Brian Flores – August 31, 2021
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Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(How much does the move with LB Benardrick McKinney equate to a vote of confidence for LB Elandon Roberts?) – “With Benardrick (McKinney), that was obviously a tough decision on our part. Very good player. I thought he did a lot of nice things in training camp. We like the guys in the linebacker room. You mentioned Elandon (Roberts). Elandon is one of them, but we like the guys in that room. Again, it was a tough decision. It really was and one that kind of we went back and forth on; but at the end of the day like everything else, we want to always do what we feel is best for the team. Tough decisions are part of that and this was one of them for sure, but nothing but good things to say about Benardrick and I have a lot of appreciation for his hard work this past month and really in the spring as well.”
(Is that an example of maybe him and LB Elandon Roberts playing similar roles in the defense and maybe just needing one of them?) – “I think there’s a lot that goes into it. I would say that’s one variable, but there’s so many variables when we’re talking about these types of decisions – position, salary cap, kicking game. There’s a lot of variables there; but at the end of the day, we’re always going to do what we feel is best for the team.”
(Where are you guys I guess with cuts at this point? Have you made all your decisions? Are you going to go through practice?) – “Yeah, we’ll go through practice and then make the rest of the releases then – after practice.”
(You probably heard that the Patriots are going with Mac Jones over Cam Newton. Obviously that’s the guy you face in the opener. Your reaction?) – “I met Mac Jones at the Senior Bowl so I have a great deal of respect for him. Look, if he’s earned the respect of Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels, then he has my respect. He was a very good college player. He did a lot of great things there. I think one other thing I would say is this is not the Dolphins against Mac Jones. It’s the Dolphins against the Patriots and they’ve got a good team. They’ve got good coaches. They’ve got a lot of good players. But specific to Mac Jones, I think he’s a good young talent and we’ll have our hands full with him and the entire team.”
(Have you guys begun prepping for New England, Mac Jones yet at this point?) – “We’ve started the early stages of preparing for Game 1. Still, I would say, in the very early stages especially since we’re not – we’ll really probably start full on tomorrow, Thursday. But yeah, the early stages, some early conversations, personnel. Very early stages of the preparation.”
(Getting rid of Benardrick McKinney sort of hints that LB Elandon Roberts is all the way back and ready to play. Is that the case? Because you guys didn’t play him in any of the preseason games.) – “Elandon (Roberts) is doing everything he can to get back as quickly as he can. Obviously he came off of PUP – I forget the exact date, but it feels like a couple weeks ago – and practiced last week and is moving in the right direction. So we feel good about where he is. That factored into some decisions; but yeah, we feel good with where he is and he’s moving in the right direction.”
(How do you expect to navigate the receiver room knowing WR Will Fuller won’t be there for Week 1 and maybe having to keep someone temporarily or how do you navigate that?) – “I think – obviously we know Will (Fuller) won’t be there for Week 1. He’ll be serving the one-game suspension. I kind of view it as a roster spot; so it could be defense, it could be kicking game. The next-best player is who we’ll keep and then we’ll make the decision in the next week when we get to that. Basically we kind of go about it as if he’s not there and then we take the 53 guys.”
(S Jevon Holland and T Liam Eichenberg. Are either of those guys good at this time or not yet?) – “Yeah, they’ll both be out there today.”
(You have spent a lot of time and effort into the offensive line over the past few years. I wouldn’t say overhaul is too strong of a word because it seems like that’s exactly what you’ve done. Given all of that, where are you in that process now? How do you assess the progress they’ve made?) – “I think that group is a group of guys who are tough, who are smart, who are competitive, who are team first and try to improve every day. I think we’ve seen that throughout the course of training camp. We’ll continue to work with them, develop them. They are still young players. I think the way they train, the way they practice, they have an opportunity to develop. There is still room to grow with each one of them. We’ll try our best as coaches, as teachers, to educate them and train them, and hopefully they get better.”
(Do you think G Durval Queiroz Neto is ready to compete consistently at the NFL level? And if so, how much credit do you take as a coaching staff?) – “I wouldn’t take any credit. The credit goes to Durval. I think he’s done a great job of training, nutrition, all the things you need to do to give yourself an opportunity or give yourself a chance. He’s gotten some opportunities in these preseason games and done a good job. We’ll see. I think he’s eager to play. He’s as competitive as anyone on this team. He’s eager to learn and we’ll just keep working with him. If we feel like he can help us in regular season games, we’ll make that decision.”
(Aside from WR Will Fuller, are you confident that you’ll have a full slate of receivers – WR DeVante Parker, WR Albert Wilson, WR Preston Williams, who we saw in the last preseason game – for the opener?) – “We’ve obviously had a lot of injuries in that room. All of those guys are working their way back and doing everything they can to get back. We’ve had them out there at practice to a limited degree aside from Albert, who with today being a walkthrough, he’ll participate in that. They are all working. We’ve still got some time – 12 days until we play. Those guys will keep taking it one day at a time with their preparation and with their rehab. If they are healthy, they will play and if they’re not, we’ll play another guy.”
(Can you share with us why it was that G Solomon Kindley played against Cincinnati on Sunday whereas the other offensive line starters did not?) – “We just wanted to get him some more work. When it’s preseason, we need numbers. There was a lot that went into that. They all wanted to play. We just felt like Solomon could get a few more snaps. That was kind of the thought on that.”
(What does the C Matt Skura release say about where you are with C/G Michael Deiter and what you’ve seen from him?) – “Deiter has worked extremely hard this offseason and during training camp. I think he’s done some nice things. He’s shown some leadership and he’s done a good job. I think we’re pleased with where he is. Again, still room for improvement, still room to grow; but he’s done a lot of good things.”
(Do you expect to have OL Greg Mancz at practice today?) – “Yeah, Greg will be there.”
(Did T Larnel Coleman get hurt during the game? Was he feeling something during? And your assessment of him playing the whole game and where his future is.) – “We’re going to put Larnel on IR. He got dinged in the game. I’m not going to get into his situation, but we had to place him on IR. We think he’s a good young talent and it’s unfortunate that that happened. But we’ll work to get him back and get him healthy as quickly as possible so he can start training and getting himself ready for next season.”
(You guys have kept two quarterbacks on the roster every year you’ve been here. Obviously QB Reid Sinnett had a solid camp. What does that mean for him?) – “Reid, as you mentioned, played well Sunday. He’s done a nice job throughout training camp. He’s really made a lot of progress and seen a lot of growth from him from last year to this year. He played well the other day and he’s a guy who with the way he goes about his business on a daily basis, and the way he prepares, I see him trending in the right direction and continuing to improve.”
