Brian Flores – November 16, 2020
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Monday, November 16, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Opening statement.) – “I’m going to start by letting you guys know (that) we released Jordan Howard this morning. This was a mutual parting. I think given the circumstances, Jordan handled himself professionally. I think he was the consummate pro. There were no issues. We just felt like this was in the best interest of both parties – ours and his. (I have) a lot of respect for him, a lot of respect for the way he worked. No ill will, nothing of that nature. Just thought it was best for both parties.”
(You all are getting a lot from players who might have been overlooked by other teams, cut by other teams, third-day draft picks. I know you’re involved in personnel, but could you talk about the quality of the evaluators you’re working with? Obviously General Manager Chris Grier but also Assistant General Manager Marvin Allen, Senior Personnel Executive Reggie McKenzie, Assistant Director of College Scouting Matt Winston, Co-Director of Player Personnel Adam Engroff – just the quality of the people that you’ve worked with here these 18 months and how much that’s helped toward eyeballing players that you brought in that have helped you?) – “I think we have a lot of people throughout this organization who work hard in whatever facet of the organization that they work in. It’s important to them. I think everyone communicates well. I think myself, (General Manager) Chris (Grier), (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore), (Assistant General Manager) Marvin (Allen); we have a collective vision of the types of players we want, what we’re looking for, and the guys in the personnel department, they look for players who fit that criteria and they continue to do that, and they’re doing that now. I’ve said this many times over, it’s a team effort. Everyone’s role is important from people who clean to the people who scout, the people who do personnel to really everyone within the organization. Everyone’s role is important.”
(I guess just following up on RB Jordan Howard. He had been productive in Chicago and Philadelphia. I’m just curious on why you think maybe it didn’t work out for you guys.) – “It’s a tough question to answer. I think he’s a good back. He’s definitely been productive. I think we had some other guys who stepped in and played well and for that reason, his reps were limited and when he did go in there, it felt like we had maybe a little bit better production from some other guys. But I don’t think that speaks to his talent level. I think he’s a talented young man and he’s been productive in this league and I wish him all the best.”
(I don’t know that you think that a 6-3 record is an accomplishment. I don’t know if you’re wired that way or not, but nonetheless you’re 6-3; so I’m wondering what you see as the reasons – what have you accomplished to get to where you are?) – “I think guys have worked together. I think we have a team full of guys who football is important to them, competing is important to them, communicating is important to them. And I think they bought into the – let’s call it working together as a team and working hard and preparing and giving ourselves an opportunity to compete. We’ve seen some good results from that and they continue to buy into those things.”
(I was curious about the offense in general. How do you think it’s performing around the midway part of the season? Certainly QB Tua Tagovailoa’s changed things. What has gone well? What do you think he needs to improve on and more specifically, how do you think you can get WR DeVante Parker more involved on the offense?) – “I think we can improve in a lot of areas – run game, drop-back, third down, third-and-1, red zone, two-minute, o-line can play better, backs can play better, quarterbacks can make better decisions, receivers can do a better job getting open. It hasn’t been perfect, that’s for sure. There’s always room for improvement and I think the guys will work towards making those improvements.”
(A few guys that played a lot of snaps and contributed and did pretty well – DT Zach Sieler, LB Andrew Van Ginkel, CB Nik Needham. One thing they have in common is they’re not first-rounders. One guy is a five, one guy is a seven, one guy is undrafted. My question is what traits in your opinion are required to become a key contributor when you’re not a highly drafted player?) – “I think you only get one, normally one first-rounder a year, so most teams are made up of guys who aren’t first-round picks. I think what allows a guy to make a team and to contribute are, is he tough, is he smart, does he love to play, is he team-first, is he competitive? I think if you have all those qualities, then you give yourself an opportunity to learn, to develop, to improve and eventually contribute. I think you see that in the guys you mentioned. So (Nik) Needham, (Zach) Sieler – whether it’s his time in Baltimore to coming over here – and (Andrew) Van Ginkel; the three guys you mentioned, they have all those characteristics. And it allows them to get the most out of their ability and they’ve been able to contribute and play well, and they’re still getting better. They’re still young players, still getting better and hopefully we haven’t seen the best that they have to offer.”
