Brian Flores – November 4, 2019
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Monday, November 4, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(You spoke yesterday about concern about complacency. Is that seriously something you worry about in this situation?) – “Yeah. I think it’s…”
(Human nature?) – “I think it is human nature. It’s easy to feel good about a win. I think it’s something that I need to talk about with our team after really any success. Really it’s not necessarily one win, it’s just success. I’m sure the guys feel good. Everybody feels good; but at the same time, we’ve got to turn the page and move on to the next opponent which is a good opponent.”
(How did you celebrate last night? May I ask?) – “I went out to dinner with my wife and we just talked like we normally do. It was a good night.”
(Did you have any messages, phone calls or anything that were special to you last night?) – “Yeah, I got a lot of messages. A lot of well wishes, a lot of congratulatory messages from Pee Wee coaches to high school coaches to college coaches to friends. I got a lot of messages. It was well-received. It was nice to get those. I’ve got a lot of support. This team has a lot of support. It was a good feeling really for me – and at dinner last night my wife, she talked to me about a Dolphins fan who’s been a lifelong Dolphins fan and he brings his son to every home game. She’s seen him the first few games and he just wanted to get a win and celebrate that with his son, so I thought about that and how special that must have been for those two last night. I don’t know how many other situations there are with that. It’s good to get one. Now, the only thing better than one victory is two.”
(Did you get much reaction in the restaurant?) – “No. Nobody knows who I am. (laughter)”
(Is that true? No one came up to you?) – “No. I hide in the corners anyway. (laughter)”
(What did you see from your secondary yesterday playing their first game with CB Xavien Howard on the injured reserve list? They seemed to come through pretty well.) – “I thought they played hard. I think they tackled well. Those are some things (we) harped on a lot last week. I thought we tackled well. I thought the communication could have been better in some of those – let’s call it traffic situation, pick situations – but we’ve got some young guys in there, new guys. I think ‘Pat’ (Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham) and (Defensive Pass Game Coordinator/Cornerbacks Coach) Josh Boyer, I think they do a really good job of getting guys ready to play and really locking in and honing in on these four or five things that we need to get done to compete and be productive in the game. I thought the players executed that. Obviously Nik (Needham) had a big play in the game. Jomal Wiltz had a big play in the game. I thought Eric Rowe played really well. I thought Bobby (McCain) played well. I thought as a unit, the communication was good. (The secondary) put together a solid performance, took care of the deep part of the field, tackled, communication. When you do those things, you normally play some pretty solid defense.”
(What did you see on CB Jomal Wiltz’s interception on his end? We saw LB Raekwon McMillan apply the pressure but it was a pretty athletic play there.) – “An athletic play. I think a lot of traffic on that play. I think he fought through a lot of traffic. They were trying to get (Jamison) Crowder open on a flat route and there were some picks and rubs and traffic there. (Jomal Wiltz) kind of got through it all and applied the pressure and let’s call it a 50/50 ball. They can go get it or we can go get it and we made the play. It was a big play in the game. I’m glad we made it. Jomal is a guy who’s been on the practice squad and is finally getting an opportunity to play. He’s trying to take advantage of it. He’s played well. He’s done a good job from a communication standpoint. I think he’s getting better each week.”
(I think three sacks were a season high for you all. What was working for you on that end?) – “I think the guys are really doing a – they’re working better together on a lot of the rush games (and) the rush communication. (They) understand what the protection – what protection we’re going to get and how you (beat it). You can beat any protection if you know what it is, so the hard part is knowing what it is. I shouldn’t say you can beat anyone. You have an opportunity to, and then you’ve got to execute. I think we understand what teams, from a protection standpoint, want to do. Everyone’s got three, four or five protections – different protections – and we try to attack the protections a little bit in a way that gives us an advantage. That showed a little bit yesterday and we were able to get a little bit more pressure, which we needed. We need that, that group.”
(How is WR Preston Williams?) – “So Preston – this will be a season ending injury for Preston. I’m not going to go into details about what it is. It’s a big loss for us. I talked to him this morning. He’s done an incredible job, really. He came in as a free agent and he has really kind of grown over the last six months, seven months. I was devastated for the kid, and he was as well. I told him this was just a bump in the road and he’ll be back. I believe if he attacks his rehab and his training the way he did from the time he got here, he’ll be just fine.”
(How good could WR Preston Williams be do you think?) – “He could be a very good player in this league, but it’s up to him. There are a lot of players in this league with a lot of potential and a lot of talent; but it’s up to him to put in the work, put in the preparation, the training, the diet, the sleep, the nutrition – all of it. It all counts. I think he’s definitely on the right track to get the most out of his talent and his ability. In some cases, a setback is a good thing. It will allow him to train and really lock in on all of those other things. I know that’s a little bit earlier than we would have if he played an entire season. I think that’s the kind of approach he needs to take on it.”
(Could WR Preston Williams potentially do some work at training camp?) – ‘It’s way too early to tell. It’s way too early.”
