clarification on the ruling? How do you handle that?) – “Yeah. I took a timeout there to see if we could get a better look at that. They ruled that there wasn’t a push off. Yeah, that was the call. Whether we agree with the call or not, that was the call that was made. We’ve got to play through it. I thought the guys did. That made it – obviously that was a big play in the game. It made it 13-0 right before the half. (It was a) tough call; but that’s a part of the game.”
(Have drops been an issue for this team, have you seen at practice? Or was that kind of out of character yesterday?) – “Yeah, I think it was out of character. I think if there is something we’ve been consistent with, it’s that. But you can’t take anything for granted. We’ll go back to the drawing board from that standpoint. It’s something we work on a day-to-day basis – throwing, catching, blocking, defeating blocks, tackling and all of those fundamentals. That’s why you do them because you want to be sharp in all of those areas. When you’re not, it hurts you in the game.”
(You mentioned that the Patriots completed some third-and-longs. Philosophically and strategically for us and for the fans, can you share a little bit: when the team decides to rush three and drop eight, what in generally is a potential positive for that and what can be a negative?) – “I would say anytime you rush three, it’s three on five. If you do the math on that, it’s not a good matchup form a rush standpoint most of the time. Now I’ve seen instances where you can create a rush from a three-man rush. So, I’m not saying that there is no rush there. When you drop eight, you just put a lot of bodies out there and force the quarterback to take a look at eight guys in coverage and see if he wants to take a shot with something downfield. That’s the thought process. That’s really the thought process. If you feel like eight bodies in those zones will give the quarterback problems, then you do it.”
(Do you have an idea on which guys will be here for you in the long term and what guys won’t?) – “I think that’s – Yeah, I feel like we got a young nucleus that will be here for a while. I like that group and I think they’re coming together and improving. I’m excited about that group. Yeah, I think it’s a good group.”
(Do you coach a young nucleus different than you may a veteran that might not be…?) – “No, I coach everybody the same. I’m trying to get everybody better. My goal in coaching is always to try to help guys maximize their potential – so a veteran, old guy, new guy, it doesn’t matter. Everyone, to me, needs to be coached, and the really good players want to be coached. Young players want to be coached, and they need to be coached. This game is about development, and everyone is developing. Everyone is trying to improve and get better. That’s what I love about the job.”
(How would you assess the work of DT Christian Wilkins?) – “I thought Christian had some good plays yesterday. Obviously, he was never perfect, but he plays with great energy. I think he’s starting to get a little bit more comfortable with the NFL game. I think he’s an ascending player, and hopefully he continues to build and improve as the year goes on.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is your starter, as you said, but there have been some quarterbacks around the league that have been going down the last two weeks. Have you guys fielded any calls or entertained calls for Ryan?) – “We take calls every day. Again, about players – we take calls every day. (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore) – those guys do a great job as far as handling that; but yeah, we field calls every day.”
(If somebody did approach you with a trade for QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, would it be something for the team to consider?) – “Those conversations we have – there are calls that are made on a daily basis for every team about players. There are talks every day; but those conversations are all confidential, and they’re internal. I like ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick), and I like (Josh) Rosen. I like a lot of players on our team. No, we have not had those conversations. That’s where we’re at.”
(Could you talk a little bit about how your own personal circumstances in growing up prepared you for professional difficulties, and on a lighter note, would you mind telling the story that the first time your uncle Darrell Patterson introduced you to football…?) – “My uncle Darrell – Darrell Patterson – he was a firefighter in New York. My dad was a merchant marine, so he was gone 10 months out of the year. My uncle Darrell was basically a father figure. He’d take us to the arcade. He’d take us to bowling and things like that. We’re driving home one night, and I see a Pop Warner league, and I asked if I could play. I was 12 years old at the time. I’d never played, and no one in my family had every played football. He played football in high school and played for the FDNY football team, so he was excited that I had some interest. I went to practice one day, ran a 40(-yard dash) and ran somewhat well, I guess. That was kind of the start of my football career. So he’s somebody who’s very special to me, and I don’t know if I’d be standing here if it wasn’t for him.”
(Could I ask you about your personal circumstances growing up, and how that prepared you for these kinds of difficulties?) – “I would just say I’ve had very difficult moments. Growing up in a tough neighborhood – I don’t want to get into all that; but yeah, I’m very prepared for difficult moments. I learned resilience at a very early age. I think when you deal with tough times, you want to lean on the people who you trust and care about you and have your back. You always know that if you put your head down and work hard, things normally turn around and get better.”
