Brian Flores – October 1, 2020
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Thursday, October 1, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(With DT Christian Wilkins, I know he played well the second half of last year. Have you seen another jump this year? Is his play on par with what it was last November and December or is it better now in your opinion? And FB Chandler Cox, just wanted to ask you about why he’s been incorporated more and the value of having a fullback in Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey’s offense?) – “I’ll start with Christian (Wilkins). I think he’s someone who works really hard, really on a daily basis in all areas – in the weight room, conditioning, obviously football – so he’s definitely improved really from the day he got here through his rookie year and he’s continuing to improve. I’m really happy with that improvement. I think he just needs to continue to do the things that he’s been doing. He’s getting more comfortable, obviously this being his second year in the league, having played a full season under his belt, so he’s much more comfortable with the system and how we want to do things, and I think he understands what type of players he’s going to see on a weekly basis. So hopefully he continues to get better and improve. I know he works in a way that gives him an opportunity to improve and we’re happy with him. As far as Chandler (Cox), I think he’s made a lot of improvement as well from that first to second year. He’s tough. He’s smart. He’s competitive. He fights. He competes. Especially as a fullback, as a lead blocker taking on ends, taking on big linebackers in this league; you need toughness at that position and he tries to bring that on a weekly basis, so we’re happy with him, too.”
(I wanted to ask you about QB Tua Tagovailoa. A. His progress – we haven’t obviously been able to see him practice so I was wondering your thoughts, what specifically is he doing better? What does he need to work on? And has there been any thought given to maybe seeing him in a series or two to get him work and maybe as a change of pace quarterback?) – “He’s doing well. I think we kind of do a Tua breakdown every week in some form or fashion, and it’s the same, really the same answer. He’s doing well. He’s improving in meetings and walkthroughs, when he gets his reps in practice. He’s making good throws, good decisions. He’s learning. He’s getting better. I think every time he’s on the field for a game, there’s something that comes up where he’s got a question or wants to have a conversation about a situation, so it’s good. We’ve got projects for him that he’s working on as well as practice, and he’s just going to continue to get better. When his opportunity presents itself, I think he’s doing all the things that he can do so that if and when that opportunity presents itself, he’ll be ready. As far as a series, it’s not really something we’ve talked about; but that could change. But look, as the No. 2, he’s one play away from being in the game, so he has to be ready to go. It could be a series. It could be for whatever reason he has to be ready to go, which he’s prepared that way.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Jerome Baker. Last year he logged over a thousand snaps for you and is on track to do that this year as well. Just wanted to get your take on what it is about his game and his leadership and kind of the qualities he presents that allows you to keep him on the field for almost every snap on defense.) – “Jerome (Baker) is very athletic, tough, physical. He’s a smart player, so he can help us in a lot of different ways. From a pass rush standpoint, from a coverage standpoint, he’s got, let’s call it, every-down ability. So we feel good when he’s out on the field. He communicates well. He tackles well and he gives us a guy who’s athletic and can make some plays. Those are guys that we want on the field, so if you can help us in a variety of ways and he can do that, like I just said from a, let’s call it blitz standpoint, a coverage standpoint, a run game standpoint. Obviously he’s got a lot of ability and he helps our team, so we’ll leave him out there.”
(I don’t think we’ve covered this so far. Forgive me if I missed it, but I was going to ask you about QB Tua Tagovailoa’s recovery from illness, how that’s coming along and if he might practice today?) – “He’s still under the weather. It doesn’t look like he’s going to be out there today, so the most important thing is his health and trying to get him better. Again, (it’s) not COVID-related. We test every day and we continue to test every day; but yeah, he’s under the weather and again, in this climate – I should just go ahead and say he’s not going to practice today unless he miraculously gets better here in the next hour – but in this climate, we don’t want to take any chances, so he won’t practice today and we’ll move forward and practice with guys without him.”
(How has the practice squad quarterback looked yesterday in practice, and if you needed to Sunday, could you move him up?) – “Reid (Sinnett) has practiced well. We’ve gone through all of the contingency plans here, and Reid is obviously a part of that. We’ve gone through it, we’re going through it, and we’ll have someone if Tua (Tagovailoa) is not ready. We’ll see how it goes. We have to obviously plan for the worse case scenario, but we’ll see how this goes over the next couple of days.”
(WR DK Metcalf, I want to ask how high was he on the draft board for you guys? I know he went two picks after the pick that went in the QB Josh Rosen trade. What did you guys think about him at the draft and how high was he on your board at that time?) – “I’d have to go back and check the notes as far as – I’m not going to give you the draft position on our board, but he’s a very good player. Big, strong, physical, talented, good player. There was definitely some love for him as there should’ve been. But again, the draft is the draft and there are a lot of things, a lot of other scenarios and things of that nature, and situations. It’s really case by case on who picks who and why. But he’s a good player. He’s certainly a good player. They got a good one and we’re going to have to try to do our best to defend him along with the rest of their team – offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. It will be a good challenge and we’re looking forward to it, playing at home and playing in front of our fans. We’re looking forward to it.”
(You have two very interesting players who actually have played quarterback in WR Lynn Bowden Jr. and RB/WR Malcolm Perry. I’m wondering if this is a situation where you probably kind of have them dust off their quarterback skills and maybe serve as a backup for you?) – “I understand the question. Both guys have played quarterback in college; but quarterback in college and quarterback in the National Football League are two different things. We’ll see. Malcolm has yet to be active. Lynn has played sparingly, so we’ll see. To throw that on those guys would be a lot, especially as rookies. I get it, they’ve played quarterback before. I understand the thinking of ‘hey, we can just put them out there.’ I think that’s easier said than done. Look, we have a plan in place. Right now it’s ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick). We’ll see how Tua looks here over the next couple of days. We’ve still got some time. Yes, we have to go about business as if – or plan for the worst, I should say; not even go about business, but plan for the worse, which is what we’re doing. But we still have a few days. Hopefully Tua gets better and again, nothing is more important than his health, and the health of the players on this team. We’re going to do what we feel is best for this team. If that means playing one of those young guys in that type of role, great. But, I think that will be tough in my opinion.”
