Brian Flores – August 8, 2019 (Postgame)
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Postgame – Atlanta
Head Coach Brian Flores
(What did you think of the quarterbacks?) – “It’s hard to tell. I’m going to have to go back and watch the tape. Obviously, the turnover, Josh’s (Rosen) turnover we didn’t like that, but I thought he made some good throws. I thought ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) was off target on a few throws as well. I thought the protection for both guys could have been a lot better, which would have given us a little bit better evaluation on the – as I was watching it. But I’ll probably have a little bit more – I’ll have a better feel for how each one of those guys played after I watch the tape.”
(Do you feel like there’s a good point where you want to see QB Josh Rosen play with starters behind the starting offensive line to get a feel for what he can do?) – “I think the rotation we had today was a good one. He played the second and third quarter. I thought the protection with both lines could have been better. I thought he had a few good throws to Preston (Williams). I thought Preston showed up today. Again, it’s hard to say how a guy played without really going through it. Just at first glance there’s a lot going on, offense, defense, special teams. But I thought Josh managed the game well, he got the guys in and out of the huddle, obviously didn’t play turnover-free. But specifically in the second half I thought he put together a couple good drives.”
(How do you feel about QB Josh Rosen making throws when in the grasp? Obviously he completed that one to WR Preston Williams.) – “Yeah. A couple times there I thought, maybe, those are a little dicey. And at some point as a quarterback you’ve got to take the sack. That’s the best play. But the guy’s got a little bit of a gunslinger mentality and wants to let it rip and obviously got the nice one out to Preston, but I think we want to play smarter than that I would say in that situation, not just let the ball go like he did.”
(You mentioned WR Preston Williams a couple times. What have you seen in him in practices and how did it translate to the game?) – “I think he’s worked extremely hard really since he got here, post-draft. He’s big, he’s fast, he’s got good hands, he’s tough, and he’s really worked every day to get better. We tell him to block in the run game, he blocks in the run game, play more downhill on your end cuts, he does that. He works hard after practice, he works hard in meetings, and it showed up tonight.
(We heard comments earlier that WR Preston Williams can get to be a No. 1 receiver. Obviously it’s early for that, do you see potential in him that he can be that type of player?) – “Very early. I think this is a talented young receiver. There’s a lot of talented people in this league. To get to a number one status is, he’s got a long way to go, but does he have that potential? I would say he does and it’s up to him to do the things he has to do to reach that potential. We’ll help him though. I think he’s done a really good job over the course of the spring and summer.”
(You mentioned the offensive line. Obviously, T Laremy Tunsil didn’t play. Are there issues more than that?) – “No. He’s a very good player and we just wanted to see some other guys.”
(The offensive line as a whole, were the issues more than just having T Laremy Tunsil not be there?) – “No. At first glance you got to take a look at it, but we had two rookies in there. And their first game action in this league as you could imagine the game moves fast. I think there’s some getting used to the game speed was something that showed up just from the naked eye that I saw. I think it got better as the game went on for those guys. And then the next group came in and they had some of those same issues. I think it’s a little bit of first-game jitters, a little bit of you can’t simulate game speed, you just cannot – the kicking game, offensively, defensively. We do as much as we can from a practice standpoint, but you can’t simulate it. We talked about that specifically the last couple days, but you really got to feel it as a player and then adjust. I think we made some adjustments. I thought the protection was better in the second half and hopefully it will be better moving forward.”
(I know it’s just preseason, but your thoughts stepping on the field for the first time as a head coach?) – “I had a lot of fun tonight. I was excited, the players were excited. It’s a different role for me, but it was fun. I think the main difference is I’m on the entire game – offense, defense, special teams and really just managing the game and feeling the ebbs and flows of the game and calling timeouts and ripping red flags. It was fun.”
(How comfortable were you on the sidelines? Did you know what you were going to do or where you were going to be and stuff or did you feel that out?) – “I think you feel it out. I had a little bit of a plan going in, who I was talking to on the head sets, who I was going to stand next to, where I was going to stand. I had good dialog with the officials which I thought that’s new, that’s brand new for me. All of it is a learning experience. Hopefully I’m better the next time out. Again, just like the players, I ask them to improve and get better; I ask the same of myself.”