(I wanted to ask you about the defensive schemes. I know that you are a man of mystery, but how many packages do you have?) – “We got the rover package coming in for (you) next week, for sure. (laughter) That’s coming in next week, that’s coming in hot. We’ll have (your) package coming in a couple of weeks. We’ll name something after you. (laughter)”
(In terms of the packages with this hybrid defense, how many are there… Because guys play let’s say 30 snaps and I assume it’s on certain packages that they are a part of. Is that correct?) – “I’m not going to give up too many – yes, I would say depending on how many packages we have and when those packages come up situationally, that would definitely play a part in how many snaps guys will get. But to answer your question, I think every week given the players we feel like are going to be active, who we’re playing against, how creative our coaching staff feels that week, ideas get thrown around all the time. I try to create an environment where that’s happening really on all sides of the ball. Especially defensively, I think (Defensive Coordinator) Josh (Boyer) does a great job – Josh and his staff do a great job of trying to come up with things that are new, that are different, that will give our opponents problems. Then we have to figure out whether or not we can get that to our players and teach it to them over the course of a week, to a point where they can execute. (Your) package is going to be tough, I’m going to tell you that right now. (laughter) I don’t know if we can get that one taught in a week. (laughter)”
(Today is the one-year anniversary of when QB Tua Tagovailoa suffered that hip injury. I’m wondering if you can recall what you may have been thinking the first time you saw that play and the severity of what you were witnessing, and if you can reflect on how far he’s come in that year?) – “Honestly, I was deep into our 2019 season, so I don’t necessarily recall when that all happened or – I don’t know where (I was). I’m sure there are some people who know where they were on that at that exact moment, but I don’t necessarily. I love Tua. He’s come through it, he’s healthy, he’s playing well, he’s getting better on a weekly basis. I think that adversity will ultimately help him, and has helped him come through something like that. Rehab, you feel like everything is going to be over, everything you’ve worked for is over, and then you come back and you rehab. I think that’s a testament to him, his family, his work ethic and how important the game is to him. While I don’t necessarily know where I was when that happened, I know where he is now. I think he’s in a good place physically, mentally, emotionally, and he’s improving on a daily basis. That’s important to me, to this team, to his family and hopefully we just continue to get better on a daily basis.”
(CB Xavien Howard has had more interceptions over the last few years than anybody. For you as a defensive schemer and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer as a play caller, what does it do knowing that you have a guy that can change the game with his playmaking ability at any point?) – “’X’ (Xavien Howard) has very good cover skills. I think people put a lot into interceptions and sacks. I know we’ve had these conversations before – and they are big plays and he had a big play yesterday, and he’s made some big plays – but the rest of his game has really improved as well, getting off of blocks and tackling. Just pure coverage when the ball is not being thrown his way. I’ve had this conversation – I probably haven’t had it with you guys – but over the course of a season, lets call it a starter in the league, whether it’s a d-end or a receiver or a DB, you get 1,000 snaps. So it you get 10 interceptions or 20 sacks, you’re talking about one or two percent of the snaps roughly, if my math is right. It probably isn’t because I’m not very good at math; but to me, it’s the other 98 percent or 99 percent that really matters. Those are huge plays. They are. But I try to focus on the 99 and 98 percent and get those guys really good at that, and then I think the other two percent or one percent kind of happens. When those opportunities present themselves, they have to make them, and ‘X’ has done that. The players with those big stats, they do that; but my focus is normally on the other 99 percent and I’ll let you guys handle the one to two percent. He’s done a great job and we’ve got a lot of guys who has made a lot of big plays for us; but they are doing the little things too. The little things add up. That’s what I like about this group is they really focus on the little things and when you do enough of the little things, the big things happen. You’ve got to make them happen, but when you do all of the little things, the big opportunities present themselves and then you’re ready to make a play. I’m good on all the interceptions and all of that. That’s great; but I’m going to focus on the other 99 percent.”
