Brian Flores – July 31, 2021
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Saturday, July 31, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(We didn’t see LB Jaelan Phillips the second half of practice yesterday so I wanted to ask you if there was an injury with him. With Jaelan and with WR Will Fuller, is it a more day-to-day thing or do you think week-to-week?) – “Yeah, day-to-day with both guys. It’s day-to-day with both guys. They’re both getting rehab in the training room and working to take care of their bodies, rehab. They’re day-to-day. You won’t see either one of them today on the practice field but (they’re) working to get back and hopefully back as quickly as possible.”
(Can you share your thoughts on practicing in front of fans for the first time today?) – “(I’m) excited. I think we’re all excited to get the fans back at practice. We obviously didn’t have them there last year and with the year-and-a-half that we’ve had kind of away from the sport from a fan standpoint – not us because we had some fans at our games last year but not at practice and not as many fans as we normally see – we’re excited to get them back in the building and have them watch practice. We love our fan support. Yeah, we’re looking forward to having them out there today.”
(We haven’t had an opportunity to get your early observations of the offense. Not just QB Tua Tagovailoa but the offense. What have you seen so far that you’ve liked and what do you hope is the next step as training camp progresses?) – “I think offensively, defensively and in the kicking game as well – but specific to offense, we’ve got three days of install, four days including today. I think the guys are really working hard to learn the information, communicate on a play-to-play basis and really execute their individual assignments. I think we’re getting that from an overall standpoint. I think we’re getting good work from the guys from that standpoint. But we’re also trying to work in new players – players at new positions – and that’s kind of an ongoing process. I’m pleased with where we are right now. Obviously we have a long way to go. It’s Day 4. But I think they’re working to improve and get better on a daily basis. You’ve kind of seen little improvements from Day 1 to Day 2 to Day 3, and that’s really what you’re looking for. Hopefully they continue that today.”
(I want to ask specifically about the big plays. There’s been a lot of them in the first week of practice, which is kind of unusual for me at least. Is that a cause of excitement for what you’re seeing or concern for what’s happening on defense in terms of breakdowns, guys letting people get behind them?) – “Obviously defensively, we don’t want to give up any big plays and offensively, we want to try to create explosive plays. It’s good to see the offense – whether it’s Tua (Tagovailoa) to Albert (Wilson) to (Jaylen) Waddle to Mike ‘G’ (Gesicki), get good protection, make a good throw, make a good catch and execute offensively. Conversely, it’s an opportunity for us to coach and teach defensively, ‘Hey, this is why this happened. We’ve got to stay on top. We can’t miss an assignment here or else we’re going to pay the price.’ I think there’s a lot of back and forth in practice and that’s the way it should be. It’s a competitive camp – offense, defense and special teams. But yeah, we want to create explosive plays offensively and we want to limit explosive plays defensively. Every day we get an opportunity to work on that. I’m glad we’re putting the ball in the air because we need the work both ways. That way, I think, has been competitive.”
(Center is an interesting competition for me to watch. What are the characteristics and traits specifically of the center position that will end up being the biggest factor for who gets the job?) – “Well the center position to me is a signal-caller position. That person is making calls and those calls affect obviously the offensive linemen around them but also the backs, quarterback, etc. It’s a leadership position and obviously from a play standpoint, there’s a lot of communication and you’re involved with a lot of other players on combination blocks and passing off guys in protection and things of that nature. There’s a lot that goes into the position. I think there’s a nice little competition there with (Michael) Deiter and (Matt) Skura and Cam (Tom). I think they’re all really doing a good job. (They’re) working hard, good communication, understand what we’re doing schematically, can get us in the right protection, understand where we need to go as far as Mike (linebacker) points in the run game. But we don’t have pads on so it’s still very early. I think we’ll have more information and a better evaluation this time next week. I’m still getting my days (mixed up). I’m only one day at a time. (laughter) This time next week we’ll have a little bit better evaluation but even then, we’ll still have preseason games to get to and obviously the joint practices against Chicago. But yeah, it’s a good competition. Those guys are doing a nice job. I think the volume will increase. Yesterday we did some third down and we’ll do some more third down today. We’ll get into two-minute, we’ll get into goal line and things of that nature – short yardage. That’s when we really need, in those critical moments, that position, that player, that communication goes a long way to having good execution offensively.”
(I have a two part question regarding the preseason. The calendar does not denote – I don’t think – a scrimmage this summer. I’m wondering if the joint practices kind of replace the scrimmage for you; and secondly, with only three preseason games, what are you looking at as the dress rehearsal?) – “To answer the first part, I would say yes, the joint practices kind of – I don’t want to say replace but I think that’s a good opportunity for us to get in a very competitive environment against another team. I think the intensity of those practices will be as game-like as you can get without getting into full-on tackling and playing in the game. We just felt as a staff that it was best to just work on our stuff, go through our normal practice routine and go to Chicago, have Atlanta come here and kind of use those – I don’t want to call them scrimmages but that’s four significant practices there that I think we’ll get a lot of good work in. As far as the preseason game, can you repeat that one?”
