Brian Flores – August 24, 2020
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Monday, August 24, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(On Saturday, there was a play where WR Preston Williams caught a touchdown pass down the sideline. It looked like the cornerback sat down in a zone and the safety didn’t get over. What’s supposed to happen on that play?) – “I’m not going to get into specifics on what’s supposed to happen on a given offense, defense or special teams play. There’s a lot that goes into a specific play. Was it a blown coverage? Was it not a blown coverage? Was it a mental error? What you guys see may be a little deceiving at times. We’ll just leave it at that. There was a lot of pressure on the play, would the ball have gotten off? What did you think about that part? (laughter) So that’s kind of – there’s situations that come up like that in practice. In a game setting, what does that look like? But yeah, we’ve got to do a better job of defending the deep part of the field. The offense executed and made a good throw and good catch.”
(I’m sure you’re aware, there were a lot of testing irregularities I guess stemming from New Jersey. I’m not necessarily certain if they impact you, but how concerned are you that the testing is keeping the environment safe for you and your team? Also, with schools opening back up, I don’t know about your kids in particular, but are you concerned that there could be another wave of COVID-19 outbreaks?) – “I’m really concerned with us, our team and the decisions that we’re making in the building and outside the building. I think if we take the appropriate distancing measures, wear masks and make responsible choices, that’s again – like I’ve said since Day 1 – the best that we can do. So it’s up to us individually to make those smart decisions. As far as irregularities, over the weekend, the league – look, this is a moving target. We’ve talked about that since Day 1. I think the league has protocols in place to – they’ve got protocols in place and basically what we do, is we just follow the protocols. I think that’s what every team does and I think if you do that, from a testing standpoint, you may lose a player for a day; but for the safety of the entire team and organization, that’s a small sacrifice to make sure that everyone is safe and healthy. I think from a protocol standpoint, the league has done a good job. It can be frustrating on a day-to-day basis when a guy is out and it could be an unconfirmed positive; but I think we’ll proceed with caution, as we should. I think we know how quickly this can spread, so I think we should use caution and the league has protocols in place so that’s the way it’s done. We’re just following the protocols as a team and as an organization.”
(I’m sure that you didn’t get as much of a look at LB Andrew Van Ginkel last season as you would have liked, but in the time that he was on the field, what did he show you that tells you that he might be able to contribute heavily this season on your defense?) – “Well, Andrew is a tough kid. He’s got length, he’s got some speed. I thought he did a solid job for us in the kicking game a year ago, over the last six games of the season. He’s a smart kid. It’s very important to him and he’s improving and getting better. He’ll hopefully get some opportunities – well, he’ll get some opportunities definitely throughout training camp. We’ll see what happens when we get to the regular season. He’s improving. He’s getting better and I’m happy with where he is.”
(We all saw last year how WR Preston Williams got hurt. I’ve noticed in the first couple of practices, he was taking punt return reps, and then he wasn’t I guess in the days after. Where are you guys on him as a punt returner? Is he still doing that or is he done doing that?) – “Well, anyone who can return punts, we’re going to work them back there. Preston, obviously with the injury a year ago, he’s somebody who we’re just trying to be – I don’t want to say cautious, that’s probably the wrong word; but we want to watch his reps and watch the amount of reps we’re putting on him. He’s working hard. He wants to be out there and he wants to return every punt and wants to go out there for really every snap. If we didn’t manage him, he’d be out there every play. Coming off the knee (injury), we’ve got to manage him, which we’ve done. The punt return is part of that management.”
(I wanted to ask how the team’s time was at the stadium on Sunday. What was the process there with having your walkthrough in the stadium? How did you feel like your players responded to being in the stadium for the first time?) – “It was good. I think we need to – a lot of guys, we have a lot of new players that have never been there. They’ve never seen our locker room. They don’t know where the training room is or where the equipment room is or where the showers are, how we walk out to the tunnel. I think it’s good to get out there. It’s our home stadium, so where is the game clock? Where is the 40-second clock? I think those things – as a coaching staff, to check the headsets and do a dry run from that standpoint, I thought it was good. It’s always good to go to the stadium and get on the grass there and get a feel for where we’re actually going to play the games that we’re preparing so much for. We’re putting all of this hard work and energy into these practices and it’s good to get out there, even in a walkthrough setting, to kind of feel the atmosphere of being at the stadium. I think we got a lot out of it.”
(I wanted to ask you about S Nate Holley. There were a few teams that were in on him. Did you make a sales pitch? Were you part of the recruiting? And what position is he going to play?) – “He obviously had a good year in the CFL a year ago. He’s fast, he’s tough. As far as positions, right now we’re just going to get him out there probably more in the safety role – safety/special teams. But he’s played some linebacker. Look, his role is going to be what he makes it, like we tell all of the players on the team. I don’t consider myself – I’m not a really good recruiter. That’s not – that wasn’t my role in this; but he came in, he worked out, he did a good job on the workout. I think an opportunity to play on any NFL team is a privilege, so he took the opportunity and we’re happy to have him.”
(How often does QB Ryan Fitzpatrick do something that forgets that he’s 37 years old?) – “Probably every day. I’m 39 and it’s hard to think that I could go out there and get in the huddle and run around with these guys as much as he does. (laughter) Look, it’s a testament to the way he works in the offseason and his work ethic and his talent and ability. He’s a good player. He’s a competitive guy. He’s smart. He just has a good feel for the quarterback position. He’s got good leadership, so probably every day.”
(We saw CB Xavien Howard working on the side the other day. I was wondering how he came out of that and how he’s doing.) – “Obviously, we just got him back into the building. He’s just working his way back. It’s early so just from a conditioning standpoint and getting your legs back, it’s very early. We’ve just got to keep trying to progress this one day at a time and when we feel like he’s ready, we’ll make a transaction. But that conversation is between myself, (General Manager) Chris (Grier), (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore), the coaching staff, the training staff, the strength and conditioning staff, just to kind of see where he’s at from a conditioning standpoint, from a health standpoint. Hopefully we’ll get him back as soon as possible.”
(You kind of got a feel last week for what practice looks like when QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is on the field versus what practice looks like when he’s not on the field. What do you notice about the rest of the guys and the players when he’s not out there compared to when he is?) – “I don’t want to dive too deep into the one day that ‘Fitz’ wasn’t here and what it looks like with or without a guy. I think there’s 11 guys on the field – that’s something we talk about is you need 11 guys taking care of their responsibilities, communicating, trying to execute at a high level, not dropping the football, making sure we get our quarterback/center exchange. Regardless of who the quarterback is, whether it’s ‘Fitz,’ whether it’s Josh (Rosen), whether it’s Tua (Tagovailoa), there’s 10 other guys on the field who have to handle their responsibility. I don’t want to dive too deep into what it looks like with ‘Fitz’ versus someone else. This isn’t a one man show. It’s the responsibility of the players to kind of pick up the slack if somebody is out. Look, it’s a pandemic so guys could be out. If we’re going to say – and this is for any team – that one guy being out means that we’re going to fall apart, then it’s going to be a long season; and not just for us but for a lot of teams. I don’t think anybody is taking that approach and we’re not taking that approach with our team either, to include myself – coaches, players. We’ve got to be ready for the next guy to step up and perform because we’re going to need everybody in 2020.”