(Would you hope that this won’t go into next year?) – “I’m not going to get – we’re a couple of hours after (a diagnosis) so I don’t want to speculate on a timetable here. I think the best thing for him is to take it one day at a time than put a, ‘Hey, we’ll be back on this day.’ I mean that’s crazy in a lot of ways. We’ll just take it one day at a time and try to get better – not just the injury, but every aspect. He’s still a young kid. He’s still a young kid. He needs a lot of – I mean that’s what we’re here for. We’re here to mentor, we’re here to teach, we’re here to coach in every area. In the building, outside the building, that’s our job.”
(You said earlier you have one victory and what’s better than one victory is two. What do you envision the rest of the season is going to be like for you guys in the second half? What’s the goal you guys want?) – “Well we’re starting the third quarter of the season now. I try to break this up into quarters. I think the second quarter we were better than we were the first quarter. I’d like for us to be better in the third quarter than we were in the second quarter and the first quarter. Better communication, better fundamentals, better technique, better execution. We could obviously be better with the turnovers. We’ll try to continue to improve in the areas we are doing some good things. That’s my vision. We’re always going to come out and compete, play hard and try to play tough. It will always be that way. We want to execute and try to play at a good clip, at a good level, at a winning level. That’s the goal. Whether we achieve that, that’s up to us. If we fall short on our process, or fall short on our preparation for a myriad of reasons – it could be complacency, it could be fatigue, it could be a lot of reasons why that happens. Each team and each individual is a little bit different. We’ve got to try to ward that off. That’s our job as coaches, to remind them. It’s a long season. Guys get tired and we need to fight through it.”
(Without WR Preston Williams, where do you turn now? You’ve got several guys as back-up receivers who are working their way back from injury or back and forth on and off the roster. Where are you going to look for help?) – “I think you’re hinting at – Isaiah Ford has been on and off the roster. I think he’s definitely somebody we have a lot of confidence in. That’s definitely one option. From DeVante (Parker) to Allen Hurns to Albert (Wilson) to Jakeem (Grant), I think we just need the next guy to step up. At the end of the day, that’s really what it boils down to. They know that. I think those guys are up for the challenge. While Preston is a big loss, it opens up an opportunity for some of these other guys.”
(We say a lot of good individual performances in the passing game. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and TE Mike Gesicki and WR DeVante Parker and WR Preston Williams. Why did it work so well as a unit? Why did it work so well together yesterday?) – “I thought – we talked all week about good spacing, good route detail, ultimately getting open and catching the football. We did have some drops, which we can eliminate those. I’d say at the end of the day, our guys did a good job of releases, getting into the route, our route detail and technique at the top of the route, getting themselves open and they made some tough catches. I thought Mike, this was his best game, I thought he played with an attitude and an energy that we need to see on a week-to-week basis. He was fired up. I love that about him. I got on him a little bit. You can’t get fired up and get animated and then come out because you’re a little gassed. Let’s save our energy then. (laughter) But he played well. I think our o-line did a good job from a protection standpoint and gave us some time to throw it. Honestly, it starts with ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick). I think there is a lot of confidence that he’ll get them the ball with an opportunity to make a play. He gets the whole offense going. He’s done a good job. He’s a leader and they follow.
(What are you thinking at right guard with C/G Keaton Sutherland and C/G Chris Reed? Who’s ahead or what are you looking for there?) – “We put Shaq (Calhoun) – we made him inactive. I would say, we’ve talked about this as a total team – the rookie wall is a real thing and we’ve got to push through that, so I guess that’s my message to Shaq and all rookies. Shaq’s done a good job so he’ll be in the mix. You just mentioned Keaton and Chris, but Shaq’s definitely in the mix. We’ll continue to go out there and do a good job in practice and let’s be clear: Shaq’s done a very good job the entire year. I don’t want this to get misconstrued as me jumping on Shaq. I think he’s done a good job. This is a good young player. This is somebody I have a lot of confidence in; but the rookie wall is a real thing and I think the fatigue is starting to set in a little bit and that was part of the reason why he was inactive. I just want to be, let’s be clear on that one. So yeah, he’ll be in the mix there. I think we’ve got three guys who we feel good about and based on practice, based on matchups, we’ll play who we feel most confident in.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has talked about how he feels like he’s made for this kind of situation this season with this team and the kind of player that he is. You’re smiling. I assume you agree with that? What did you see particularly yesterday?) – “’Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is made for any situation so that’s why I’m smiling. (laughter)”
(How has that been the case that QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s helped keep things pointed in the right direction with some pretty tough sledding at times?) – “I think he’s an experienced player. He understands this offense. By all accounts, he’s pretty much a coach on the field, so he can kind of direct traffic and point guys in the right direction. I think in a lot of ways, that’s probably what he’s alluding to, and I see that, too. He’s done a good job from that standpoint and he’s a confident person. The other guys feed off of that confidence and I think that’s helped us across the board, not just offensively. So I would agree with him.”
