Brian Flores – October 25, 2019
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Friday, October 25, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(With S Bobby McCain, I know you didn’t want to say Monday what the discipline would be but are we going to see him Monday night for all of the game or part of the game? Can you share that?) – “Bobby will play. But again, we handle – I talked to Bobby and we handle that internally. He’s mentioned it; I’ve mentioned it. We kind of put it behind us. He was out at practice yesterday doing a good job, doing the things Bobby always does. I have a lot of respect for him as a player, as a person. That’s all behind us. We kind of talked about that a few days ago.”
(I know the clock is ticking on DT Robert Nkemdiche and CB Cordrea Tankersley. I know you talked about them last week. Can you say with certainty that both will play this year? Have you reached the point where you know that for sure?) – “It’s hard to say anything with certainty with the way things change in this league. Anything can happen when we go out to practice today. With certainty? I can’t say that. But both guys are really working hard. Both guys are in good shape. Both guys have improved from last week to this week, I would say; and are kind of getting back into the swing of things from a football standpoint and from a practice standpoint. They’re getting more familiar with their teammates, with their communication, with their fundamentals. I think that’s the one thing for a guy – or two guys in this case – coming back off of a long, long layoff. It’s getting back into the footwork, hand placement, the bare bones technique from a football standpoint. They both need a lot of work there. I think a lot of people, there’s just this thought that you can just jump out there and play football and there’s a lot that goes into it. From a practice standpoint, from a hand placement, footwork, communication, assignment standpoint, there’s a little bit of a breaking-in phase. They’re both in that right now and I do think they’re both doing a good job.”
(Are they in playing shape? You said they are in shape but are DT Robert Nkemdiche and CB Cordrea Tankersley in football shape?) – “Well, there’s a few tiers to that. They’re in good shape. Are they in true football shape and can play 60 plays? That takes a little bit longer. The intensity – you can never really simulate the intensity of a game in practice. You do everything you can possible but to go out there and play specifically this week on a Monday night when emotions will be high and the atmosphere, there are a lot of other things that go into from a conditioning standpoint. Nerves, anxiety – all of those things play a part. Are they in football shape? Yeah, I think they’re in good football shape. Are they in actual playing condition? You’ve got to play to get into that condition.”
(If they were to be active, how much could DT Robert Nkemdiche and CB Cordrea Tankersley help you considering your depth issues at cornerback and defensive tackle?) – “I think any time you get a new player or I would say in this case, someone hypothetically speaking that comes off of PUP, it’s a small role. I think you want to build over the course of a few games until they get to a point where they can play a substantial amount of snaps. For either guy, it would be a small role I would say. Again, they’re both still on (PUP). We haven’t activated either guy and there’s no – that’s still something as a staff we’re going through whether or not we want to do that. But in the case if they were active, I would say the first time out (would be) a small role. Maybe a little bit of something in the kicking game. Maybe something 10 to 12 snaps defensively at the most. But again, things happen in games. Guys go down. We had a player – guys go down, so you never know. If we need them for more than that then we’d do it; but that would not be the plan.”
(With a player like WR DeVante Parker, whose confidence is kind of rising the last couple of weeks with the touchdown catches that he’s had, how much does that make you have more confidence in him and want to continue using him in the passing game?) – “I mean any time a guy has production in games on a consistent basis, we want to keep going to that particular player. I think we’ve gotten that from a few guys. DeVante comes to mind. Preston (Williams) comes to mind. Mark Walton comes to mind. Mike Gesicki comes to mind as guys who are starting to come on a little bit. Yeah, when guys have production in games, you want to get them the ball a little bit more. But at the same time, you see that not just in the games but that happens in practice and it carries over to the game more times than not. I would say that’s been the case with the guys I just mentioned. DeVante is part of that. I think he’s really come on for us these last few weeks and hopefully continues to play at a good clip.”
(WR DeVante Parker is a player who admitted in the past there are times where he has lost confidence in himself and his ability. Is the mental aspect of it something that you have worry about with players or is it a case by case…) – “Oh, yeah. I didn’t mean to cut you off but I think the mental, emotional, psychological – that’s a big part of the game, in my opinion. It’s something I’ve always – that part of the game is always very important. I think it’s something that in a lot of ways, you have to coach. I don’t see any confidence issue with DeVante. I think he’s as confident in his ability as anyone on this team. I think he’s playing that way right now. If those were issues before, I can’t speak to them; but I see a confident player. Hopefully he continues that route. (Wide Receivers Coach) Karl (Dorrell) is doing a great job with him as well as (Offensive Coordinator) Chad (O’Shea) and the offensive staff. Hopefully we just continue on that trajectory.”
(One other roster housekeeping thing – of course you can bring back two players from IR. You have six of them. Do you have confidence that there will be two healthy enough to be able to exercise that return off IR? And LB Andrew Van Ginkel is one guy who can practice now. Is he able to?) – “Yes, I have confidence that we’ll get a couple guys off of that list. Which guys it’ll be, we’ll find that out over the coming weeks.”
