Brian Flores – July 29, 2021
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Thursday, July 29, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Can we get an update on WR DeVante Parker in terms of the injury’s nature and how serious it is in terms of how long he might be out of practice?) – “Well, he’s on PUP (physically unable to perform list) and he’s just taking it one day at a time. As far as a timeframe on when he’ll be back, I think we’re just going to take it one day at a time and see how he progresses. He’s working and he’s going to try to get back as soon as he can. Really, honestly, that’s the case with all players who are dealing with anything.”
(Obviously CB Xavien Howard expressed in a statement that he is unhappy. My question is how important do you believe it is for the elite players of your team to be happy?) – “I think it’s important for everyone to be happy just for your own well-being. I think – I love coaching football and I’m happy doing that. I love coaching this team; I love coaching these players. I’m happy doing that and I want them to be happy as well. I think they’re happy when they’re in the locker room with their teammates, in the meetings, on the practice field, working on their craft. I think players enjoy playing this game. I certainly enjoy coaching it. I know ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) enjoys playing the game. I know all of his teammates enjoy playing the game. I understand the question and the situation but yeah, I want our players to be happy.”
(Is flexibility for a franchise and a coach more important and more acceptable – flexibility – when it comes to the top players?) – “Position flexibility? Is that what you’re talking about? Or just flexibility as far as – I think in any relationship, (whether it is) marriage, coach to player, a working relationship, I think flexibility is important because – honestly, I think these last 18 months tell you that flexibility is very important. So yes, it is important. I think we try to be flexible. I think we ask the players to be flexible in-game, moving positions, change of schedule. I ask that of the coaching staff. We’ve asked that of you guys. I think flexibility is very important and we try to be flexible with our players and with our staff. Flexibility, being respectful, I think those are things that are must-haves within any organization.”
(Do you expect CB Xavien Howard to be a member of the team when the regular season opens?) – “I think I answer this question the same every day. I’m focused on today, this press conference right now. We’ll go out to practice here at 10:30, we’ll hit the walkthrough, we’ll hit the individuals, we’ll hit the half-line, we’ll hit the team with meetings after that. My focus is on right now, today, and helping the players improve and get better today. I don’t really go down the road.”
(I understand that you are part of the decision-making process for the organization but that you don’t necessarily control the financial aspect of it, the negotiating part of it. How difficult is that to, I guess, manage a relationship with CB Xavien Howard as player-coach when business stuff is involved?) – “I just think that’s part of being a player in the National Football League. There’s contracts, there’s play time, there’s injuries, there’s a number of things that come up. Again, I try to approach these things this way. I try to be open, honest, transparent. I try to tell the truth. And I’m at peace with that. Whatever comes of it, I think I’ll have peace and we’ll have peace as an organization as long as we’re doing those things. I think in all situations, we’ve tried our best to do that. I’m not speaking specific to the ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) situation but just all situations in general, as long as I’ve been here.”
(Is everything okay with WR Will Fuller? We saw him walk off in practice yesterday.) – “He’s dealing with something. Again, we’ll see if he can get out there today. He’s just dealing with something. Hopefully he can get out there today and if not, he’ll be on the same ‘taking it one day at a time’ program.”
(One other thing about CB Xavien Howard, just the philosophy of you and General Manager Chris Grier that I was curious about. We know of – and there might have been others – but we know of two cases in the past where players expressed interest in playing elsewhere with Minkah Fitzpatrick and Kiko Alonso. Their trade requests were granted. Do you and Grier philosophically believe that a player who asks for a trade should be traded because you don’t want unhappy players here? Or do you not feel that that’s always your position on that particular thing?) – “I would say the first thing that comes to mind is it’s case-by-case. I think every situation is a little different. Every year is different. Every team is different. I would say it’s case-by-case and there’s a lot that goes into it – my opinion, Chris’ opinion, the overall structure of the team, salary cap. We can go on and on and on. It’s not just one thing or ‘it’s got to be this way or it’s got to be that way.’ You asked about flexibility and I think that’s part of that when we’re having our conversations as well.”
(What are you hoping LB Shaquem Griffin can bring to the table?) – “Well, I know he brings a lot of energy. You feel his energy within 30 seconds of being around the guy. But he’s got some speed, toughness; he’s smart. (He has) some position flexibility, as you guys know I like to have that. He’s played on the ball, off the ball linebacker, on the ball with some rush ability. He’s played in the kicking game. I know you’re big on the kicking time and have spent a lot of time watching kickoff and kickoff return today. (laughter) But yeah, we love his energy. He definitely has some leadership qualities. I’m excited to have him as part of the team.”
