Brian Flores – November 21, 2019
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Thursday, November 21, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I have a couple things on the topic of setting the edge. One, has there been anyone who you think has consistently done that well defensively and then also, I never asked you this a couple weeks ago, but was DE Jonathan Ledbetter healthy enough to be considered when you chose LB Andrew Van Ginkel to come back as the second designated guy or was he simply not going to be healthy to play this year?) – “We only had one more spot there, so we basically had to choose and we chose the guy who we felt was healthiest; so that was ‘Ginkel’ (Andrew Van Ginkel). The first part of the question was the edge setting. So we’ve had a couple guys who have become more consistent, I would say over the course of the season. Vince Biegel is a guy who comes to mind. Charles Harris has been more consistent, but again with that – with as many edge plays as there are in this league from crack-toss plays to stretch plays to speed sweeps, etc. – it’s something that you can be consistent for a while and then all of a sudden you don’t have the correct awareness on a crack play and then you’re inconsistent. I think it’s something that we spend a lot of time on. It’s a point of emphasis on a weekly basis. It certainly will be that this week with these backs, this offensive line, this skill group and hopefully we can do a good job and be consistent this week.”
(You’ve put so much emphasis on S Bobby McCain in terms of the guy who leads that secondary – the communication guy – how do you replace that in terms of what you lose?) – “I would say it’s not just Bobby. That’s an emphasis – communication is an emphasis really at all positions every week, specifically in the secondary, so it’s Bobby, it’s Jomal Wiltz, it’s Eric (Rowe), it’s (Steven) Parker, it’s Nik (Needham). It’s whoever we’re really playing in the secondary really throughout the entire defense, so I think other guys are going to have to step up. I think as you get to know your team, there are guys who are more vocal than others. Bobby is certainly that. We’re going to need guys to step up for him physically and from a leadership and vocal standpoint. I think it’s something we’ve talked about with those (guys), the players who are going to step in for Bobby, and hopefully we get that this week.”
(With CB Jomal Wiltz, you had him serve as the backup during training camp. Obviously he’s in an important role as a nickel and then he also plays some safety. What makes him a good fit for that kind of role?) – “He’s smart. He’s tough. He tackles. He understands what we’re trying to do from a leverage standpoint. He knows where his help is. Is it inside with a backer, is it outside with a safety, is it over the top of the safety? He can communicate. I think he’s good for the players around him. You just mentioned the vocal and the communication piece; I think he’s going to have to take a step up from that standpoint, but I think he does a lot of good things well. I think he’s definitely improved over the course of the season from training camp to preseason to Game 1 to how he’s played the last few weeks. That’s the improvement we’re looking to see at each position. He’s shown that, and hopefully we just stay on that course. We’ll need it. That’s for sure. We’ll need it, especially with the guys – the injuries we have in the secondary.”
(Is the free safety role typically the player you want to be that vocal guy in the secondary?) – “In my opinion, yes; so free safety or really safeties in general. I think that position, you’re basically in the middle of the defense. You’re talking to linebackers. You’re talking to corners. You’re in the box. I shouldn’t say – not necessarily the free safety, but at times. You’re talking to ends. You want that position to have some leadership qualities and they have to talk to the players around them; so yeah, I think it’s a leadership position. That’s something we stress to that group – really the entire group – but that group in particular. They’re literally talking to linebackers, talking to corners, talking to ends. Within any defense, that’s just the case. The quiet guys or the guys who aren’t as vocal, at some point offensively, they’re going to put you in a position where they force you to talk and if you don’t, then they’ll take advantage. I do think that’s a prime position for leadership, communication, someone who’s vocal. Not every player is that, so if that’s not the case then you’ve just got to work around it at times; but yeah, I think it’s an important position.”
