Chris Grier and Brian Flores – April 23, 2020
Download PDF version
Thursday, April 23, 2020
General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Brian Flores
Chris Grier:
(What was it about QB Tua Tagovailoa that really set him apart and made him the right selection for this franchise at five?) – “We’ve always talked about going through the process. Brian (Flores), myself, the coaching staff and scouts – watching him for a couple years and finally getting – meeting him at the Combine and getting to know him and find out what type of person he really is, which we all heard great things. You really get to sit down and talk to people and you don’t really truly know – I think for us, it was going through our process. There were a lot of talented players and we really liked Tua and we felt very comfortable at the end of the day that he would be a fit here and bringing him here.”
Brian Flores:
“I’m very similar to Chris. He fit a lot of the criteria we talk about at the quarterback position. Good player, good person, leadership qualities. We’re very happy with the pick.”
Chris Grier:
(With QB Tua Tagovailoa’s injury history, how much of a gamble do you think this pick is for the Dolphins?) – “Like we talked about before, football is a violent game. Guys are going to get hurt. So, for us, we did a lot of work on him as we do with every player. Our training staff and doctors, led by (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle Johnston, does a fantastic job. So, we’re very comfortable.”
Brian Flores:
(How did you guys decide on QB Tua Tagovailoa? You obviously had some options at quarterback at five. Why did he win out over the other options you had?) – “I would say just going through our process. Obviously, we have a criteria at every position. So the same with Tua, the same with Austin Jackson, same with Noah (Igbinoghene). We’re happy with all three selections, comfortable with all three guys. But specific to the quarterback, there were a lot of good players at the position. We talked about every one of them. We did our homework on every one of them. We’ve been in Zoom meetings for multiple days, multiple weeks. At the end of the day, we felt like that was the best choice for the Miami Dolphins.”
Chris Grier:
(How did you guys navigate maybe the reports and smokescreen season so to speak? It seemed like every single day there was something new coming out. How did you guys handle that in your decision to stick at number five and believe Tua Tagovailoa would be there?) – “For us, we’re just – We always talked about going through our process and doing it. Brian and I had a few laughs (about) a lot stuff that came out. At the end of the day, you block it out. We go through our process. I know we keep talking about it, but it is and that’s what it is. It starts with their play on the field and the postseason all-star games, the Combine, interviews and workouts – all that stuff. For us, it’s just noise on the outside. We kind of work through it and we just kind of go through our process.”
Brian Flores:
“Like Chris said, we didn’t know where a lot of this stuff was coming from to be honest. You guys probably know better than we do as far as where this information was coming from. It was very interesting, to say the least. It’s something that we talk about, really, on a daily basis. ‘Did you see that? Did you hear this? That’s interesting.’ That’s really more of my question to you guys. Where did all this come from? (laughter)”
Chris Grier:
(I want to ask you about that last pick there at 30 with CB Noah Igbinoghene. What made you guys want to go with a corner there? Obviously, you guys got two pretty good ones on your team already.) – “Best player on the board for us. We felt really good about Noah. We got to know him. This is a passing league as everyone says. You can never have enough corners … Brian came from a really good defensive team when we hired him and they had a lot of corners. At the end of the day, the way this league is offensively, it’s a premium position and the more you have, the better. It breeds competition. (He’s a) competitive kid that we really liked in the process.”
Brian Flores:
“That’s something that Chris and I, we’ve always been on the same page as far as never having enough corners in this league. With the receivers – the receivers coming off the board today, there were a lot of good ones. So you’ve got to defend those guys. We feel good about all of the corners we have on our roster and we felt like we had an opportunity to add one, another good one, and that played a role in the decision.”
Chris Grier:
(To both of you guys, how close were you to trading up to number three, how close were you to moving up from number 18?) – “With us, we make calls to every team in the league. We (look for) opportunities and do our due diligence. Brian believes in that as well. From us and our staff, we’re calling everyone. Just doing our homework (and finding) opportunities. We talked to everybody. There was nothing definitive with anyone. But, yes we called every team like we do every year with opportunities to move up or down; but no, there was nothing definitive.”
