Brian Flores – November 13, 2020
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Friday, November 13, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Are LB Kyle Van Noy and DT Christian Wilkins ruled out for Sunday and will RB Matt Breida play Sunday?) – “Christian (Wilkins) and Kyle Van Noy are on COVID IR (Reserve/COVID-19 list). (Matt) Breida – he’s listed as questionable. So anyone on IR is unavailable.”
(So just a follow up on that, so we’re to assume that this wasn’t a false positive, that these two are actually on the COVID list and will not be available for you on Sunday?) – “I’m not going into anybody’s medical situation. They’re on COVID IR and they’re unavailable.”
(I just wanted to ask when you look at sort of what you guys were able to do – I hate to go last week – but what you guys were able to do against Arizona, were you able to learn anything maybe based on how Cardinals Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury went about your defense that sort of changes how you expect the Chargers to combat it?) – “Every week is different. Every coordinator is different offensively, defensively, in the kicking game. The players are different. I think there’s always pieces of a game plan that if they’re similar, then potentially you can use it if you feel comfortable with it offensively or defensively. But there’s really no way to know, to be honest with you. So we try to prepare for everything and at the end of the day, you’ve got to rely on your technique, your fundamentals and following the rules and try to play sound football.”
(How many coaches, if any, do you anticipate not having available on Sunday?) – “We’ll make that available to you guys later in the day. It’s a league rule now; but again, I’m not going to go into anybody’s medical situation. I think that’s – each of us obviously has or has had medical situations and I think we all should have that privacy. Clearly in these situations, that’s not necessarily the case, so I’m not going to divulge anyone’s medical situation.”
(You’ve busted some ceilings along the way. I’m wondering what you reaction is to the Marlins hiring Kim Ng as the first female general manager in major professional sports.) – “I think it’s phenomenal. I think there are quality candidates who are women, who are men, who are Black, who are Asian; I don’t think it really matters as long as they’re qualified. Obviously she’s – I don’t know her, I don’t know much about her – but I know the Marlins, they do their due diligence and they’ve done a great job of hiring and they’re just coming off a really good season. I imagine she’s very more than capable. Anyone who thinks a woman can’t manage or coach or lead, I think is silly. That’s just my personal opinion, so kudos to the Marlins, but at the same time you always should hire the best person. It’s almost a Catch 22. We want to congratulate them and celebrate them for doing something groundbreaking, but at the same time this is – she’s capable, she’s worthy – why wouldn’t we do it?”
(I wanted to ask you about RB DeAndre Washington. Since he’s been with the team, what have been your impressions and do you think – I know you’ve played a lot of guys who got there last, in a week and played the next Sunday. Do you think he’s had enough time to contribute to your team?) – “He spent a lot of time with (Running Backs Coach) Eric Studesville and he’s had three days of practice. I think he’s kind of gotten more comfortable each day. Eric’s spent a lot of time with him and Eric’s a really good coach, so he’s gotten up to speed fairly quickly. So we’ll see. We’ll talk as a staff here in a little bit. He’s done a few things in the kicking game, he’s done a few things offensively; but we can only take 48 to the game, so we’ll see.”
(I wanted to ask you about a moment that NFL Films captured on the sideline with you talking to your defensive line and your pass rush in general about getting after the quarterback and I couldn’t see who it was but somebody had replied, “I got you coach, I got you.” I was just curious who that was and if it’s common for that type of energy to kind of be reciprocated for you and your players in the heat of the game like that.) – “I think it’s an emotional game, so especially late in the game, in those critical moments, as a coach you try to encourage the guys. Our coaching staff has done a really good job of that – encouraging them and tell them what’s expected of them and what we need to try to win the game. And I think the players, they’ve received it the right way. It’s important to them that they execute, so I’m not exactly sure – I want to say I tried to wave the cameras off when I pulled the team together because it’s not about the cameras. It’s about that group of guys. Clearly they didn’t listen to me, which is about right; but it’s about that group of guys and trying to execute and to have it reciprocated, that’s par for the course for the group we have. It’s important to them, so they’ll do everything they can to try to execute and do it right. So pick any guy – Shaq Lawson or (Emmanuel) Ogbah or (Zach) Sieler or Christian Wilkins or (Kyle) Van Noy; that could have been any of them because honestly, probably all of them in some form or fashion, whether it’s their body language or they yell something out at me.”
