Brian Flores – November 5, 2020
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Thursday, November 5, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(T Austin Jackson was back out there yesterday doing something at practice. What were you able to see with him the first time out and does he have a chance for Sunday?) – “He was down for a few weeks, so we designated him to return. He was out at practice yesterday, went through a couple drills. Obviously like any player, when you’re out for some weeks, there’s a little bit of rust, so just trying to knock some of that off. So a couple of drills here and there and we’ll just take it day to day and see where it goes; but it was good to get him out there.”
(I wanted to ask you about your running back situation. We saw RB Matt Breida obviously with the hamstring on the injury list yesterday. Without RB Myles Gaskin and even RB Patrick Laird is a little dinged up, if it is RB Jordan Howard as your featured back, what has he shown you in the last month when he’s been unable to play – well he hasn’t been activated to play. What has he shown you that’s given you confidence that he can be the guy Sunday against the Cardinals?) – “Just so you guys know, Myles (Gaskin) will go on IR today. Myles Gaskin will go on IR; but yeah, we’ve got some guys banged up. Jordan Howard – he’s always practiced hard. I think he’s a good runner. That’s why we brought him here, so he’ll get an opportunity and Salvon Ahmed will get an opportunity as well and Patrick Laird. We like our depth at that position, so those guys will get an opportunity. They’ve got to practice well and hopefully they perform well in the game.”
(I wanted to ask you about WR Antonio Callaway. You said that you hadn’t seen him in cleats. You have now. How did he perform? And through this process he’s been through, why are you confident that he’s going to take advantage of this opportunity when he hasn’t in the past?) – “It was one practice, so yeah, I’ve seen him in cleats now. I’ve seen him in a helmet. He worked hard in practice yesterday. The opportunities I’ve had to spend with him, he’s excited about being here and being able to practice and play football. So when you have someone with that type of attitude, you hope the best for him and he’s got to do the work. It’s not really – what I think doesn’t matter; it’s about his work ethic and his ability to take advantage of this opportunity.”
(Obviously you just mentioned RB Jordan Howard, RB Salvon Ahmed and RB Patrick Laird. Does that mean RB Matt Breida is unlikely or does he still have a chance?) – “No, obviously he’s dealing with – it doesn’t mean (that). It really doesn’t. I just didn’t mention him. He’s still got a chance. Hamstrings are tough, so we’ll see how this goes throughout the week; but again, we like the depth at that position and we’ll see how it goes.”
(I was trying to ask Rams DL Michael Brockers had talked about your Cover 0 blitzes that you guys were running against them. He said he had never seen it so frequently. What is it about your personnel this year that allows you to be comfortable in running that with that frequency?) – “I think (Defensive Coordinator) Josh (Boyer) has done a good job as far as game planning and trying to put guys in position to have some success, and we ran some (Cover) 0 blitzes a year ago and I think everybody has them. So I don’t think we’re doing anything that’s different than a lot of other teams. I think it’s about execution, it’s about preparation, it’s about getting comfortable doing things at practice, whether it’s a (Cover) 0 blitz or eight people in coverage. Any way you slice it, you’ve got to execute. That’s a week-to-week thing, so again, that was last week and really we’ve got a tough test this week against the Cardinals.”
(Can you talk a little bit about the challenges that come with facing a team that’s coming off a bye? Obviously they picked up some pretty big momentum before the bye, beating the Seahawks in overtime and just kind of how they will be rested and what that does for you guys?) – “It’s a good football team. That’s the biggest test. They are coming off a bye, so they’ve had a lot of time to watch us and study us, and come up with a game plan. They have good coaches, so more time is always a good thing as a coach. You can dissect what the opponent is doing – you just have a more time to dissect it and find something that you think will work. They are a good team. They’re talented and well coached. This will be a tough test. It would be a tough test if they played last week, and it’s an even tougher test that they had last week off. They will be fresh. They’ll be rearing to go.”
(We talked about the drops that WR Preston Williams had on Sunday. He also had two really good catches in that game as well. When a player like that is giving you good plays and maybe having some plays where it doesn’t go his way, I don’t think Preston probably needs it but how do you just make sure that he stays levelheaded and committed to coaching and doing the basics to make sure those plays happen for him in the future?) – “As a coach, you want to be encouraging; but at the same time, you have to let players know that it’s important that they execute. That’s part of the execution: throwing, catching, blocking, defeating blocks, tackling, breaking tackles, that’s all part of the execution. The things we work on on a daily basis, it’s important to execute. If we don’t and it doesn’t work out, he’s disappointed, we’re disappointed. With Preston, I can yell at him all I want and he’s probably going to be more upset than I am. I think part of it for him is helping him move forward and move onto the next play, because we need to do that also. Every player is a little bit different. If we just continue to work on catching the football, and route running, and route techniques and all of those things, and move on from any negative plays.”
(Even 10 to 15 years ago, there was a stigma that were quarterbacks six feet and under. You had to be 6-3, 6-4 and 220 pounds was the prototype. Obviously this weekend you’re going to have two top five quarterbacks that are six feet and under. Has thinking in your mind changed or have things just changed when identifying and thinking out quarterbacks in a different light?) – “I think good players come in all shapes and sizes. Some people have their prototypes, let’s call it, at each position. Some have them at quarterback and o-line and d-line. I think there are good players, good quarterbacks, who are short. There have been good quarterbacks that are tall. I think good players are good players are good players. Now that you mention the quarterback, there were a couple of things out there, let’s call it a source close to Dolphins thinking. They’ve been saying that we are auditioning Tua (Tagovailoa) and I’m just going to tell you about my thinking. We brought Tua here because we believe in him. The same as all of the other draft picks. We believe in developing players. I think you guys have heard me talk about improving players on a daily basis. That would be the opposite of giving somebody a 10-game audition. I guess that’s my thinking on that, just so everybody’s clear. What was the rest of your question? You just kind of piqued something that had been on my mind.”
(My question was about quarterbacks that aren’t 6-3, 240 pounds?) – “For me it’s about the talent level of the quarterback, the leadership, things of that nature. The intangibles. There is a lot more to playing that position than height, weight and speed, as well as every other position.”
(You started QB Tua Tagovailoa because you needed to see or wanted to develop him. So you’re comfortable with what comes out of these 10 games?) – “Yes. I’m comfortable with what comes out of these 10 games. I think since I’ve been here, I think everybody has heard me talk about the development of players, improvement on a daily basis. So I just don’t see how someone close to the Dolphins thinking could say that this would be a 10-game audition. I’m not sure where or who that came from. Just put that out there.”
