Brian Flores – May 21, 2019
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Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Are you a Game of Thrones fan?) – “I dabble.”
(How do you dabble in Game of Thrones?) – “I watched a few. I have to get caught up. That’s how. I have a few other things going on.”
(So you don’t have a take on the finale then?) – “I do not unfortunately.”
(LB Raekwon McMillan was not here during the portion of practice that we saw. Is he fine? Is he practicing?) – “He’s dealing with an injury. Raekwon is one of our most diligent workers, so he’s doing everything he can to get back and we expect to see him back fairly soon.”
(Are you able to share what kind of injury he has or when he suffered it?) – “That injury report comes out in September. (laughter) When that comes out, you’ll get it then.”
(Do you anticipate, aside from LB Raekwon McMillan, anyone practicing last week that won’t be out there today?) – “You mean the injury report? (laughter)”
(We’ll see them out there, if they’re out there or not. I think we’re all just curious if there’s anyone that you can share.) – “Raekwon won’t be out there. Dwayne Allen won’t be out there. He’s dealing with a little something. There are a couple guys who are sick. You guys will see them.”
(Can you tell me what you’ve seen – I know there’s no pads – with your guards, specifically G/T Jesse Davis, G/C Chris Reed and OL Michael Deiter?) – “Those three guys are working hard. Right now – you said it – there’s no pads. A lot of this is technique from the basics. Shoulders over knees, knees over toes, a good base. As far as our communication with our protections, we can’t do a lot in the run game. Those guys are working on those specific things. A lot of the things on the offensive line is about getting those five guys and creating a cohesive group there. Between our center, guards, tackles and the mixture of guys who are working together, I think kind of building that camaraderie is definitely a big part of this phase.”
(Among the guards, can you tell me how active or how much they’ll be pulling? In general, average, less than average, more than average?) – “(laughter) We may pull, we may not pull. We may trap, we may not trap. We’ll see. (laughter)”
(What kind of athletes are you looking for at that position? Do you want the big physical guys that can drive-block, or do you want the athletes that can turn the corner?) – “I think you want guys who can do both, in a perfect world. Everybody has a different skillset. Some guys are bigger, more aggressive, more physical. Some guys are a little bit more nimble, can get out to the perimeter. It just depends on the specific player. Then, I think as coaches, we have to do what they do best and try to fit their skillset with what they’re doing offensively or defensively or in the kicking game.”
(What did you guys see in LB Nate Orchard?) – “We saw an athletic player, someone who has some size, has some length, has some athletic ability. I thought he did fairly decent in the workout and we felt like he would help our team.”
(Do you envision LB Nate Orchard being a linebacker or do you envision him being a defensive end?) – “That’s a curious question. (laughter) Linebacker, defensive end, I think we’ll try to put him in positions to help our team. That may be some linebacker, that may be some d-end. If we feel like he can cover, he’ll cover. If he can throw the football, then maybe we’ll do something there too.”
(With DT Durval Queiroz Neto, your Brazilian defensive tackle, how is he getting acclimated to the routine of the NFL and these camps and watching film, correcting mistakes, all that kind of stuff?) – “He’s working extremely hard. Obviously, this is very different than the football he played in Brazil. This is a young man that works extremely hard. Football is important to him and he’s working hard at the basic fundamentals and just overall defensive concepts, which are new to him to some degree. We’ve seen improvement over these last few weeks, for sure.”
(Is DT Durval Queiroz Neto able to learn defensive concepts?) – “Yeah. He’s definitely learning. It’s a situation where it’s almost like he learns something new every day. I think in some instances, the lightbulb goes off in a specific area. Not that he has all the answers, but ‘This is why we do that technique’ or ‘That’s why we do this drill.’ It’s kind of refreshing as a coach to see that progression.”
(Last week you mentioned S Minkah Fitzpatrick maybe playing some linebacker. How much did you get to see him do that? How is he taking to playing that position?) – “Again, last week we just talked about Minkah playing multiple positions. He’ll play corner, he’ll play linebacker, he’ll play free safety, he’ll play strong safety, he’ll play nickel. He’ll be all over the place. I think in all those different roles, I think he’s done an okay job kind of learning all of those positions. Again, this is a work in progress for everyone, not just Minkah. We’re asking a lot of guys to do a lot. He kind of falls into that. I think he’s working and he’s getting better and he’s improving. We still have a long ways to go.”
(I think we asked you about RB Kenyan Drake in Phoenix, and now you’ve seen him practice. What did you see from him? Is he bigger than you thought, maybe faster than you thought? What do you evaluate from him?) – “Kenyan is obviously a good player. I think he’s obviously athletic, good hands, fast, elusive. He’s a good player. Working with him has been good. He has a lot of skill and he’s working hard and he’s doing a lot of the things we’re asking him to do. Again, (it’s) still a work in progress, still very early, but I’m happy with where he’s at right now, but there’s still a long way to go.”
(The group of running backs you have, is that kind of what you had envisioned when you’re building the roster seeing that you have power, you have speed, you have guys who can do a little of everything?) – “I like our backs. I do; but again, it’s still early. Without pads, you can’t see them protect, you can’t see them run with power, you can’t see how elusive they are. You can see a little bit of it without the pads on; but with that position, there’s so much contact that at that position that without the pads, really what it’s about is different alignments, the pass game, just kind of understanding the protection system.”