(Usually it’s game number three; but this year game three is your last preseason game. Does that mean game two is dress rehearsal, or how are you going to work that?) – “We’ve had several conversations on this. Game reps are important – very important. We don’t have a final answer on how we’re going to approach the games. We have a pretty good idea of what we want to do, but that obviously could change. But game reps are important. I see guys getting into the game and playing. How much? That’s a discussion. How much or how little, that’s a discussion. I’ll probably have more answers on how we’re going to handle that a week from today.”
(Is CB Xavien Howard expected to practice today?) – “I talked to Xavien this morning. He’s closing in, or getting better. I shouldn’t say closing in, but getting better. I’m actually going to meet with (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston) here right after this press conference. There is a chance we’ll see him; but if so, it will be a modified individual, maybe a team period. We’ll modify him and ramp this back up. That’s kind of the thought process there.”
(I wanted to ask you about the defensive – I guess three technique. I don’t know if you call it a three technique. But those end guys and how many starting caliber players or role players you feel like you have for various schemes. Where is your depth end for your defensive line?) – “Just overall on the defensive line, I think we have good depth. I think what you’re alluding to is we have guys that can play a few different positions. So Christian Wilkins can play three technique and end, (Zach) Sieler can play three technique and end, Adam Butler can play three technique and end, (Emmanuel) Ogbah has played some three technique and obviously he’s an end. Reakwon (Davis) really can move across the defensive line. The same thing with (John) Jenkins. I think we have pretty good depth at that position. I think there is a lot of competition at that position and really the entire d-line and I’d say the entire team. That allows us to be fairly flexible with our scheme – 3-4, 4-3, 2-3, 3 and 0-shade, 2-2. We can really do whatever we want. I think that would be based on, it will be game plan once we get into the season. Right now, it’s just fundamentals, techniques – as a three technique, as an end – but really hand placement, footwork, knocking guys back when we get to that. But I like the depth in the room. They are a hard-working group. The camaraderie in the room is good. I was just in there making a couple of jokes – pushing some buttons, let’s call it that. (laughter) But a good group, they work well together, they are competitive, they are tough. I like the group.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa mentioned that both Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends George Godsey and Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Eric Studesville have been taking turns calling plays with the offense. What can you tell us about the plan throughout the preseason? Do you envision both guys being involved in Tagovailos’ headset throughout the preseason, or what can you tell us about the plan there?) – “Well, practice is scripted, so I could go up there and give them the play. We’ve had a lot of movement throughout practice; so wherever he’s at, if Eric’s there, then Eric will give him the call. If George is there, George will give him the call. We’ve had some instances where some of our other coaches have given the call as well. Again, offensive coaching, defensive coaching, special teams coaching is collaborative. There is a lot that goes into – I shouldn’t say a lot. There is different – the quarterbacks needs to talk to the receivers, the receivers coach ends up talking to the quarterback, the running backs talk to the o-line. The running backs end up talking to the o-line coach. It’s collaborative. I think our coaching staff works well together. We know what we’re going to do in games. We’ve kind of talked through that. We know exactly how we’re going to handle that. But yeah, during practice we’re really just reading off a script. It’s pretty straight forward.”
(Two guys that didn’t play last year because they were hurt that I wanted to ask you how about. How does LB Vince Biegel look to you and what made you guys want to invest more time into DE Jonathan Ledbetter, even though he really hasn’t played in close to two years with injuries?) – “Biegel, he looks good. Still working his way back a little bit; but he looks good, running well, looks strong. We’ve kind of ramped up his reps over the first three days. He’ll get a little bit more today. I’m pleased with him really in all areas. Doing a good job in meetings and walkthrough and practice; but that’s Biegel. He’s our kind of guy. He’s tough, he’s smart – this guy loves playing football. Team first. ‘Led’ (Jonathan Ledbetter) is the same thing. He’s dealt with injuries his first two seasons. He’s just excited to be out there, to be with his teammates. He’s mentioned that multiple times. I think he’s done a good job also. When we had him as a rookie, he showed some good things. We felt good about him then. Obviously he had an injury that year and then last year. I’m excited to see him throughout the camp.”
(TE Mike Gesicki was talking about how you instilled this toughness and that’s not like an Xs and Os thing. It’s not like an install where you can say ‘here is our gameplan’ kind of thing. How do you instill something like that? He said whether it’s the toughness with the heat that you’re dealing with or whatever that maybe, how is that something you can impress on players?) – “I don’t know if that’s me. I think we have a tough group – a mentally tough group, a physically tough group. I think the same thing applies to really everyone in the building – coaches. It’s a tough game. All I try to do is remind them that it is a tough game and they have to be mentally tough and physically tough really on a daily basis, on a play-to-play basis, so they can have success. I don’t know if I do much. Mike is a tough guy. So is Durham (Smythe), so is that entire tight end room, so is the d-line room. I know you talked about that a while ago. So are the quarterbacks. I just try to steer them in the right direction and stay out of the way, and not mess with any of the tough guys.”
