Brian Flores – November 15, 2021
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Monday, November 15, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Have you seen QB Tua Tagovailoa to get a sense on his finger, if there has been any improvement? And then the three IR guys, I was going to ask you WR Will Fuller, C/G Michael Deiter and RB Malcolm Brown, are any of those ready to resume practicing?) – “My expectation with Tua is that he’ll start this weekend. Obviously he’s going to have some discomfort with the finger. He banged it the other day. We were trying to avoid that, but it happened. He’s had some time to rest it and practice today, and that’s my expectation for this weekend. Malcolm Brown won’t be this week. Deiter is getting closer, unlikely for this week though. And the same for Will Fuller – getting closer, unlikely though for this week.”
(One last guy to ask you about. Did DB Jason McCourty opt to have season-ending surgery?) – “Jason, he’s on IR. But it will be season-ending, yes.”
(How is QB Jacoby Brissett’s knee doing?) – “He’ll likely be limited today but doing better. It was kind of a scary situation, but thankfully it’s not anything serious. Let’s call him day-to-day. I expect him to practice on a limited basis today.”
(One of the concerns for the past couple of weeks with QB Tua Tagovailoa was whether he could make all of the throws. Where is he as far – I know you haven’t seen him for a couple of days, but as far as what you know, is he limited at all, do you think?) – “Yeah, he’s definitely limited. There is definitely some discomfort. He was limited in the game also. Again, he hit the finger again. We just have to monitor that as the week goes and try to get some of the swelling out of there. We’ll do the best we can from that standpoint. But yeah, limited.”
(It’s kind of silly to ask if big plays are good because that obviously goes without saying. But the fact that you guys hit on a couple of them Thursday night, I know one was kind of broken, but you guys made a lot out of it. Does an offense need that to reaffirm the belief that really big play is possible?) – “Any time you can create explosive plays, that helps you offensively. It changes field position, changes momentum in the game. So yeah, they always help. Any time you can get them – whether it’s run game, pass game, screen game, defensively, the kicking game – those chunk plays, they help you. Not necessarily just for that drive, but from a momentum standpoint, they’re big plays. We were able to create a few the other night and we’re always trying to find ways to create explosive plays. They definitely help. We want to limit them defensively and try to get as many as we can offensively.”
(When you don’t have explosive plays – and granted there was a lot going on the first eight games and all that too. There was a lot of reasons to be frustrated. But when the offense can’t hit the long ball, is that a source of frustration or do you guys not look at it in those terms?) – “Then it’s about execution. Not every drive has a big play in it. Sometimes it’s picking up three or four third downs. If you’re playing against a good defense, it’s five here, six here, two here, first down, convert a third down, convert a fourth down. That’s hard to do though. It’s hard to put a 12- 15 play drive together for any team. When you get an explosive and you cut the 15-play drive down to seven or eight plays, that helps the situation. But when you’re not getting them, you just need better execution on a consistent basis. That’s for every team.”
(Is left tackle undecided at this time, or are you gong to roll with T Liam Eichenberg for this week?) – “Liam will be out there.”
(How did the mini-bye treat you and the players this weekend?) – “I think when you get some time off and get a little bit or rest, recharge the batteries, I think the guys were ready to go this morning for meetings. Hopefully you see a rested, high-energy practice. That’s what we’re looking for.”
(With the number of times you blitzed defensive backs on Thursday, is that sort of the defense you envisioned when you accumulated so many safeties that are versatile like S Jevon Holland an S Brandon Jones?) – “I think it gives you the opportunity to do that. I think every gameplan is a little bit different. It won’t always be blitz heavy like it was last week. Sometimes it’s a coverage game, sometimes it’s a blitz game, sometimes it’s a mix of both. I think it’s specific to what kind of team we’re playing. To have the flexibility to play different styles is something that we want to be able to do that. I think what the young safeties are doing – we’re putting a lot on their plate and they are getting better every day.”
(Are there any other o-line shuffling or combinations?) – “We’ll see how it goes through the week. We’ve had a couple of conversations about a couple of different positions, but Liam (Eichenberg) will be in there at left tackle.”
