Brian Flores – August 14, 2019
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(S Minkah Fitzpatrick had an interception today. How has he worked for you so far in training camp?) – “He’s done a really good job. He’s a hard-working kid, does a good job with his communication, practices well every day. Obviously, it’s never perfect for anybody, but he’s a guy who we’ve used in multiple roles. He’s taken to that and really learned them all at a pretty good level. Obviously, there’s always room for improvement from a technique, from a fundamental standpoint – just an understanding of the game. He’s still a young player. It’s a new system, but he’s really a joy to work with from an abilities standpoint, as a kid – he’s a really good kid, too. I’m looking forward to working with him some more.”
(With S Reshad Jones and S T.J. McDonald not practicing because of injuries, does that show you S Minkah Fitzpatrick’s value even more?) – “I think it’s a great opportunity for him and really any young guy. When people go down, it’s a great opportunity. It really is, and Minkah’s taking advantage of that. Again, we’re moving him around. He’s playing some strong safety, he’s playing some linebacker, he’s playing some corner. He’s all over the place. That’s a good thing. That’s a really good thing.”
(Is there any thought to put S Minkah Fitzpatrick on the boundary considering what you guys have got going on from an injury standpoint?) – “No, I mean – it depends on if it’s a matchup-based game and his guy’s to the field, then we’ve got to put him to the field. If we’re playing a zone game and we’re playing him middle of the field, then we’ll play him in the middle of the field. If his guy’s into the boundary, we’ll do that. He can do a lot of things. Part of what we do is try to put him in positions – because he can do so many things – not to overload the kid. I think that’s a big part of our responsibility as a coaching staff is not to overload him. I don’t feel like he’s overloaded. He’s played multiple positions. He’s really done a good job at all of them. Every time he gets out there, it’s a new experience. Whether he’s getting stack receivers or Y-Y wing or empty – I mean there’s a myriad of things that could happen and every one is a good experience for him, and he’s done a good job.”
(RB Kalen Ballage had two long touchdown runs – I don’t know if you saw them or if you were somewhere else, but…) – “Oh, I saw them. (laughter)”
(I’m wondering how much of that was RB Kalen Ballage and how much of that was offensive line and downfield blocking.) – “They all work together. It’s 11 guys. If you put 11 guys in and they execute their responsibility, you’ll get a good play. Kalen did a good job of making a guy miss, and that’s how you get long runs, receivers blocking corners and secondary players, and that’s how you get long runs. It takes everybody.”
(We saw RB Kenyan Drake in a boot. How concerned are you guys that he’s going to be ready for the opener?) – “We take things day-to-day here. The opener’s down the road. He’s got a little injury, and I think we – he’s just going to take it day-to-day. He’s got a great attitude about it. I think he’ll be okay.”
(At the receiver position, you have WR Preston Williams and WR Isaiah Ford really stepping up. WR Jakeem Grant and WR Albert Wilson are making their ways back. How are you going to make this decision to cut down those guys at the position group on the roster?) – “Well, we’ve got a long way until we’ve got to make those decisions. We’re going to keep the best players. I know five receivers, six receivers, eight receivers – I’m not sure what it’ll be. We’re going to keep the best 53 players and the best 10 practice squad players. That’s how we’re going to do this.”
(What’s it going to be if you have to turn down a good player, a player that’s been playing really well?) – “Well, hopefully we don’t have to turn down that player. Hopefully we don’t have to do that, but those are very good problems to have – turning down good players. I’d like to have those types of problems.”
(We saw WR Albert Wilson make a catch on 7-on-7. How’s he coming along in his recovery?) – “I thought he did a really good job on that. Good route – a quarter curl route – he turned it up field. I’ve got to watch the film. I thought the ball was a little bit loose, but we’ll watch it. I think he tucked it pretty well. He’s doing a good job, and again, you’re seeing a little bit more from him every day. Again, it’s a new offense for him, so getting those reps and having the ability to play fast and play with his teammates and get with the quarterbacks and understand – I thought it was a good throw by ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) as well. I don’t even think Albert was out of his break. It was good anticipation there, ‘Fitz’ gave him a good ball, and he turned up and went.”