(As a coach and wanting to win, how do you manage dealing with things like QB Josh Rosen, WR Preston Williams, your offensive line, needing to develop, needing time to mature on the field, when you’re just trying to win games?) – “I think that’s what this time is for, that’s what training camp is for. It’s to develop these guys, help develop them, help work on their techniques, fundamentals, consistency. That’s what training camp is for. That’s why I got into coaching, that’s what I love about coaching. We want to win, there’s no doubt about that. But we’re going to try to develop these players as best we can and try to win at the same time. And I think development of players is something that’s ongoing. We could bring in eight or 20 eight-year vets and still I would still be trying to develop those guys too because they don’t have all the answers. I don’t have all the answers. I think we’re constantly searching to get, trying to get, better and I’m on a quest to help young players get better.”
(What was sort of your overall assessment of the defensive play?) – “I thought tackling was an issue, a major issue. And it’s something that we’ll work on, it’s something that we talk about. Tackling, communication, defending the deep part of the field. It wasn’t good enough. When you don’t tackle well you’re going to give up yardage. It’s as simple as that. That’s something we’ll spend a lot of time on. I can think of four or five missed tackles off the top of my head that would have kept the score down a little bit more than it was. A couple on third down, a couple in let’s call it scoring territory, that would have helped us. Again, if you could tackle well and you communicate and you defend the deep part of the field, more times than not, you stop the run, more times than not you’ll be in decent shape. So we got to do a better job in all those areas.”
(What did you think of CB Nik Needham?) – “I think Nik has had a good camp. I think he’s had a solid camp, he’s worked hard, he’s gotten better, he’s been consistent really throughout the spring and in these training camp practices. I think tonight he struggled. But I still have a lot of confidence in Nik Needham. I think this is a young player who – There’s been a lot of tough games for a lot of young corners in this league. It’s definitely a learning process. There’s some talented receivers. The speed of the game is something that I’m telling you, it’s new to these young guys and it’s something they got to adapt to quickly. We’ll try to help them do that. I think he had a couple good plays, but he definitely missed a couple tackles and had a couple tough coverage situations and some penalties. Overall, look, we got to watch the tape and see really what it was. He had some struggles, that’s for sure.”
(DT Christian Wilkins, did you feel him out there or is he a guy that you have to see the tape) – “I saw he made a couple plays. He brought great energy. I got to watch – Those interior guys it’s hard to tell, it really is. It’s hard to tell if they’re – He could have been on two blockers the entire game. It’s hard to tell. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”
(Did you have a conversation with WR Kenny Stills or the team about his comments about the owner and Trump yesterday?) – “I talked to Kenny. The one thing I said to Kenny was – I understand kind of where Kenny is coming from. He wants to be a voice. I talked to him about that a couple weeks ago. I understand him wanting to be a voice for people who don’t have a voice. I respect that. My conversation with Kenny, I asked him why he didn’t talk to the owner, why he didn’t talk to Steve (Ross) first before putting something out. And I think that’s something that we have to do more of. There’s got to be more communication, more conversation, more communication if we want to really make change. And I wish he would have done that. I told him that. But yeah, I talked to Kenny.”
(This, I know we had asked earlier this week about reflecting on this opportunity. Have you had an opportunity to reflect these seven months you’ve been as coach or is it, win a Super Bowl, been hired, you get QB Josh Rosen as quarterback to kind of tie your future here, the coaching situations on your staff, Mr. Stephen Ross and WR Kenny Stills yesterday. How do you deal with all these things?) – “That’s the job. That’s the job. Look, when you’re in a leadership position there’s a lot on your plate. It’s something that I think I welcome it all, to be honest. I don’t run away from any adversity or really any situation. And I don’t want our players to run away from anything. I think I need to be an example to them. So, yeah I reflected on this entire process and I’m having a lot of fun. I am. I’m fortunate. I’m humbled to be in this position to lead, to be an example of hard work and try to be consistent and try to do things the right way and at the same time be demanding and tough and try to help these guys become the best version of themselves. I take a lot of pride in that.
(You signed DT Robert Nkemdiche. Can you tell us your thinking on adding him to the roster?) –“He’s a talented young defensive tackle. I think any time you can add somebody with this type of talent you got to at least explore it. We did that, we did a lot of research homework on Rob. We felt comfortable making the move, (General Manager) Chris (Grier), (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore), myself, we had a lot of conversations about it and we brought him in and we signed him. We’re looking forward to working with him and, again, helping him reach his potential. But that’s going to be up to Rob. I’ve told him that. He and I have had some … I’ve had very direct conversations with him. He knows where I stand as far as him coming in, working hard, doing things our way, getting himself back into shape, rehabbing, and then hopefully we get to see, or he gets to realize, his potential. I enjoy taking on that type of challenge and helping guys reach their potential.”
