Brian Flores – December 20, 2020 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Postgame – New England Patriots
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Fantastic day on the ground today. What was the key to rushing for over 200 yards for the first time since 2016?) – “I think (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) did great job, really, throughout the week, really the entire offensive staff – Chan, ‘Marsh’ (Offensive Line Coach Steve Marshall), (Running Backs Coach) Eric Studesville (Tight Ends Coach) George (Godsey), the entire staff, (Quarterbacks Coach) Robby Brown. I thought the players executed. I thought (Salvon) Ahmed ran hard, (Matt) Breida ran hard, Patrick Laird ran hard. Offensive lined blocked well. We had receivers blocking down field. I think we executed. They should be proud of themselves. It’s a well-coached team over there, and we played well today.”
(Just want to see what it means to you to secure a winning season in just your second year as head coach. What does this all mean?) – “It’s always good to win. That’s what we’re … That’s why these guys put all the blood, sweat, and tears in. That’s why they prepare so hard and practice so hard and lift the weights, and not so much for me, but for this team and these players and what they put into, the effort they put into trying to go out there and execute. I’m just happy for these guys. We’re just going to take this one game at a time and continue to prepare the right way, continue to try to improve every day. But honestly, for the Dolphins fans, I’m very … I think we got great fans, people who are lifers, man. They love this team, so it’s happy to, I mean, … I’m happy to bring some joy into their – or we’re happy, I should say – to bring some joy to these, to our fans because they deserve it.”
(How important was the conversation at halftime, and then for the offense to come out first drive in the third quarter to score. You scored all 22 of your points there in the second half.) – “I think we overcame a tough first half. That just speaks to the resiliency and the mental toughness of this team. Didn’t play great in the first half, got down into the red zone, turned it over. This team, we don’t go in the tank. We just keep playing. We just battle through. And that’s what they did. Came in at halftime, made some adjustments. I think (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) made some adjustments. (Defensive Coordinator) Josh (Boyer) made some adjustments. (Special Teams Coordinator) Danny (Crossman) made adjustments. They went out there and executed. I’m excited for our players and we’re going to enjoy this one.”
(I want to ask you about the effectiveness of, I don’t know if it was the RPO game or QB Tua Tagovailoa in shotgun, how much better does it, does the run game, an effective run game help this offense?) – “I think we have talked about this. Moving the ball down the field with efficiency, getting first downs, putting pressure on the defense, however you do it, run game, pass game, but you want balance. I think we were able to have that today. I want to say we probably maybe ran the ball more than we threw it. But you want balance, and I think in order to keep a defense, you want to keep a defense off balance, you need balance offensively. We have had these conversations as far as running it, passing it, RPO’ing it, screening it, drop back. I think you just, we just got to try to keep mixing it offensively but keep the run-pass balance, which we tried to do all year. Today we ran it effectively, so we just kept running it. I think our guys executed. I think (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) did great job, our offensive staff did a good job, our defensive staff did a great job keeping them out of the end zone. Did a good job in the kicking game. They got a really good special teams unit, neutralized that a little to a degree and we played well. Well enough to win.”
(I thought it was interesting what you were talking about earlier as far as how important it was to the fans and the team to be winning again. For you guys, all you guys had to overcome, including injuries today, have you been surprised by anything that your team has showed you in some of these tough moments? I know they’re resilient, but is there anything at all that impressed you?) – “I think we got tough, mentally tough, physically tough, resilient group that knows how to deal with adversity, doesn’t go in the tank, keeps fighting, keeps working, keeps coming to work, good, bad, hot, raining, whatever, whatever the situation, whatever the situation is, these guys just work. Our coaches are the same way. Really everyone in our building is that way. I talked about that, but from our nutritionists to our equipment to strength and conditioning, to our medical staff, to ownership. Everyone in the building is kind of wired that way. We battle for each other, players, coaches, support staff. And we’ll continue to do that. That’s one thing I know, every day that everyone’s going to work hard. I don’t take it for granted, but I know that that’s the case.”
(Today obviously you were without WR DeVante Parker, TE Mike Gesicki, WR Jakeem Grant, G Ereck Flowers. How many of those went down to the wire and how did that change your approach going into this game?) – “They really all went down to the wire, so we had multiple plans if such-and-such plays, if such-and-such plays, we’ll do this, we’ll do that. I think, again, (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) and the offensive staff did a great job. They were ready to go with whoever was up as far as how we were going to try to attack these guys. I think they were all pretty much … They were all close. These guys are fighting to play. Whether it’s Mike (Gesicki), DeVante (Parker), Jakeem (Grant), ‘E-Flo’ (Ereck Flowers). Everyone’s fighting to play and get out there and they just want to help this team. Again, it just speaks to the type of guys we have.”
(Do you think the rushing attack today was a good game plan against a defense you’re familiar with or something that’s probably, could be a sign of things to come for the future for you guys?) – “I think it’s about execution. That’s what it’s about every week, execution, execution, execution, execution, execution. I think we did a good job from that standpoint in the run game, getting guys blocked, receivers, tight ends, backs. (Salvon) Ahmed ran hard. Backs made guys miss and created more yards than were probably there and by making a guy miss by breaking a tackle. And then down field, guys were blocking and trying to make a 12-yard gain a 22-yard gain, I don’t know for sure. I would have to watch the film. But that’s what you need to put up that kind of yardage in the run game. Our guys played hard. It’s something we talked about and harped on all year. You mentioned a sign of things to come. I don’t really look at it that way. I look at it as we got to prepare, we got to practice, we got to walk through and then we got to execute. To give ourselves a chance to execute, I should say. But I know these guys will do that. No game’s ever been perfect. It surely wasn’t perfect today, but these guys, I know they fight and they work hard and it’s important to them.”