Brian Flores:
“Like Chris said, we listen to all offers and if we feel good about something, we talk it through – here are the pros, here are the cons to making a move like this up or down. We really just hash it out – Chris, myself and the rest of the scouting staff. I’d say over the course of the entire fall and spring, those guys did an excellent job getting us the right information and just going through countless meetings, agreements and disagreements, and just trying to get everybody on the same page. I would say our scouting department did a really nice job there and I think that played a large role in us feeling comfortable with making the selections – going up, going down. I would say from my standpoint, we had a good game plan.”
(With QB Tua Tagovailoa, will he have any health restrictions going forward? Whenever you guys are able to get back on the field, do you expect him to participate fully? And if so, do you see him competing for a starting job in 2020?) – “I’d say my kids are expecting him. They are big fans. They were excited to get on a phone call with him. (laughter) Look, we haven’t even seen him. Obviously with the pandemic and all that’s going on, our doctors haven’t seen him. We have a long way to go before we can say who’s doing what … We have to just get him and have a meeting first. I think it’s way too early to speculate on this year and how this is going to go. You guys know we like to take a one day at a time approach anyway. That’s going to be the approach I’m going to have him take as well.”
Chris Grier:
(Can you shed some light on how challenging this decision was, especially with QB Tua Tagovailoa, a quarterback, given the pandemic and you didn’t have the time to have as much face to face time as you normally would have. And the second part of my question as it related to Tua, the independent specialist that you used to get clearance on this, can you add some light on what that was like?) – “For us, again, it was our normal process. I know people won’t believe that, but it is. We spend a lot of time finding out about the player’s background. Like Brian said, the scouts do a fantastic job of background information and putting us in touch with people that we talked to. Brian and I, the coaches and scouts, know a lot of the coaches on that staff who have been there and have left … For us, I know the face time and having him in person and seeing him; but as Brian said, the coaches did a great job of spending time with him on Zoom meetings and getting to know him. We met with him at the Combine. We felt very comfortable and again, our doctors and trainers did a lot of work on him so for us, it wasn’t that difficult of a decision for us to make.
Brian Flores:
(I wanted to ask about T Austin Jackson. I know QB Tua Tagovailoa being left-handed, it may be important to get a right tackle. Austin played left tackle most of his career. Do you guys see him as an option at right tackle? Do you see G/T Jesse Davis as an option at right tackle? I know it’s still pretty early in the draft here, but how do you guys plan to address the tackle and interior linemen positions in the next few days?) – “I think really what we are trying to do is get good players. Left tackle, right tackle – I think at the end of the day, we want to bring good players onto this team who will work and compete. To talk about starting positons, I mean these guys have never been in an NFL locker room. I think that’s asking them a lot. I think we just take it day-to-day, and that’s the message I’m always going to send to all of our players, especially young players. There is a lot to learn as far as getting to know your teammates, getting to know our coaches, getting to know our terminology and how we do things. There is a lot to learn. So before we start talking about who is starting, who is playing left or right, I think for each rookie and really for every player, let’s just take this one day at a time and hopefully if we can string good days together, we’ll see some of the fruits of that labor.”
Chris Grier:
(I know there was a report that you guys were trying to trade up for QB Joe Burrow. I wanted to see if you guys can speak to the accuracy of that and whether it was a tough decision at five to choose QB Tua Tagovailoa over QB Justin Herbert?) – “Like I said, we made our calls to everyone. Yes, we spoke (to Cincinnati) to see if they were interested. So yes, we talked to everyone – every team in the league. It was no different. Every team makes those calls so yes, we reached out. Again, the decision to take Tua – Justin is a really good player. We enjoyed getting to know him as well. At the end of the day, we made our decision. We liked both players a lot but we thought Tua was the guy for us.”
Brian Flores:
“For me there, Chris and I were really on the same page the entire time as far as the process, the meeting, the medical, the conversations about moving up, moving down. We were really, l’d say, in lockstep the whole way. We still got a long way to go. After we get off of this Zoom, we’re going to talk again and get going on tomorrow and Saturday. There’s a lot more work to be done. This was just the first of three total days. There is a lot more work to be done here. We’ve got a slew of picks remaining. Tomorrow’s a big day, Saturday is going to be a big day, and we’re just going to try to make the best decision for this organization.”
