Brian Flores – December 19, 2019
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Thursday, December 19, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I wanted your big picture thoughts on something that has been sort of debated among some media people in the last week. We’re not going to talk about any particular player; but if there is an exceptional defensive player available to you via the draft, via free agency, price isn’t an issue, off-field behavior isn’t an issue – if he’s not the ideal scheme fit, would you say ‘No, that player is not for us?’ Or in your mind, if there is an excellent player available, do you accommodate your scheme for that player?) – “(laughter)”
(That player is one that remains unnamed.) – “Oh, you’re talking about a specific player?”
(No I don’t want to talk about specific players. Your thoughts generally on that issue.) – “I’m just talking generally. Generally if there’s a good player – I like good players.”
(If a guy is not an ideal scheme fit but he’s an excellent player – he’s the best player available to you – do you say ‘I’m going to fit my scheme around him,’ rather than bypassing the player.) – “I don’t – ideal scheme fit for who? For us?”
(Let’s say a front seven player for you.) – “If it’s a good player – the scheme is very – it’s a scheme versatile defense I believe. So yeah, if we’ve got a good player, we’ll make it work for said player. That goes at any position. I think we’ve got a good coaching staff. There are a lot of creative minds here. We try to put our players in position to make plays. If there was an exceptional – I think we have some good players. Yeah, if Lawrence Taylor was available and we had to fit the scheme for him, we would do it. So yeah, no problem.”
(You do use three different types of defensive ends or edge setters or pass rushers – I don’t know how you define them – in LB Vince Biegel, DE Avery Moss and DE Taco Charlton. What is your ideal vision for you in terms of who sets that edge or players that you use as pass rushers?) – “The first thing I’d ask you is who are we playing against? If we’re playing against a run-heavy team that likes to run to the tight end side, then we might put a bigger guy there. If we are playing a read-zone team where we need a little bit more athletic player to play the quarterback and the dive, then we put Biegel in there. So you’ve got to tell me who we are playing and I’ll tell you who is going to be setting the edge. I guess that’s what we mean when we say it is scheme versatile. It’s really dependent on what they’re doing. I think if you just sit in one (look) or if you have one particular type of player – let’s say you have a big end, then Lamar Jackson and (you’re) playing against (him) in zone read, that’s not really a good matchup. It just depends. I think every team deals with this and every team kind of goes through that progression when they’re dealing with opponents or going through their defensive scheme per week. We do the same. Players need to be versatile. But at the same time, there’s 11 guys on the field. So if it’s a big strong guy, we’ll try to put him in positions to where he can do what he does well. If it’s a more athletic player, then we’ll try to put that player in position to do what he does well.”
(On a similar subject, you’ve brought a lot of cornerbacks through here. What do you look for in a cornerback? Other than talent, is there anything specifically that you look for?) – “Communication, tackling, ball skills, the ability to play multiple positions potentially inside (and) outside. It’s a hard position to play in this league. We’ve had a few guys. We’ve obviously had injuries at the position and had some new guys in those positions, and I think they’ve come in and played fairly well. I think (Defensive Pass Game/Coordinator) Josh (Boyer) and (Defensive Coordinator) Pat (Graham) – Josh, with the corners does a good job of getting those guys ready to go. Pat does a good job of putting them in good positions. But yeah, ball skills, tackling, man-to-man coverage, off-coverage, press, all of those things.”
(Does height matter at all to you? Or it depends on how the guy plays?) – “My favorite DB is Antoine Winfield. He wasn’t all that tall but he was a great player. No. I would say no. If you’re a good player, you’re a good player.”
(Why was Antoine Winfield your favorite player?) – “He tackled, he blitzed. I just thought he was a really solid, tough, physical (corner). (He) could cover. He could cover kicks. He was a really good player.”
(CB Xavien Howard posted a photo on social media and it looks rather alarming, I guess, with a large knee brace. What can you tell us about his situation? Did he have his knee scoped? Is he okay?) – “He had surgery on his knee. I’m not going to go into details on exactly what type of surgery he had, but he had surgery on his knee as you can see.”
(Do you expect CB Xavien Howard to be ready for the offseason program?) – “It’s very early in the process. We’re still – he just recently had surgery so he’s going through the recovery process. It’s way too early. It’s a couple of days in. We’ve got to get him in here and get him rehabbed. We’ll see how it goes.”