(You mentioned competition various times in the last few weeks and months. We know about the quarterback competition. What are other places where there’s competition that interests you?) – “Every position.”
(Left tackle?) – “Left tackle, right tackle, left guard, right guard – every position, there’s competition. I think we can’t push our players to that next level if they don’t feel competition. That’s just my opinion on competition. I think there’s competition at every position and if the guys don’t feel that way then we’re going to try to make them feel that way, one way or another. That’s my stance on it. Like I said, in order to raise the level of the group, you need to create competition. I think the guys who thrive with competition are the guys we’re going to want on this football team.”
(Do you pay attention to some of these less-than-favorable predictions that are out there and if so, do you just turn it into locker room fodder?) – “My focus is on today. I’m not really worried about anything that’s going on outside of our building. My focus is on today. It’s on improving today, it’s on helping these players succeed and get better and try to make some type of impact on these guys. I don’t really listen to the rest of it to be honest.”
(Is there a type of skillset that you’re looking for from a slot receiver? With Danny Amendola gone, that position is kind of open. Most people are assuming that WR Albert Wilson will eventually evolve into that position. How do you determine who plays that spot considering how important it has been to the offense you’re coming from?) – “Obviously being a defensive coach, I’ve seen a lot of different slot receivers. Really, you want to put your best three, four, five guys out on the field and really fit what we do to those particular players. If you have a small guy who’s shifty and can get open in short areas, that’s what you do. If you have a taller guy who gets open with physicality and maybe a little bit deeper down the field, that’s what you do. I think we have good competition at the receiver position and I’d like to think that we will kind of tailor what we do offensively to the best players.”
(What have you seen out of LB Jerome Baker this summer and how does his side-to-side quickness fit into some of the things you like to do with your linebackers?) – “I think ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) is really working hard. He’s taken a little bit of a leadership role. He’s taken a step in that direction. He’s obviously smart, he’s very athletic. Again, his lateral quickness, as you mentioned, is good for the linebacker position. I think the challenge for him will be putting everything together. Really, the challenge for all of our players is consistency. That’s the thing we harp on, on a day-to-day basis. It’s not just with ‘Bake,’ but with everyone. I think he’s trying to do that and we’re going to keep coaching him to try to be as consistent a player as possible.”
(We’ve seen a couple of times this morning when you kind of get a smile on your face with questions that we kind of sense you’re not going to answer. How do you judge how much to divulge, how much not to divulge? Have there been times in the past where you’ve picked up stuff that other coaches may have let slip out from a news conference?) – “How much to divulge in this type of setting? To me, this is obviously an open forum. I like to, as much as possible, keep things in house and not give out a lot of information because other teams are watching. If I tell them if we’re pulling, we’re going to pull all the guards or we’re going to play Minkah (Fitzpatrick) at corner or we’re going to play, I don’t want to put our team at a disadvantage. Maybe the smile gives it away. Maybe I need a little bit more of a poker face. (laughter)”
(If video got out of what you guys are doing today, could it help an opponent? For instance, if you saw Jets or Bills video from what they’re doing today, could it help you win in September?) – “Probably not. At this time of the year, it’s really more fundamentals, more technique, more your basic install. So, unlikely, but obviously sometimes that stuff gets out. I’m conscious of our team and I don’t want to ever put our team at a disadvantage.”
(When fans are able to videotape stuff during training camp, would you or anybody on your staff watch stuff from a Bills’ practice or a Jets’ practice, or you just don’t even waste your time?) – “No. You don’t waste your time with that. We have plenty of other stuff going on, a lot of other film to watch rather than watch somebody’s grainy iPhone video of a practice play.”
(So you don’t worry if your stuff is out there?) – “It’s going to happen. We want our fans to come to practice when the time comes for that and to enjoy that experience. I realize that they’re going to film some of it or video some of it to have a memory. It’s like that for every team in the league.”
(I wanted to ask to about ‘T.N.T’ – Takes No Talent. What is the mindset behind that whole approach and the players going to touch the wall when they make a mistake in practice?) – “Takes no talent, that’s something I learned in high school. It’s something that my high school coach harped on for us and it was something that was basically a mantra in our building in high school. There’s a lot of things that you can do, and I think there’s a space in this game, and a space in everything, to do the things well that really take no talent. Getting yourself in condition, I tell my players this – I can go out there and get conditioned if I just go out there and run every day. I’m not going to do that, not like they do; but I could do that. Any of us in here can do that. That really takes no talent, it just takes hard work, effort. You could too. You can get out there and run every day and you’ll get in good shape. It’s just what it is. That’s kind of the mindset behind it. There’s some things that you can take care of. Everybody talks about ‘This guy is talented, that guy is talented.’ The talent on the team and a lot of things in this game come down to focus, execution, not making a bad penalty. Really, that’s not a talent issue, it’s a focus issue, it’s a mindset issue. I try to, and us as a staff, we try to make an emphasis of those specific things. Things that take no talent, I think those are the details that help you win games.”