(What did you think about QB Josh Rosen today?) – “I thought Josh was – I thought he played well. There were some missed throws there. I think he held it a little, and that’s something we’ve talked about constantly – good footwork, good fundamentals, good technique, keep your eyes downfield, get the ball out of your hands, get it to the playmakers, which I thought he did. I thought the backs had a good day today. As a total unit, I thought they gave great effort. I thought today was better than yesterday, and that’s what we need to do. We need to just try to build and string good days together. I thought today was a really good day. I just told them that.”
(Can you talk about DT Christian Wilkins and how he’s progressing through this camp?) – “He’s doing a good job. This is a kid who’s high energy, who’s got a lot of ability. He plays extremely hard. He’s got to play with better pad level, for sure. I hope he reads this. Somebody make sure that he reads that. He has got to play with better pad level, but is a talented young man. Again, for him, every play, every series is a good experience for him. The early down stuff is good. The pass rush, his technique has got to little bit better. Again, his pad level will help him. Christian, if you’re listening, that’ll help you. (laughter) But he does a good job. We’re excited to continue to work with him and he’ll develop and grow and hopefully turn into a good player.”
(What’s your thought process with QB Josh Rosen working with the first team exclusively today?) – “We wanted to get him some looks with obviously our first team but (Bucs Defensive Coordinator) Todd (Bowles) does a really good job in Tampa and I wanted to see him against that group and some of the exotic looks that his first team was giving us. That’s really it. ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) saw it yesterday. We wanted Josh to see it see it today and that’s really what that was. I thought he did a – I have to go back and look at it. Were the Mike points right? Did he really go with the correct spot with the ball based on what was there? I’m going back and forth – I’m on offense, I’m on defense. Trying to see everything was a little bit tough, but from what I saw, I thought he had a good day. He’s heading in the right direction.”
(Who’s your leader in your quarterback competition as of now?) – “Look, it’s a competition and it’s a competition at every positon. I think my job is to help these guys become the best players they can possibly be. And the competition is part of that. Who’s leading? Who’s not leading? That’s irrelevant to me. I want these guys to get better and improve every day. That’ where I’m at with it.”
(Yesterday you talked about body language. How’s QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s body language?) – “I think it’s always good. This is a guy who’s upbeat. He works hard. Football is very important to him. I think it’s good. He’s a leader on this team. He’s a guy who guys look to. He does a lot of really good things. I love having him.”
(We all saw QB Ryan Fitzpatrick throw the touchdown pass over here and then celebrate with his guys. But it’s more than that, right? It’s adversity time to with the body language, no?) – “I don’t know if I’m confused by the question or…”
(It was a great moment and everybody saw him.) – “Yeah, it was a great moment. He was fired up. The whole team was fired up. The entire sideline was fired up.”
(But it’s also important when things aren’t going well that good body language.) – “It is. At the same time, when things aren’t going well, it’s hard to throw your hands up and smile and cheer. It’s hard to do those things. But that’s part of leadership. That’s part of playing quarterback. It’s part of being in this league in general. I think dealing with adversity is – I think he’s done a good job of dealing with it. And I think he’s done that over the course of his career. I don’t want to make too much of Josh (Rosen) going with the first group and ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) today. This is definitely a competition. The best guy, the guy who we feel is going to help us win games is going to be out there.”
(Your offensive line has kind of been up and down. How did they do today?) – “Today I thought was a good day. The communication was good. I thought they blocked well in the run game from what I saw. The protection was better than it was yesterday. We made some improvement there. My hope is that what you see early in training camp is different than what you see later in training camp and that’s different than what you see in four weeks and it’s different over the last four weeks. I’m looking for improvement the entire way.”
(Any thoughts on when T Laremy Tunsil will be full go?) – “Laremy, he started today. Laremy is fine. I think he’ll be okay. We just have to be – He’s obviously one of our best players. We have to use caution when it’s time to. I think that’s doing things the smart way. We’re not going to baby anybody. He knows that, but it was the right move today.”
