Brian Flores – September 22, 2020
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Tuesday, September 22, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I wanted to ask about LB Elandon Roberts. Is he out of the concussion protocol and what part of the concussion protocol is he in, if he isn’t?) – “He’s still in the protocol. He’s still in, I guess, the evaluation stage. Our medical team and (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle Johnston handles that. He does a great job from that standpoint. We’re going to get him back as quickly as possible. Again, we’re very – look with the concussions, we’re careful with those and we just have to be smart about it and make sure he’s ready to go before we bring him back.”
(One of the first moves you made when you got here was moving S Bobby McCain to safety. If the play at slot corner remains up and down – and obviously that’s by no means is the reason you guys lost – but if it remains up and down, would you give any thought to moving Bobby back there because of his experience, or in your mind is he a safety for you long term? I wanted to ask you about S Brandon Jones in that as well. He played some slot corner at Texas but you all drafted him as a safety. Could you look at him as an option there as well?) – “We look at all options. Bobby’s got experience at a lot of positions – corner, slot, safety. Brandon played a few different positions in college. We’ll look at every option. Something that we’ve talked about as a staff, from just a personnel standpoint, is what’s the best group of guys we can put out there and gives us the most competitive group? A lot of conversations like that are had. Bobby’s obviously a part of a lot of those conversations because he’s so versatile. We’ll continue to try to put the best group out there we can on a weekly basis.”
(Regarding the terrible injury toll around the league, especially on Sunday, how much do you think the disruptive training regimen this year might be a factor?) – “Yeah, that’s really unfortunate with the rash of injuries that we saw around the league. You never want that. You just don’t. As someone who works with these guys on a daily basis, I know how hard they work, I know how important it is to them. I hate to see it – whether it’s obviously our team, but anyone around the league, whether we’re playing them or not playing them, you just hate to see it. It’s unfortunate. These guys, they work extremely hard, and to have it taken away from them, I feel for them all. Specific to the lack of offseason, I can’t – I imagine all of these guys worked extremely hard in the offseason. I know everyone had a little different circumstances with the pandemic. It’s easy to say because they weren’t on a normal regiment, this is why it happened; but it’s football and things happen every year. It’s just unfortunate.”
(I wanted to ask you about Jacksonville’s rookie WR Laviska Shenault Jr. He’s played multiple positions on offense both in college and as a pro. With a player like that, that can play receiver and running back – multiple positions on offense – how does that impact the way you communicate and substitute your personnel package to try to best match the offensive grouping?) – “Yes, Shenault has done a really good job playing multiple positions – receiver, running back. He’s big, he’s fast, he’s explosive. Obviously they have a lot of good players. (James) Robinson, the running back, is a good young addition to their team. Obviously the quarterback, a good o-line. Shenault is one piece to what’s been a good group of offensive skill players thus far this year. It will be a big challenge for us getting him handled and the multiple things he does. You can’t just lock in on one guy because they have several other guys who can make plays. We’ve got to do a good job with all of them.”
(When you have a young team who is just learning a new offense with Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey, how long do you think it takes to establish and develop an offensive identity?) – “As soon as possible. That’s what we’re hoping for. The guys are working hard to establish a run game, establish a play-action game, establish a drop-back game, protect the quarterback, screen game. All of those things are important. It does take time to get to know guys around you. We saw improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 and hopefully we’re better five weeks from now than we are now. I think that’s what every team is trying to do on all three sides of the ball, coaching as well. We’re all just trying to improve and get better and just get better from week to week.”
(QB Gardner Minshew has been fairly accurate in his first two games. He’s thrown three touchdowns in both games as well. What are some things that you’re seeing from him off the film?) – “He’s been accurate. He spreads the ball around, so you can’t just lock in on just one or two guys. The backs are getting it, the tight ends are getting it, each receiver has had some production. He’s got some scrambling ability and can extend plays. He’s a good young quarterback. You can see his leadership and command of the offense. He’s a good player.”
(When QB Gardner Minshew was in the draft last year, what was his evaluation of him? Since he slipped to Round 6, are you surprised by the level of production he’s had?) – “Coming out, he was smart, tough, competitive, (had) good accuracy. (He was) a guy we liked. I’m not surprised. He’s got all of the characteristics you’re looking for in that positon. He’s a smart player and obviously that’s coming to fruition up there in Jacksonville.”
(I was going to ask you on your two rookie defensive linemen, was there a jump in performance from DT Raekwon Davis do you think from Week 1 to Week 2? And with DE Jason Strowbridge, is he in your thought process right now? Has he shown enough where you think he could help you if you need him?) – “With Strowbridge, I think this is a young, developing player. We can only dress 48 (players) so somebody has to be in active. I don’t think there’s anything that he’s doing that would lead anyone to believe that he’s not performing up to par. We just have some other guys at that position. Raekwon, I think he did play better in Week 2 than Week 1; but we need to see continuing improvement from him, really in all areas – pass rush, run defense, communication. I did think he played better. That’s what we’re looking for out of all the young guys and really everyone on the team. Let’s just improve. Let’s get better on a week-to-week basis and try to get better.”
(I’m sure there’s not just one thing on defense that you’re harping on this week, but when you look at the first two weeks, has there been something that’s been recurring? Certainly the run defense in Week 1, the pass defense in Week 2 were the issue; but has there been one thing that’s really bothered you about how the team has performed?) – “I think there’s been some opportunities for us to make plays and we haven’t made them – a couple of dropped interceptions, lost edges, a couple of missed tackles. There’s never just one thing; but I think we’ve had some opportunities. We need to take advantage of them. We try to stress how important every play is because you never know which one is going to be the one that changes momentum or makes a shift in the game. We just need the focus and the detail and the precision on a play-to-play basis and we just, when our opportunities present themselves, we need to take advantage. That’s life. When you get an opportunity, you’ve got to take advantage. If you don’t, all it is is a lost opportunity. So that’s the message to the team and that’s always been my message. We just need to learn from our mistakes, make the corrections, go back out there and try to play a tough, smart, physical game on Thursday night. That’s our goal.”
(What have you seen from guys like Jaguars DE/LB Josh Allen and DE/LB K’Lavon Chaisson on their defense?) – “Young, talented, physical, developing, fast. I think you’ll see a difference from (K’Lavon) Chaisson from Week 1 to Week 2. But great effort. They play hard. They’ll be good players in this league if they just continue on their trajectory that they’re on. I know (Jaguars Head Coach) Doug (Marrone) is on them. He’s on them about being professionals and doing it the right way, and if they listen up, they’ll be just fine.”
(I know a lot of us are harping on the pass rush, but does the fact that you’ve had to play two mobile quarterbacks impact the thought process or the play calling at all? Or is this just guys not getting off blocks?) – “It’s a combination. I would say it’s us not making the plays, us not executing. Again, our opponents making plays and executing. We’ve got to play better and that’s really what it boils down to. We need more pressure on the quarterback. I think every team is looking for that. We need to find ways to get more pressure on the quarterback. That’s what we’ve been talking about the last few days. We’re always trying to get better and that’s in a lot of different phases – offensively, defensively, in the kicking game – so whether it’s the run game, whether it’s the pass game, whether it’s the pass rush, whether it’s setting the edge, whether it’s the screen game; we’re looking to improve and make the necessary adjustments so we can be better in those areas.”
