Brian Flores – September 21, 2020 (Conference Call)
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Monday, September 21, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores Conference Call with Jacksonville Media
(What have you seen on tape from Jaguars RB James Robinson? I know he was kind of an unknown coming into this year. What have you seen from him so far?) – “This is a good back. Good vision, tough, tough runner, breaks tackles. He ripped off a long run on a draw play yesterday. This is a good back. We’re going to have to play good team defense up front, linebackers – the secondary has to tackle. This is a good back. He’s a little bit unknown but obviously (General Manager) David (Caldwell) has a good eye for young players and I think he’s got a good one in this back. We’re going to have to play well to keep them contained.”
(What kind of concerns do you have from what you’ve seen so far in the Jaguars pass offense? They have a lot of explosive weapons and you had some problems with the passing attack yesterday. What concerns do you have about them generally?) – “Well, let’s start with the offensive line. I think the guys are doing a good job in protection, giving (Gardner) Minshew time. Then Minshew obviously has a really good feel in the pocket. Obviously he’s got scrambling ability. He can get the ball out quickly. He stands in the pocket. He delivers the ball; he throws a good ball. He’s accurate. Then he’s got good receivers. I think the rookie (Laviska) Shenault has come in there and whether he’s playing Wildcat or playing running back or just out – he poses his own issues. Then (D.J.) Chark on the deep balls and Keelan Cole, these guys, they have some weapons. It’s a good, young team. They play tough, they play hard, so it will be a tough battle. They’re competitive and I think that starts with (Head Coach) Doug (Marrone), (Offensive Coordinator) Jay (Gruden) and those guys do a really good job. They’re playing well, for sure.”
(I think these are the two youngest teams in the league – 1 and 1A. Both of them struggled to get off to fast starts. I think you guys have been in double-digit deficits I think in the second quarter and then early in the third. How important is it to maybe stay a little closer, especially for a young team that has a tendency to just not have the experience to rally from this kind of stuff?) – “I mean it’s always important to start fast. I think Doug (Marrone) would say the same thing. We’re probably going to be saying the same thing in both of our meetings this week. Starting fast is important. I think in both cases, the good thing is if you get down, you have the capability of coming back and making it a ballgame at the end, and in their case, winning one in the end. Again, two young teams; but at the end of the day, it’s about playing well. It’s about playing well consistently and play to play. That’s been my message to our team really this entire year. That’s not going to change. I’m sure it’s the same thing for Doug.”
(Last year, a lot of people thought they had – they look at your team losing so much early and thought that you guys were maybe tanking and then you showed plenty of resiliency down the stretch. This year, both you and the Jaguars have played games where results could have gone either way. What do you think is the biggest challenge getting the team to go from being competitive and fighting to winning? What is the thing that you think is the biggest challenge getting to that next step?) – “I would say it’s hard to win in this league. You need to play your best. We need to play our best in those critical moments of the game. The other thing I’d say – and this has been my message – is I’m not sure which play is going to be the winning play. It could be something in the first quarter. There’s always – as you know, games come down to a handful of plays. It could be a play in the first quarter, it could be a play in the third quarter, it could be a penalty in the second quarter in the red zone that knocks you out of range. I’m not sure exactly what play it is. My message is always that every play is important. We need to have good fundamentals, good technique, good communication, good everything on every play or as much as we can, and the results will take care of themselves at the end of the game. But in those critical moments, we need to play our best as players, we need to coach at our best. It’s hard to win. It’s hard to win and you have to earn it in this league. That’s kind of my message.”
(Kind of piggybacking off that, how important is it for a young team to have a short memory? In college you kind of go through lumps and waves and then in the NFL, you might have adversity early. How important is it to kind of get over that?) – “I think a short memory is important in some respects. I think you need to learn from your mistakes and get it corrected, especially in-game and in practice. It can’t be so short that you forget what just beat you, though. I guess that’s what I’m getting at. So if they hit a play on you, yeah I want you to forget about it but let’s not totally forget about it so we get beat on it again. But yes, to your point, we want to have a short memory. We want to move on from things. We’ve got to move on to the next play. We’ve got to have a next play mentality. But along with that, we’ve got to make improvements on the fly as well. I think that’s something that we harp on as a young team but just any team. I think teams with veterans, guys make mistakes on those teams also. You’ve got to have a short memory. You’ve got to have a next play mentality.”
(Where do you feel like you’re at with your passing attack right now?) – “Not where it needs to be. I think that’s where I’m at with everything right now. We’re not where we need to be offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. We’ve got a lot of improvement that we’ve got to make. We want to make it as quickly as we can. We’re two weeks into the season – two games in – and still finding out about this team and who does what well. I think every team is the same way. Who does what well? How do we put these guys in the best positions to make plays and to play well as a unit and as a team for 60 minutes? Some things are better than other but nothing is where it needs to be. That’s where I’m at on the passing game.”
(The Jaguars haven’t gotten much of a pass rush. Do you think they’ve played a couple of guys like QB Philip Rivers and QB Ryan Tannehill who get the ball out quick and they’re not trying a whole lot yet? Or are they getting blocked? What have you seen?) – “I mean they’ve played against two good quarterbacks. They’ve gotten the ball out. Those guys do a good job of avoiding pressure. I think they’ve got some – between the young rookie, (K’Lavon) Chaisson, (Josh) Allen, they’ve got some pass rushers. We’ve got to block them. That’s kind of where I’m at. They’ve got some young, talented guys. We’ve got to block them. I expect a good rush from these guys. That’s coming in time and that’s something I’m sure they’re working on, just like we are. Whether it’s perimeter pressure or pressure up the middle or just a better edge rush, I’m sure they’re working on it. I’m expecting a good pass rush. Every week is a little bit different in this league.”
