Brian Flores – August 31, 2020
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Monday, August 31, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I was wondering if you had any update for us on QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, how he’s doing and if there’s any idea of a timeframe for his return.) – “’Fitz’ was back in the building this morning and we expect him at practice today.”
(You had a new role and a lot of new relationships last year. How would you say your relationship with your players evolve in Year 2?) – “I think it’s like any relationship you have – friendships, relationships – over time, relationships evolve. I think the players who were here a year ago, they’re more comfortable with me (and) I’m more comfortable with them. With the new players that are here, you put the time in to get to know them, get to know them on the field (and) off the field, what some of their quirks are, and try to build that trust and build that camaraderie. It’s been – obviously a year later, some of those relationships are stronger than they were a year ago, which I think that’s the way it should be. I’m sure that’s the way it is with most relationships.”
(I wanted to ask you for a couple of injury updates. How is WR DeVante Parker’s status and then separately, what does the team need to see from CB Xavien Howard for him to be able to participate at the start of the season?) – “We’ll start with Xavien. Obviously ‘X’ is coming off a knee (injury), just coming off the PUP (and) COVID (lists). (He’s) conditioning. Just those fundamentals – those techniques, the footwork, the hand placement – that everyone takes for granted that people think just happens, he needs to work on those and he has been. He needs to work on those techniques, work against the receivers, work with his teammates on communication. I think a lot of people just kind of take those things for granted. I know he doesn’t. I know he’s working diligently to get in and get those reps. He’s talked about and he’s anxious to get in there because he knows who needs him. I think he’ll work towards getting to where he needs to be. Look, if we feel like he’s ready to go Week 1, then we’ll let him go. If we feel like he’s not, then we’ll make the decision when we get to that point. As far as DeVante, he’s working every day to get back out there as soon as he can again. He’s been through some of this training camp and some of the conditioning and some of the fundamentals and techniques. When you’re out a couple of days, you just don’t want to lose those; which if you don’t practice them, you start to lose them a little bit. But he’s built up enough – or I feel like he’s built up a good amount – so that hopefully he can kind of get right back to it. He’ll lose a little bit, but then he can get right back to where he was and continue to improve and elevate – hopefully elevate.”
(I wanted to ask you what you saw when you took a look at the film Saturday. What was good and what was bad?) – “I’ll start with the kicking game. I thought our specialists played well. I think (Matt) Haack had a couple of really good punts. Jason (Sanders) kicked the ball well. We got some good snaps out of Blake (Ferguson). Just from the phases, I thought we were working our techniques and fundamentals and communication on punt, punt return, kickoff and kickoff return. Again, there’s still a lot of work to do there but I thought it was a step in the right direction. It’s always good to get onto the stadium field and work with those phases. Offensively, from an o-line standpoint, I thought we made a few moves there. We played Robert Hunt with some different guys; we played Solomon (Kindley) with some different guys. It was good to get Hunt up there with some of those more veteran players, so that was good. I thought he played well. I thought the line as a whole played well – both units that were out there; but we can always get better communication, a little bit better fundamentals and technique. I thought our quarterbacks played well. I thought they made some good decisions; I thought they made some not-so-good decisions. Defensively – I’m not going to go through the whole thing but I’ll just go quickly – defensively, again just communication. There were a couple of instances where we had the wrong amount of people on the field, so we’ve got to get that cleaned up. But I thought they played hard. I thought the conditioning was okay. It still needs some improvement; but we’ve still got a long way to go. Today is – I don’t have it in front of me and all of the days are kind of running together but Practice 13 or something like that? We’re working and trying to get better.”
(You said the other day that you don’t consider yourself a good recruiter, which surprised me because you’ve brought in a lot of people that I know you feel very highly about here. But what led you to say that?) – “Well, I’ve never been in college football. That was the first thought that came to mind. I don’t – it’s probably just me being self-deprecating, to be honest with you. If I was in college, I feel like I probably wouldn’t be a great recruiter. I like to be hard on guys and that’s not a big part of recruiting from what I hear. (laughter) But I don’t know much. That’s kind of where that came from.”
(I couldn’t help but notice seeing some of the pictures that every time we see you looking at DT Raekwon Davis, you have a big smile on your face, dating back to draft day. I wanted to – I don’t know if that’s something that’s just happenstance or if just him as a player makes you happy?) – “Yeah, I don’t know if Raekwon would say that. (laughter) You might want to ask him if I’m always smiling at him. If someone catches a picture at the right time and Raekwon happens to be in the area. It’s a good picture. I’ve gotten it sent to me a few times. I could see where someone could get a few laughs at it. I’m not sure Raekwon feels like I look at him with that much admiration on a daily basis. You should ask him though. (laughter) Or any of the rookies, to be honest with you.”
(This is kind of left field but I was watching Central Arkansas and Austin Peay. It was like the first college game. And they mentioned that Austin Peay was without their top three snappers, presumably due to COVID. So now they’re on their fourth snapper. It got me to thinking about snapping in the NFL. I know that LB Mike Hull used to be able to snap even though he was a linebacker. This might be a better suited question for Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman but maybe you know, do you have a guy or two on the roster who is capable of snapping? And I’m wondering would you guys keep a practice squad snapper? What’s the snapping situation as it relates to the COVID emergency possibilities?) – “Yeah, this is something we’ve talked about at length. We’ve got three other guys who can snap on the team. The most interesting one of the three was Mack Hollins. I didn’t realize that. The more you can do in this league. Obviously this year, we’re in a pandemic and we’ve got to be ready to go at all positions, especially at the long snapper position. What you don’t want is to have a situation to where you don’t have anybody to long or short snap. You kind of take it for granted until it’s an issue; but we’ve had that question for sure, as well as at all positions but definitely long snapper, punter, kicker. Yeah, it’s something we’ve talked about.”
(Where do you feel like you are depth-wise at tailback and what’s your comfort level with the top two guys? Or I don’t know if you feel like they’re the top two guys in RB Jordan Howard and RB Matt Breida?) – “I feel good about really all five guys. Salvon (Ahmed), we just got him. I’m looking forward to seeing him and what he can do today, with this really being his first time out there. I think (Patrick) Laird and (Myles) Gaskin and Breida and Jordan, all four guys are capable. All are competitive guys. All have some role in the kicking game and they’re different styles of back, each one of them. I think I’m comfortable with any of the five guys – or four guys, I haven’t seen Salvon up close yet. Yeah, I’m comfortable with all of the guys. That’s a hardworking group and a competitive group. Those are the things that I’m looking for. They run hard, they’re fast, they’ll block, catch the ball out of the backfield. I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do in 13 days.”
(I wanted to ask you has there been an increase in soft-tissue injuries for you guys coming into camp, given the big absence of time?) – “Don’t jinx us. (laughter) Knock on wood. I think we’ve been okay. Look, soft tissue injuries happen every training camp. It’s just the beginning of training camp. We’re constantly emphasizing hydration, stretching, getting in the training room, cold tubs, hot tubs, nutrition. It all plays a role in it. It’s something I talk about really every day. They’re probably sick of hearing me say it but I say it every day. Hydration testing. I know it’s been a little bit of an issue around the league. I know that coming off of 2011 in the lockout year, it was an issue. We tried to do everything we can from an education standpoint to help them and help educate them do all of the things we can to prevent them. Obviously it’s football and things happen. All we can do is educate them and let the chips fall where they may. We’re going to go out there and practice and try to get better and improve, and hopefully from a soft-tissue standpoint, we’ll make it out clean every day. Thanks for talking about it. (laughter)”
