Brian Flores – December 9, 2019
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Monday, December 9, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I wanted to ask you about the decision not to play DE Taco Charlton. What led to that?) – “A little bit more game plan than anything. We felt like we just needed to go with some other guys just from a game-plan standpoint. He was healthy and hopefully we’ll get him going this week.”
(Had there been things in practice that had concerned you in terms of effort or any red flags?) – “Nope. No, Taco’s been great. (It was) really more game plan than anything. He’s done a good job really across the board. He’s had some production from a sack standpoint. We just felt like – this past week, I would say, or yesterday – we were better off going with the other guys.”
(With the two receivers who left yesterday with head injuries, are both WR Albert Wilson and WR DeVante Parker in the concussion protocol or is only Albert in protocol?) – “Yeah, both guys are in (concussion) protocol.”
(Sorry we probably have to ask you this every week from this point forward; but is QB Ryan Fitzpatrick starting Sunday, do you think?) – “Yeah.”
(Now that you’ve had some time to think about it, what are your thoughts on the reversal on the call at the end?) – “There’s always calls that don’t go your way. I think as a team, we’ve got to deal with that adversity and be able to move past it; and I thought we did that in a lot of areas yesterday. Obviously we had two receivers go down. Other guys stepped up. It was kind of a back-and-forth game there at the end. You can say what you want about the call. We still had an opportunity to get them stopped; we didn’t get it done, and we didn’t play well enough. We didn’t make enough plays to win the game, and it wasn’t just that – that call. There were a lot of things we could’ve done better in the game in all three phases. We talked about that today already. We’ve just got to come back, go back to practice Wednesday and get ready to play the Giants.”
(In general, how do you think the new rule on reviewing pass interference is working?) – “I think every week, I think the officials do a really good job. It’s not an easy job for them. I think every week there’s good calls, calls that some people don’t think are very good; but in this game, it’s about overcoming adversity. It’s about dealing with those good plays, bad plays and then moving on and doing the things you need to do to help your team win. As far as how that’s gone this year, I think it’s been fine.”
(Leaving out whether that was a good call or a bad call, the randomness of them deciding to review those kind of plays – is there an answer to why that one was reviewed and maybe some others that were maybe equally as close weren’t reviewed?) – “We can go on and on about this. I think there’s really no benefit to us to kind of rehash it and go through it. There were other plays in the game that we could have made that (if we did) maybe it doesn’t come down to that. At the end of the day, at the end of games, the plays that are made there – those are the winning the plays in the game. There really aren’t enough snaps left to – in some instances – overcome whatever the situation is. I thought our guys fought hard. I’m always going to advocate for our team. That’s not going to change. Our guys work extremely hard. I think not everybody’s in the trenches with us, but this is a hard-working team. It’s important to them. We wanted the win, we weren’t able to get it and we’ve got to just work harder and really kind of put ourselves in the situation where it’s not up to anyone else and we make a few more plays or we punch one of the touchdowns or make one more kick or make one more block and bleed the clock a little bit more. There’s eight different things that could have happened that we could have done better to not get to that situation; but yeah, at the end, those are the winning plays and we weren’t able to make them.”
(Was the quality of play you got at left guard better yesterday with C/G Keaton Sutherland playing most of the snaps instead of G Michael Deiter?) – “I don’t like to look at it as one position. The o-line is a group of guys, and the offense is 11 guys playing together. I thought Sutherland had some good plays, some bad plays. I think that’s the case for everybody on offense, defense and special teams. I haven’t looked at it. You always want it to look where we’re going to strive for perfection, and obviously we all fell short of that; but there were some mistakes there, there were some good plays, there were some bad plays. We’ve just got to make the corrections and try to play better next week.”
(Any additional reasons of what the problems were in the red zone…?) – “They played well defensively. We had a lot going on offensively and a couple guys down. We just had to – I thought our guys did a really good job. I thought our tight ends stepped in and really played some different positions. We had guys directing traffic out there and getting guys lined up. I thought Isaiah Ford really did a great job. I thought Allen Hurns, he was dinged a little bit and fought through it. I thought ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) got people in the right position, and say what you want – I know we didn’t play well in the red zone, but the offense moved the ball efficiently. We got ourselves into scoring position, we kicked the field goals and we were in it at the end and if we had one more maybe – obviously that would have helped us – but I liked the way we – look, it could always be better. I want to score touchdowns, but at the end of the day we were – you want to give yourself a chance to win at the end. At the end of the day, some games you’ve got to score 40. Some games it’s – I’m a defensive guy – I like a field goal game. That’s kind of how I’m wired. To play a game where you kick seven field goals and you’ve got a chance to win – yeah, do you want to score and punch it in the red zone? Always. But not every game is that way. I think we, as a team, that was a great learning experience to see that you can find different ways to win. In this case we didn’t get it done, but I think everybody can see that we had a chance there and I like that.”
