Brian Flores – November 22, 2020 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 22, 2020
Postgame – Denver
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Why the switch to QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and was QB Tua Tagovailoa injured?) – “No. No, Tua wasn’t injured. We just felt like it was the best move at that point in the game. We had to get to two-minute mode and we just felt like he gave us the best chance to win the game which we had an opportunity at the end – to tie it, I should say.”
(What do you think Denver’s defense did so well to make QB Tua Tagovailoa look uncomfortable and then obviously force that change there at the end?) – “We knew this all week. It’s a good defense. [Broncos Head Coach] Vic Fangio is one of the top defensive minds in the game. They’ve got good players, they had good scheme, they pressured us, they mixed the coverages and they did a good job defensively. We’ve got to execute better. We had some opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of them. In a tightly contested game we’ve got on the road, we’ve got to play better.”
(Do you leave this game needing to make any wholesale change at the quarterback position? Is QB Ryan Fitzpatrick going to be in line to be a starter or…?) – “No changes.”
(Was there anything – I know QB Tua Tagovailoa came in with the foot injury – did that have any factor in his mobility or anything that he was able to do today?) – “No, he played against a good defensive group. They did a good job. I think they ended up with five or six sacks, they pressured us, they did a good job on the back end from a coverage standpoint, and we just struggled to get going. When that’s going on throughout the course of a game, you’ve got to try to do something to create some momentum. That’s why we made the switch. He’s (Tua Tagovailoa) healthy.”
(Are you concerned at all what this might do to QB Tua Tagovailoa’s confidence?) – “He’s a confident kid. No, not at all. I think he’s dealt with a lot of adversity. He’s a confident kid and I think he’s fine.”
(I wanted to ask you about your run defense today. What were they doing particularly that gave you guys issues?) – “It wasn’t good enough. We’ve got to do a better job on the edge, we’ve got to do a better job tackling, we’ve got to do a better job fighting pressure with pressure, defeating blocks. I think we started the game decently, but they made some adjustments and we’ve got to make better adjustments as a staff and our players have to play better.”
(They had six sacks. I’m wondering if you thought some of those were on the quarterback and that was part of the switch or was it all protection?) – “I’ve got to watch the film. It looked like it was a combination of the protection and maybe holding it a little bit too long, guys not getting open. I’ve got to watch the film, but at the end of the day if we weren’t moving the ball effectively. We just felt like we needed to give ourselves a spark.”
(What did you see from your team from the moment that LB Andrew Van Ginkel caused that fumble on the 1-yard line and the play he made there obviously after the penalties? What did you see from that point and then on the drive, what was going right for your offense on that drive starting with that terrible field position?) – “This is a resilient group. Things looked bleak there on the goal line, we make a play, we get on the 1-yard line, we start to make a drive, we put it into the end zone and we get an opportunity to punch it in and perhaps tie the game there. This game comes down to two or three plays and the most critical plays are normally at the end. I think ‘Fitz’ [Ryan Fitzpatrick] was trying to fire a ball in there and they made a good play. [Broncos S Justin] Simmons is a good player, we talked about him all week. Hopefully we learn from it. I think there are other plays throughout the game that we didn’t make from dropped balls, from a protection standpoint, defensively in the run game. It looked like we came clean on a punt block and we didn’t make that one either. We’ve got to take advantage of our opportunities. That’s the way it is in this league. I think this is a resilient group. We’ll keep our heads up, we’ll get back in there and prepare for our next opponent. We’ll try to – I don’t want to say turn it around – but try to get a victory next week.”
(I was also going to ask about. Coming in you guys were riding on a five-game win streak. Some of your deficiencies were showed in this game. I guess moving forward what are some things you guys have to do to get back on the win again?) – “I think there are always things you want to improve. I think we talk about that regardless of the outcome of a game. Good, bad; I think there are problems – there’s never been a perfect game. There are problems in different areas of offense, defense and special teams every week. Whether you win or lose, you try to make those adjustments and make those changes and fix things regardless of the outcome. This week’s no different. The only difference is that we didn’t win the game as opposed to previous weeks. Every week we know there are things we can improve on. We try to improve on them on a daily basis, and we’ll continue to do that.”
(How concerned are you about the pass protection of your offensive line? That seemed to have been a bright spot for that group.) – “You’re right, that’s been okay and it hasn’t been something that’s been spotlighted in weeks prior. Obviously we’ll address it. I have a lot confidence in all the players on this team – offense, defense and special teams, as well as our coaches. We’ll go back, watch the film, make the corrections and try to improve and get better over the course of the week, and hopefully play better next week.”
