Brian Flores – July 27, 2021
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Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Opening Statement) – “I just want to open with sending condolences to Greg Knapp’s family. I didn’t know Greg that well, but as a member of the coaching family in the National Football League, I just wanted to send condolences to his family, the New York Jets, (Head) Coach (Robert) Saleh and their staff. My sympathies and prayers go out to his family. It was a tragic accident and I just wanted to say that publicly before we got started here. As far as training camp, the players reported today. We’re excited to get started. With that, I’ll open it up to questions.”
(I know you’re probably pleased to see CB Xavien Howard is here. If you’re able to share this, have you and General Manager Chris Grier and Senior Vice President of Football and Business Administration Brandon Shore and President and CEO Tom Garfinkel have decided whether to make an adjustment to his contract? Is that something that’s unresolved? Is there any concern with any potential trade request from him?) – “We’re excited to work with ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) and all of the players that are here. Those conversations with ‘X,’ his representation, Chris (Grier), myself; those will, like always, will be internal, confidential and it will always be that way. We’ll keep it that way with all players. But we’re excited to have him. I’m excited to work with him. He’s a great player and I look forward to building over the course of training camp.”
(What are some of the benefits for CB Xavien Howard, for you and for the team, to have him here as opposed to the opposite of that?) – “His ability to practice, build chemistry, build camaraderie. Every year it’s a new team, so playing with different players – there are a few different players in the secondary, a few different players really throughout the team. Getting acclimated to a new building, new facility – there are a lot of things that are good to have him here; and that’s the case with all of our players. We’re excited to have them all here, work with them all and try to improve and get better every day.”
(The COVID vaccination has been a big storyline in the NFL. Is this team over 85 percent in this locker room?) – “I never like to get into people or anyone’s medical situation. I think that I’ve been pretty steadfast about that. I’ll talk about my own. I’m vaccinated. But as far as anyone else’s medical situation, I try to stay clear of that.”
(The follow up that I have, are you confident that you won’t put your team in a competitive disadvantage by the level of vaccination that you have?) – “We’ll work through whatever the protocols are. Obviously we did this the entire year last year. Whether it’s masks – obviously the restrictions have been lifted to a degree as we’re sitting here. But no, to answer your question. I think we’ll be able to work through whatever we need to work through while following the protocols, obviously.”
(Can you share to us what your message to unvaccinated players would be?) – “My message to all of the players is the same. Let’s follow the protocols and do everything we can to allow ourselves the opportunity to meet, walkthrough, practice and string good days together.”
(If I can piggyback off the vaccination question, obviously the NFL and the NFLPA have made changes where a forfeit is a possibility if there is a breakout. How does that change what you guys do game plan wise knowing that’s different this year?) – “The only thing we can do is educate the players. Talk to them about pros, cons. Obviously that would be part of that conversation. But at the end of the day, they’ve got to make their decision; and we have to approach each day, whether you’re vaccinated or unvaccinated, in a way that helps us go through out meetings, our walkthroughs, our practice and get as much out of training camp as we can.”
(You have one unsigned rookie heading into today – T Liam Eichenberg. Is he here and is everyone else on the 90-man roster here?) – “Yes, Liam has signed and everyone is here.”
(Given the risk involved with forfeitures that the commissioner has threatened really, is it putting the team first? Is that part of the argument as far as getting vaccines?) – “I think – everyone has got their own personal reasoning behind or beliefs behind vaccinations or getting vaccinated or not getting vaccinated. I respect everyone’s choice in that matter. I’m not going to pressure anyone. I’m just going to give them the information. I’m not going to judge anyone’s commitment to the team. I’m just going to give them the information, allow them to make their choice and if we are going to work around something, we’ll work around it. We’re always going to try to do what’s in the best interest of the team given whatever the situation may be. For example, if someone is vaccinated and someone is unvaccinated, we have to just work around it and do the best we can.”
