Brian Flores – November 20, 2019
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Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Two things, which is better than seven questions, I guess; but one would be on S Bobby McCain, how do you like how the transition to safety went this year? Do you view him as a long-term piece at safety? And on DT Gerald Willis, just what he showed you on the practice squad the last few weeks that made you think he could he could conceivably be a good NFL defensive lineman?) – “Starting with Bobby, I thought just from a communication (and) leadership standpoint, helping his teammates get lined up and then he’s just a good overall football player. I thought the transition to safety was a good one and one this team needed. He played well for us, obviously until the unfortunate injury. Then Gerald – he’s a young tackle who’s got some athleticism, some quickness and some pass-rush ability. He showed at practice that he can play both run and pass. We’ll try to give him an opportunity to earn a role this week. I am happy with both guys.”
(With RB Mark Walton – any regrets? I know you said you think people are deserving of second chances. Any regrets on giving Mark a second chance?) – “It’s an unfortunate situation. We felt like we had to make the move to release him. That’s what it is; but yeah, an unfortunate situation. You never want to see anything like that happen. Tough.”
(Does the failure there going forward make you rethink how you evaluate character?) – “I think we as an organization – (General Manager) Chris (Grier), (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore) – obviously we – character is something we spend a lot of time on. In this case, it didn’t work out with Mark (Walton), but it’s case by case. I think that’s kind of the thought process for us as a staff and as an organization.”
(What are you hoping LB Andrew Van Ginkel can bring to the defense?) – “When we drafted him, we thought we were getting a young, physical, smart, tough, young player. (He) can play a few different roles and has some pass rush, has some set-edge ability, has some special teams value; so we’ll see. (He) did a good job early in training camp and last week he strung a couple of good practices together, so we’ll see how that goes (and) see if he can carve out a role for himself this week.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick will start for you guys this week?) – “Yes.”
(Is there a scenario you see short of injury that QB Josh Rosen starts a game for this team the rest of the season?) – “I don’t have a crystal ball, so anything can happen from that standpoint. ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) has done a good job. Rosen is obviously developing in practice. I know you guys don’t see that, but he’s definitely making some strides. To sit here and say it’ll be one guy the whole way, I’ve done that before and I was wrong then, so you just never know.”
(What does QB Josh Rosen need to do to win that job back then?) – “Josh just needs to try to improve every day, try to get better on a daily basis and improve on getting the ball out on time, getting the ball out quickly, game management, just overall and again, I think he is improving. We’ll see how it goes.”
(Can you talk about the challenge of facing an offense with as many dynamic playmakers as the Browns have?) – “It’s definitely a big challenge. They’re everywhere. They just brought up the tight end – (David) Njoku. From (Jarvis) Landry to (Odell) Beckham to (Nick) Chubb to (Kareem) Hunt to (Baker) Mayfield, on and on and on. Yeah, we’re going to have to play very good team defense to stop this high-powered offense. They really have guys really everywhere – offensively, defensively and on special teams. It’s a good team. It’ll be a really tough challenge for us.”
(Regarding S Reshad Jones – he’s a guy who’s spent a long time with the organization. Did you get to know him very well because I know he wasn’t here for all of the offseason program and what are your thoughts on him?) – “I think – yeah, I’ve gotten to know him very well, and I think this is a tough, very, very good player. (He’s a) good person as well. I like Reshad a lot. I think he brings a toughness, a grittiness, a love of the game. He brought a lot to this team. Then getting to know him, you could see why he’s been such a productive player for a long time.”
(Do those things convince you that S Reshad Jones should be part of the organization moving forward?) – “I’m just thinking, honestly I haven’t thought about that, to be quite honest. When a guy goes down, that’s not the first thing that comes to mind. You’re just worried about the kid and him getting healthy, but yeah. This is a good player who’s been productive in this league for a long time. You’ve got me on that one. It wasn’t something I’ve really thought about. You kind of – when a guy goes on IR, you think about really the next day, the next couple days, how that’s going to impact him; so no, I haven’t thought about that, but just off the top of my head, yeah, I think this is a guy who’s showed that he can play in this league – still play in this league – and we’ll see how that goes.”