(Is that something you anticipated or did something new happen while CB Xavien Howard has been on IR with the knee? He went on IR with the knee, but is that something new that’s happened since he’s been on IR that led to surgery? Or was that planned?) – “I don’t like to go into detail about specific injuries and what happened, so I’ll just stay away from that one. He had surgery. He’s recovering. Surgery went well and he’s recovering. He’s going to do everything possible to get himself back and ready to go as quickly as possible.”
(How do you evaluate the rookies and the young players in the last two regular season games – who you want to see?) – “I think we evaluate them the way we have the entire year. Improvement in all areas. I think at this point in the year, you just want to see the consistency from a preparation standpoint and just really focus on one day at a time getting better. Today’s a third-down day. Tomorrow is red area. Yesterday was early down. Continuing to go through that process and knowing who we’re playing against, which the Bengals have some good players and guys who pose some issues, so we have to know who those players are, know their strengths, know their weaknesses, have an understanding of what we’re trying to do schematically; and if we just string good days together, then we’ll give ourselves a chance to play well on Sunday.”
(I know stopping the run is an everybody issue, but how would you say the linebackers and the defensive tackles have performed this season in terms of that role and responsibility?) – “I think there’s been instances where it’s been good. We’ve had a lot of let’s call it second-and-8-plus situations because we’ve had some good spurts of stopping the run I would say early in games, in the middle of games. It just hasn’t been consistent. From a run-fit standpoint, from a setting-the-edge standpoint, from a tackling standpoint; it just hasn’t been consistent enough. We need to try to play more consistently in the run game. It’s something we talk about. It’s something we practice. We’ve got to make it happen in the games.”
(How do you get to that consistent part? Is it different players? Is it better edge setting? Is it better tackling?) – “I think it’s a combination of all those things. I think it is edge setting, it’s tackling. If we play well and stop them, they’re probably going to come back to something else. So we need to play with good technique, good fundamentals, read our keys and just understand that they’ve got – there’s 100 different runs that a team could run – and we don’t necessarily know exactly what they are, but good teams, they make adjustments. ‘Hey, we’re doing this.’ ‘All right, what would you do?’ ‘What do we do to beat that?’ There’s something to beat everything, so they make adjustments and we have to be able to make our own adjustments. That’s players, that’s coaches, it starts with me. We just need to do it more consistently, and I would say we’ve tried to make those adjustments in-game and we talk about it and we actually make the adjustment and we’re ready to go and then there’s a missed tackle or no edge or whatever it is. There’s a myriad of issues. We need to get it cleaned up. It starts with me and I’ll try to do a better job.”
(With LB Raekwon McMillan being down, does that mean LB Sam Eguavoen has to be the guy who elevated and plays more in run downs, or is there another linebacker like LB Andrew Van Ginkel, or LB Vince Biegel who can move back a little bit?) – “I think Sam definitely has to step up and he’ll play more obviously. But Van Ginkel, Biegel – Jerome (Baker) will have to take on more of a leadership from a communications standpoint. The next guy just has to step up, like it’s been the entire year at all positions. We’ve had a litany of injuries. The next guys just have to step up and we have to get them ready. (Joe) Mixon is a good back. They’ve done a good job in the run game. This is a tough test for us. We need all hands on deck; we have to be ready to go.”
(Do you have players that you think can be core players for you for multiple years in the future?) – “I think that’s something that’s ongoing. Yeah, I think we have a number of players here who have the traits, have the talent, have the preparation process, that they have the ability to be here long-term. That’s up to them. We have to continue to work, continue to go through the process, continue to be consistent and every day counts. We’ve got to have a good day today, a good day tomorrow, a good week next week, a good offseason, and it’s on and on and on. This is ongoing. Yeah, there are guys here who could be here for a long time. Quite honestly, there are guys here who maybe we don’t think will be here for a long time, and then the light bulb goes off and then they are here for a long time. It goes both ways; but at the end of the day, it’s up to each individual. That’s the case for everybody in the organization. Player, coach, scout, equipment, security, it’s all the same. We just have to continue to get better every day and that’s the consistency we need.”