(And can LB Andrew Van Ginkel do anything – I know he can legally practice now – is he able to physically yet?) – “He’s doing everything possible to get back. This is a hard-working kid. (He is) not quite there yet, or else he’d be out there but working his way back. We’ll see how this thing kind of shakes, but he’s done a really good job I would say. (He is) working his way back and kind of going through his rehab and that process. He’s in there every morning and he’s still in meetings asking good questions about our opponents. These are things that – that process of playing in the game, he’s still going through which I appreciate that.”
(I wanted to ask you about QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. I know he’s a 14-year veteran and he’s seen just about every defense, but how much of a stabilizing presence has he been for your offense?) – “I would say he’s been – ‘stabilizing’ is a good word. I’d say he’s definitely been that. Just from a – really across the board. Receivers, backs, offensive line – he has a presence about himself and a poise that brings the group together and it’s something we need right now. I think he’s brought that to the group. Again, he’s a veteran. He’s got kind of natural leadership and rapport with players, and those are some of the intangibles that go a long way at that position. We need that, and he’s done a good job from that perspective.”
(Obviously you’ve been around guys long enough. When you see a player, do you look at him and say, “hey, that guy could make a good coach” and do you see that in QB Ryan Fitzpatrick?) – “I think he’s got a lot of playing left. I think you see that in some players. I think the guys who are smart and ask questions, ask the questions that as a coach, you want asked. ‘What do we do if it’s empty?’ ‘What do we do if they blitz us?’ ‘Where do I throw the ball if it’s Cover 5?’ ‘Where do I throw the ball if it’s zone blitz?’ Those – once you get a guy who’s asking those types of questions – those are the questions that I used to ask. I think anyone who coaches, if they played, those are questions they asked; so from that standpoint, we’ve got a few guys who are smart players, who understand the game and if they want to get into coaching, which I think might be – there might be people who call it crazy – but then they would have an opportunity to. I love coaching. Maybe I’m crazy. I’ve been called that before, too. (laughter)”
(Any of them you can mention by name?) – “Players? Who are smart and love the game? Any of those guys in there – I could name 10 off the top of my head who if they wanted to (could coach, could). A lot of guys don’t want to be in here all day and night watching film… (laughter)”
(They say they don’t want to, then they stay away from the game for two years and then return.) – “A lot of times that happens too. Everyone’s got to make decisions. Right now, this team is – every guy in there, I’m expecting them to play, not coach; but we’ve got a lot of smart guys in there.”
(Where is LB Sam Eguavoen in his development?) – “Again, another good young player. He’s getting a lot of reps (and) getting a lot of live action. That’s served him well. He’s played well in some instances and I’m sure there are some plays that he wished he could’ve played a little bit better, but he’s a kid who comes in here every day and listens, works to get better, is understanding how we want to play defensively along with what offenses are doing, what’s happening in the kicking game; I think every week he gets a little bit better. Again, (he is a) young player (who is) fast. Football is important to him. He’s tough. He’s a good young player. We’ll just keep developing and getting him better.”
(How would you evaluate how WR Albert Wilson’s season has gone and how close he is maybe to being the player he was?) – “(He was) coming off the injury, came back, had a little setback early in the year and is still kind of working his way back. I think you see just steady improvement week-to-week, getting back into playing shape, playing condition, making some plays in practice. He made a play last week in the game. I think he’s moving in the right direction. I think we know what kind of player Albert has been in the past – fast, explosive, playmaking ability. Again, this isn’t – I would say a lot of people think you can just jump back in there and be the player you were. It takes a little bit of time and I think Albert is working his way back.”
(In all sports – basketball, hockey, whatever – there’s a theme of a player going back to play his former team and having a big game. Do you think that’s real in football and can you guard against something like that?) – “It’s real if people want to make it real. To me it’s, this is going to be the Miami Dolphins against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In football, it’s a little bit different. There’s 11 guys out there, so to make it a 1-on-1 or 1-on-11, that’s a hard thing for me to kind of digest…”
(Have you ever seen a moment like that where maybe a player – you see him for the first time or you haven’t for a while and he had a good game either way?) – “I think at the end of the day, it’s 11 guys on 11 guys. It can never be a 1-on-1 matchup in football. I guess it can (for example) defensive end versus offensive tackle; but at the end of the day, it’s one team against another team. I don’t see that dynamic. I think if you play against a former team, I can see there just being added (desire of) wanting to play well; but I think everybody wants to play well every week regardless of the team. I think that’s the case for our players (and) players on other teams, so I just don’t see that dynamic, me personally. It’s not something I even think about quite honestly.”
(A housekeeping question – where is CB Xavien Howard and DE Avery Moss on their road back?) – “Both practiced yesterday so (they are) working their way back. I think we’ve got a shot with both guys, so we’ll just keep working them. We’ll see how it goes. We’ve got the extra day, so that always helps. We’ve got the extra day and the night so that helps. We’ll see where we go. We’ll be close with both players. I think both guys want to go, and if you ask them, they’re playing. We’ll see how this goes.”