(What did you see in S Adrian Colbert to warrant adding him to the roster?) – “(We) saw a young player who has speed, has athleticism, has started games in this league. We just felt like he’s a guy who Chris (Grier), Brandon (Shore) and the personnel staff have done a lot of evaluations on and kind of had an eye on him for a while. We just felt like with the losses at the position, this was the best guy available and we’ll get him involved today and over the course of the week and see if he can carve out a role for himself on Sunday. We’ll see.”
(You’re in a kind of unique situation being one of the youngest coaches in the league and having a quarterback – Ryan Fitzpatrick – kind of close in age to you. What’s your relationship been like with him and what’s it kind of been to kind of see him bounce back up after every hit, have a smile on his face all of the time, showing his love for the game?) – “It’s great to see that. You want that really from every position, especially the quarterback position. He’s tough. He’s a leader. Guys rally around him. He loves to play. He loves to practice. Whether you’re a young coach or an old coach, you want to see that out of every player whether he’s a younger player or an older player. That leadership by example to a young team is something that I think is valuable.”
(I know you said you don’t have a crystal ball here, but QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has played really well and he’s been able to play every game this season. Is that ideal? Are you confident he’s able to finish this season?) – “I’m hopeful that all guys finish, that they can – that’s something we talk about – finishing games, finishing practice, finishing really everything we do. Yeah, I’d love to see him and the rest of this team finish and stay healthy and continue to grow, build and improve; so yeah. I don’t know if that answers the question…”
(Was the WR Gary Jennings thing something that you think he can recover from to be back from the offseason program? Were there flashes you saw in his week and a half here that intrigued you about the future because he’s obviously under contract for a while?) – “Yeah. Again, we talked about this last week. He’s fast. He’s young, he’s fast, he’s got size, he’s got athletic ability. He can play in the kicking game. Again, we only had him for a short period of time, but he showed some things that made us feel like we could play him in a game. I think coming back in the offseason and getting into that part of it, I think that’ll be good for him. I think he’ll be able to help us.”
(You’ve lost three starters in the last two days. That’s a lot even by NFL standards. How would you describe the challenge with the all the moving parts you’ve had in the last few weeks, getting through these last six weeks being competitive and seeing what you’ve got?) – “I think we’ve had moving parts really the entire season. It’s something that started early and there’s been a move here or there throughout the year. I think as a staff, we just try to get the guys who are going to be available to us (and) ready to play. We try to put them in good positions to play well based on their ability and really the ability of whatever unit that happens to be, whether it’s a nickel group or an 11-personnel offensive group or a kickoff return group. We just try to put the best group together. A lot of things go into that. We may have to simplify some things with this group and may be able to get more exotic with some other groups. There’s a lot of things that go into it, but a lot of it is up to the player and sets up players to make the most of their opportunities when those opportunities present themselves; and I think we’ve had a lot of guys step up when they’ve gotten an opportunity. That’s what really – I don’t want to get on a soap box – but that’s what life’s about. You get an opportunity and for whatever reason, whether its injury or we move on from somebody, another guy gets an opportunity to step in. It’s a chance for them to take advantage and try to carve out a role for themselves on this team and really in this league and create a career, or try to create a career for themselves. That’s kind of how I look at it.”
(I believe you guys were going to bring RB Mark Walton back initially, but how does it look for the rest of the running back room, particularly the rookies because now they’re going to have to carry the load?) – “He hasn’t been with us for two weeks, so it’s just what it’s been the last couple weeks. Kalen (Ballage), Myles (Gaskin), Pat Laird, ‘D. Turner’ (De’Lance Turner) – those guys, those are the guys in the room. That’s what it’s been. We’ve been without Mark for the last couple of weeks, and we just need to continue doing what we’ve been doing the last two weeks. Those guys have to step up. That’s really what it boils down to.”