(Obviously a lot of moving parts in the secondary now. Where do you see S Adrian Colbert fitting into your secondary? What kind of skills does he bring to the…?) – “Adrian – obviously he got here yesterday, or really two days ago. (I) spent a lot of time with him defensively and in the kicking game, just trying to get him up to speed. Like you said, you’ve got to see what’s out there; but yeah, we definitely have some injuries and we’re going to have to – I don’t want to say, ‘piece some of this together’ – but we’re going to play with some new sets of players in the secondary. I think Adrian may be a part of that. It just depends on how practice goes today. I think we hit on some of the early-down stuff yesterday. Today and the next couple of days will be more situational. Again, more volume, more communication, how much can a guy handle with one week of prep; we’ve done it before in other weeks. We’ll see if he can carve out a role for himself.”
(With S Walt Aikens, he’s been here and he’s always been a special teams player. He really hasn’t had that many opportunities to play on defense. You mentioned him earlier this season as S Reshad Jones’ backup. Would playing him on defense negate or impact your special teams unit?) – “I think you all know the kicking game is very important to me. I think it’s a phase of the game that’s just as important as offense or defense. If you win that phase, you’ve got a good shot of winning the game, in my opinion. Walt is obviously an integral part to our kicking game. Obviously he’s our captain, and he’s a good player. He’s been productive. He made a big play last week. I think he split two (blocks), made a play that forced a backed-up situation which, you get a stop there, punt it and we’re in good field position. There’s a whole field position part of the game that I think (there is) a lot of hidden yardage there that I think is very important. We try to stress that to the team and Walt’s done a good job there. Again, defensively, when he gets his opportunities, I think he’s gone in there and done a good job. We may see him. We may see him out there.”
(Is there an overlying message that you want your DBs to keep in mind going up against Browns WR Odell Beckham Jr. and WR Jarvis Landry this week?) – “Yeah, there’s a lot of messages. (laughter) Obviously they’re two of the top receivers in the league; but I don’t want this game to be about those two guys in particular because then you lose sight of (Nick) Chubb and you lose sight of (Kareem) Hunt and you lose sight of (David) Njoku. There’s a lot going on here. Let’s read our keys, let’s play with our technique and fundamentals, let’s try to tackle these guys. They’re tough to tackle, there’s no doubt about that. I think everybody in the room knows that. I think everybody who watches football understands that. It’s a tough test. It’s a big challenge for not just our secondary but our entire team because it’s a talented group. I think everybody knows that.”
(Obviously you’ve watched the film of the Browns. How do you explain what has happened to their team considering the amount of talent that they have?) – “Look, my focus is on the group we’re going to see this week. Anyone can see it’s a very talented team. That’s what we’re preparing for. We’re preparing for their best and they’ve shown that. This is going to be a tough group to try to contain, to be honest with you. I can’t speak to what’s gone on. The only thing I can speak to is what I see on film and what I see is a lot of good players and a good scheme, and that’s what we’re preparing for.”
(Where do things stand regarding left tackle this week?) – “Well, Julién (Davenport) got dinged last week. He was able to practice yesterday to a degree. Obviously J’Marcus Webb has started the majority of the games for us there. We’ll see. I think we’ve got to play the group that we feel is the best group, like I’ve said week after week. But health is a part of that and that plays a role. We’ll try to get the best group we feel we can from a health standpoint, from a production standpoint. It could be another guy. We’ll just see how this turns out. If an injury doesn’t allow us to play those two, then we need a backup. All of those things are in play. We’ll have five guys out there – the best five guys.”
(Obviously that’s another unit that has a lot of moving parts. How do you gauge the chemistry that’s on that unit and how it can stay consistent?) – “I think that chemistry is built over the course of the season. I think we had – if you think back to where we were in Week 2 or 3 and where we were in Week 6 or 7, you can kind of see chemistry build. Then there’s ebbs and flows to every season, every game. I think there is good chemistry, regardless of who goes in there. I think we’ve just done a good job from a communication standpoint, knowing what to do, getting things organized. I think from that standpoint, we have good chemistry. Now it’s about execution. It’s about putting that together on a more consistent basis and that’s what we’ve been emphasizing this week, and really that’s at all positions, not just the o-line. But I like the guys we have there. They work hard, it’s important to them, they bring great effort and intensity on a daily basis and we just need to be more consistent.”