(Does today kind of have back-to-school vibes with everyone back in a new shiny building and everyone on the team being back together? Is everyone excited?) – “Yeah. I think it’s always good. It is like the first day back to school. There are guys you haven’t seen in weeks, months. Guys are excited to see one another and check out the new facility again. I think kind of get acclimated, I think that’s a part of these first couple days for us. Here’s the weight room, here’s the training room. The coaches’ offices are here, our meeting rooms are here. It’s the first time I’ve been back here, so the press conference room is here. Yeah, it’s got that kind of vibe to it.”
(We’ve talked a lot about players making certain jumps from year-to-year or week-to-week or in-game kind of thing. Generally speaking, how long does it take for you and your staff to recognize that a player has made that next stride from where he was a year ago?) – “I think we try to improve every day. I think that’s really what we’re looking for. It’s not really a – you don’t see it year-to-year, you really see it more day-to-day and if you string enough of their days together, I would say that over time, you see that improvement. It’s more gradual than anything. So, I think that if we see improvement from a player, its something that we have probably already tracked. Games are different. You can see improvement and then you get to a game and you don’t get the production. At the end of the day, these preseason games are going to be important. Regular season games are important. But yeah, you can see guys’ ability to retain information and apply it to the techniques, the fundamentals. You can kind of see that on the practice field and normally that turns into production on the field.”
(What crossed your mind when you decided to move practice to late morning, if not early afternoon, as opposed to 8 a.m. starts?) – “Meeting time, I would say. I think we’ve normally started at 9:45. I don’t recall last year’s schedule. But normally we meet in the morning, maybe get a quick walkthrough and then hop out on the field quickly. But I mean, we have practiced a few different ways. We just felt like the 10:30 spot this year would be best. Is that what you are alluding to?
(Yeah, maybe I’m wrong but I thought you had started practice earlier in previous years.) – “I think it’s roughly around the same time or maybe a little bit later.”
(On WR Preston Williams, is he medically cleared to practice and is there anyone else who might not be ready to practice on the first day?) – “Preston is going to start on PUP. He’s done a good job with his rehab; he is working his way back. He’ll start on PUP. There’s a couple other guys – we are not. We will see how this goes on the conditioning test but Preston will start on PUP.
(I wanted to ask you about your depth chart. Obviously OTAs play a part in terms of what you see, who participates and what they do. How do you start training camp from a depth chart standpoint?) – “In my mind, there’s not really a depth chart. You have to put the first group out there, a second group out there and a third group out there. Everyone is competing, everyone gets an opportunity and really what you are trying to do is give everyone a chance to showcase their ability. I think it’s one thing to do it in an OTA setting with shorts on and another thing to do it with pads on. I think training camp is about letting everyone have that opportunity. Base formations, base coverages, schemes and let them go out there and see who can play. I think that’s a lot of what training camp is about. I’m not really, ‘this is the first group, this is the second group.’ I think everyone is competing. I think you always go into it as this is who we project to be the first group but I try to keep an open mind and say anything can happen. I’ve seen guys go from an OTA, a light bulb goes off and they come and have a great training camp. Then we have a lot of discussion about who really is the starter. I try to keep an open mind. We’ll do that. But we expect everyone to compete, be ready to go and I think it will be a very competitive training camp.”
(What are your expectations of QB Tua Tagovailoa going into his second training camp?) – “I mean we talked a lot about Tua in the spring. I think he’s made a lot of progress, I would say, throughout the spring. This is really his first training camp – well, I shouldn’t say his first training camp but first OTA. This will be his first training camp, preseason where he’ll be able to meet, practice, perform in games, healthy, all of it. We’re excited about Tua. We’re really excited about all the quarterbacks – Jacoby (Brissett), Reid (Sinnett). They’ll all get the opportunity to compete as well as the rest of the guys on the entire team.
(When do you start putting pads on?) – “Practice six. I don’t have the exact date. That’s a bout right for me because I’m really focused on this conditioning test we are about to get to and practice tomorrow. Today is the 27th. I’d have to look at a calendar. I don’t know the exact date. Tuesday.”