(Two players in particular I want to ask you about from the tape. You mentioned WR Isaiah Ford briefly. Could you elaborate a little bit on him and RB Patrick Laird also?) – “I thought Isaiah just – he stepped in, played every position from a receiver standpoint, got some guys lined up, made some big catches and made a nice run after catch there in the third quarter. I thought he really played solid overall. Patrick, he had some good runs there in the second half, caught a big pass on the slant-go late in the game. He made some good blocks for us. I thought he played a solid game. Young guys stepping in, getting an opportunity, stepping up, making plays and that’s always good and hopefully we can build on that.”
(We saw 35 defensive snaps for LB Andrew Van Ginkel – his most work and he had the sack late in the game. What led to more playing time and how do you think he played?) – “I think he’s improved really each week. This is his third game; so yeah, he’s improved every week. This is a guy who works extremely hard and really earned those snaps over the last few weeks. He’s doing the kicking game as well. He had two tackles there. He’s a guy who’s getting better week after week and taking advantage of his opportunities and hopefully we can see more improvement over the rest of the season.”
(Your impression of how G Michael Deiter handled not starting and then getting into the game the second half?) – “Deiter, he’s a team guy, so whatever we feel is best for the team, he’ll jump in there and do if – so if it’s field goal, if it’s right guard, left guard, left tackle. He’s played a lot of different positions this year. I’m sure – I know he was disappointed; but at the same time, he wanted to see us do well and he was ready to go, and he stepped in there late in the game as well.”
(Before that call at the end, the Jets aren’t in position if not for the big play that S Steven Parker kind of gambled on – the deflection and the receiver got loose. Is that a teaching moment? What’d you tell him in that situation?) – “A lot of plays come down to this much. That’s the National Football League. When we talk about details, when we talk about alignments and we talk about reading your keys and we talk about those things, we don’t say that for no reason. It’s a great example not only for Parker, but for really everyone – everyone on the team. That’s the margin of error in this league. Most times, that what it is between what’s a sack and a 40-yard play or in that case, that’s an interception or a breakup, catch, no catch – that’s your margin. When we talk about being detailed, when we talk about using the right technique, fundamentals and communication, that’s why we do that, because at the end of the day it’s that much.”
(You were pretty angry at the end of the game there. How did you process that? How long did it take for that to subside?) – “I get over things pretty quickly. I was – it’s an emotional game. It’s not really my anger. It is my anger, but it’s for the players. I’m upset for them because I watch them work on a day-to-day basis. I watch them meet and walkthrough, I see how important it is to them. I watch them lay it on the line for each other. That’s where that emotion comes from. It’s not for me. This is not about me. I’m all about serving those players. That’s what that is. This isn’t about me at all. It’s about those players, the coaches, the cafeteria people and the equipment staff and everybody in this organization. We all put a lot into this and winning is important to us.”
(Quick thing – you had a bunch of midweek additions this week – Tuesday, Wednesday guys. Some played on Sunday like WR Mack Hollins yesterday. What generally has been your message to them when they arrive? Is it just, “learn as much as you can quickly?” What do you tell those guys generally?) – “I try to talk to them about the culture we’re trying to establish, so let’s be on-time, let’s obviously get into the playbook, get with some of the younger guys and I would say the younger coaching assistants. Our quality control guys do a really good job of getting guys up to speed and meeting with them extra. Early on, we tell them, ‘look, it’s going to be a small role and your role will grow. The opportunities you get will be the ones you create for yourself.’ That’s my normal message or something in that realm. I think Mack went in and made a (play), was productive in the kicking game. Obviously he caused a DPI and that was a big play for us. We’ve had a lot of guys. (Zach) Zenner went in there and played okay in the kicking game. It’s not easy to get those guys ready, but I know the coaching staff does a good job of getting guys up to speed quickly and I would say, it’s never perfect, but guys have gone in there and we tried to give them as much as they can do.”