(If you can recall when you first started to become aware of who LB Shaquem Griffin is and his story, probably at UCF I’m guessing, what came to mind? What were you thinking when you learned how he was able to overcome what he has?) – “I think in this league, with the parity of this league and the amount of good players in this league, I think the players that make it are the players that know how to deal with adversity. You kind of judge that with guys coming out a few different ways. For me personally, I try to look at what situations they’ve been put in – not necessarily on the field but more off the field. I think you know what adversity a guy has dealt with on the field. ‘They were down and they came back.’ I’m not saying that’s not nothing; but guys who go through things in their lives – I know for me personally, you pull from those experiences when you deal with some adversity in life, and he’s done that. I think he’s done an exceptional job of dealing with adversity and overcoming some adversity. I think you need that in this league.”
(We saw the practice reps on both fields yesterday and I think that was the first time I saw that under your regime here. I just wanted to get your opinion on the benefit of having those two practice fields being used at the same time.) – “I think somebody asked about ones, twos and threes. I think we’ve got a lot of good competition on this team so the ones are getting the same number of reps as the twos. The threes are getting reps when they get an opportunity. We can’t give everyone the same amount of reps and opportunities to showcase what they can do, but we felt like this format would allow us to see everyone. Again, we just end up watching a lot of film and the onus goes on us as coaches to stay here a little bit and get the film watched. I think we’ll be able to mix and match a little bit so a group you saw yesterday, I’m sure we called it the ones against the ones but we can easily flip those and go twos against ones and see guys against different competition to really get a feel for who is doing what. That was kind of the thought process.”
(What have you and the other coaches noticed about QB Jacoby Brissett on and off the field since he joined the franchise?) – “Very bright. Loves to plays. Loves to watch film. He’s a team-first guy. You see him in there and he’s talking to defensive guys, talking to offensive linemen, talking to defensive linemen, he’s talking to specialists. I think he just embodies a lot of things we’re looking for. He’s team-first, loves to play, tough and smart. There’s a lot of things to like there.”
(WR Albert Wilson seemed to flash yesterday and I wanted to ask about him and WR Jaylen Waddle – your early impressions of them.) – “It’s one day. I thought Albert had a good practice – alignment, assignment, handled his route responsibilities, run game, route technique. There’s always some things you can improve on. A couple of things come to mind but overall, I thought he had a solid practice. The same with Jaylen. Again, this is his first go-around. Is he getting aligned in the right place? Does he know his assignment? Is he handling his responsibility? Obviously there are some things he can do better as far as route depths and releases and things of that nature, but I think it was a good start.”
(Specific to QB Jacoby Brissett again, how does he manage being a veteran and providing wisdom to QB Tua Tagovailoa while also being the new guy here?) – “I think he’s a guy’s guy. Everyone kind of gravitates to him. I think his ability to fit in quickly with a lot of different guys – he’s been in the league a few years, but that’s kind of been seamless. It’s almost something you don’t even think about, but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that he is smart and team-first and just loves to play and wants to help guys improve and get better and in the process he wants to improve and get better, too. We have a lot of guys like that and it’s just been a good fit so far.”
(I know your background is special teams as well. That’s a very important element of the job. With WR Jaylen Waddle as a returner – I know there’s big plans for him offensively, but return game is an important part of football. Where is the value of having him offense versus serving as a returner and is there concern about him serving as a returner?) – “Whatever plans we have for Jaylen (Waddle) are going to be up to Jaylen. I’ll start with that. And that’s the case for him and any player on the team, so he’s got to go out and perform in meetings, in walkthrough, in practice. That’s for Jaylen and anyone else. As far as I think what you’re getting at is –“
(Injury concerns. The workload, the risk factor of the job.) – “I think the return game is important, so I would like to put our best players out there. If he’s one of those, then that’s what we’re going to do and that’s just kind of how we’re going to do it and that’s how we’ll do it. If he earns the right to be out there on punt return, kick return – which he’s got some pretty good guys to beat out on that road – I would say that. I think we all know that. I think we all know that. Then he’ll be out there because we’re going to play our best players.”