(We’ve all asked Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre about the possibility of flipping G/T Jesse Davis and G/T Robert Hunt. He said it’s something you talk about every week. At this point, what’s the thinking about having left them at the positions they’ve played all year? Do you feel Jesse at right tackle gives you the best opportunity to win than Jesse at right guard, and vice versa with Hunt?) – “We’re always going to try to put the best five guys out there and the best combination of those guys as well. I think when a guy is playing at one spot and understands what he’s doing there, to move him out – does it hurt him, help him, or does it hurt or help the other guys? Is that the best combination? I think we’ve gone through it pretty extensively. I feel like the group we’ve had out there has been the best group. With that said, there is always an evaluation postgame and there is always opportunity or possibility that things may change.”
(WR Jaylen Waddle has been an effective, high-volume pass catcher and I’m wondering your thoughts about spreading the ball around, which coaches always talk about wanting to do versus having a guy who is among the league-leaders in catches and seemingly would be highly trusted by his quarterback. Ehat are your thoughts on those two concepts?) – “I think you can do both. I think you want to spread the ball around. I think everyone’s got, let’s call it ‘go-to guys,’ and I think between the quarterback and the play design, the go-to guys are going to get targets. They’re also going to get a lot of defense too. If that player is doubled, you can force it to him but that’s probably not where you want to go with the ball and once that happens, that’s when you need the rest of the guys to contribute because if one guy is doubled, then somebody is singled. If that person wins, that may be our best opportunity to get some positive plays. I think you can do both but from a play design – look quarterbacks they want to get the ball to those particular players who they think can make big plays for them or are trusted. From that respect, or from that perspective I would say, I think a player like that – you mentioned Waddle – is going to get a good amount of targets. I’m always of the belief that you spread it around and make the defense, speaking offensively, make the defense deal with the entire group and not just focus on one guy. I think that’s what you’re trying to do offensively. Trying to force a guy into double, triple coverage, it’s hard.”
(I’m guessing you probably spent much of your afternoon watching the Jets play the Bills. What are your impressions of them?) – “I watched that. I’ve been watching a lot of the Jets obviously. Young team. I think they play with great effort. They’ve beaten a couple good teams. I think we are going to have to do a good job in our preparation, getting ready for this group in all three phases. I think we are going to have to prepare well and play well to have success.”
(Can you talk a little bit about WR Albert Wilson and if Thursday’s game is going to help him moving forward in the season? He’s not been making plays consistently.) – “I thought Albert played well. He made some big plays for us in the run game and in the pass game. We talk about other guys contributing, I think that was something that definitely helped us in the game and hopefully that will continue.”
(How important is it for the team to not get ahead? You get two wins, you try to gain some ground back but just to concentrate on the one week and not to start thinking about what could happen in terms of getting back to the race?) – “I think it’s always let’s focus on today, let’s focus on our opponent this week, focus on getting better today, which we’ve talked about that in our meetings. Let’s make some corrections or things we could have done better from the other day, try to get that corrected, fixed today, and have a good week of preparation on the Jets. Really, that’s it. That’s the approach that I’m taking and that’s the message that the players are getting. Again look, I think the Jets have a good, young team. I think they play hard. I think they’ve beat some very good teams and we’re going to have to play well.”
(I wanted to ask you one question about S Jevon Holland. We’ve spoken a lot about how Jevon has versatility, he has ball skills, the ability to blitz, he’s a good athlete. I’m wondering about his makeup as a young professional athlete. What are you noticing in that area in regards to maturity and preparation for a young guy?) – “I think he’s mature beyond his years. I think he’s smart. I think he’s obviously talented. These are all the things that we liked about him coming out. I think he’s very much so a professional. I think from an intangibles standpoint, he’s got a lot of things we’re looking for. You combine that with his athletic ability, his ability to do multiple things. If he keeps up with the way he prepares, the way he practices, the way he is intentional about getting better, he’s going to be ok in this league.”
(We throw the word rivalry around a lot. Do rivalries really exist in the NFL? People talk about Cowboys-Eagles, Packers-Bears whatever. Dolphins-Jets has always been called the Dolphins-Jets rivalry. Whoever you’re playing that week is your biggest rival at that time I’m sure because you want to beat them all, but do rivalries really exist?) – “I think for me, like you said every week that’s our biggest rival. For fans, yeah that exists. For us and our team, I think there’s not more energy put into this game than every other game. There’s not more build up, excitement or preparation for what some may consider a rivalry game. Every game is important in this league so it’s really the same approach for me. That’s kind of my thoughts on that.”
