Brian Flores – November 5, 2021
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Friday, November 5, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(As you know on the injury list, QB Tua Tagovailoa has been listed as limited with a finger. Will he play Sunday?) – “So, yeah he banged in the game. Obviously he was able to finish the game. Some swelling, a little sore. He’s limited at practice, so we’ll see how he does today. We’ll just monitor it over the next couple of days.”
(Are you optimistic he’ll play?) – “Yeah.”
(How has it impacted his practice week?) – “Obviously it’s on the throwing hand, so some discomfort. It’s affected him a little bit. Look, he’s a tough kid. He’s worked through some discomfort before. We’ll see how it goes today and just kind of monitor it over the next 48 hours.”
(I don’t know much can you get into it because I don’t know what the rules are. I freely admit that. But General Manager Chris Grier told us Wednesday that when a player becomes available, you do your due diligence. There is a prominent player getting released today. Do you anticipate due diligence being applied again in that case?) – “I do, yes. I do. We check the waiver wire every day. We look at it, we go through it. Yeah, I expect due diligence on any player that’s on the wire. We will always try to do what we feel is best for the organization – for the team and the organization. I think we’ve said that time and time again. Yeah, I expect due diligence.”
(When you have a Thursday night game on the schedule – I know it’s one week at a time, one game at a time – but at what point do you start adjusting schedules and meetings to look a little bit ahead in terms of getting everyone ready for a short week?) – “That’s pretty much done already. The focus right now is on Houston. But we’re going to have to turn the page quickly. With that from a planning standpoint, we have an idea of what we’re going to do. But plan that, know what we’re going to do, then center all of our focus on the Texans this weekend.”
(Over the course of the year, QB Tyrod Taylor only played six quarters for them before he got hurt. How much does that change things when you find out midstream that they’re going back to a quarterback that hasn’t played in almost two months versus what you’ve been prepping for and seeing on film of late?) – “It doesn’t change too much. Obviously Tyrod is a very different quarterback than Davis Mills. But our fundamentals, our technique, our communication – we don’t really change our calls all that much. Just understanding that we may see more QB runs or zone-read type of plays. Who has the quarterback, who has the dive player – those things we spend a little bit more time on. But those are kind of already embedded in the call, I would say – the defensive call. They may not apply with a different type of quarterback, but when they do apply, they apply.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Jerome Baker. Obviously last week he you decided to sit him. How has he looked in practice this week and considering the nature of his position, where there is a lot of running involved from a coverage standpoint, do you feel comfortable putting a player who has a knee injury in those roles? Or do you have to shift his roles?) – “Any player we put out there, we feel comfortable playing. Obviously we didn’t feel comfortable last week, which is why he didn’t play. He’s looked good in practice – better in practice, I would say. He is itching to get out there. He wants to get out there. He wants to help this team. We’ll see what today looks like. That will tell us a lot about what his status will be for the game. We’ve still got some time – 48 hours. But today will tell us a lot.”
(With LB Duke Riley, you had some plays where you felt his presence there. How comfortable are you with him knowing and understanding the playbook and his roles and not creating busted plays?) – “I thought Duke went in there and did a nice job last week. He was ready to go. I thought he did a good job of communication. He had the green dot and handled that for us. We’re hopeful that ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) can play, but if he can’t then Duke will step in and I’m confident that he’ll play well.”
(Whether it’s QB Tua Tagovailoa with the finger, LB Jerome Baker with the knee or anybody else, the player is always going to say ‘I’m good, I can go.’ How trusting are you – when it’s time to actually make the decision, how much does the player input weigh in that process? Or because the player is always going to say I’m good, do you not take that into account?) – “I think our guys are honest with us. They are always going to want to play. But we tell them to be honest with us. Obviously we’re dealing with something. You might be good on one thing, but is there something that you’re not. Whether it’s planting to the left or whatever the situation may be. We try to get them to be honest with us with at least that, so that we can make a true assessment. I think they all understand that we’ve got to always do what’s best for the team and I don’t think they would want to put the team in any jeopardy or any situation that wouldn’t be helpful to the team. All of these guys want to play – whether it’s Jerome, whether it’s Tua. They are going to do everything they can to get out there. I do listen to them. I try to take myself, (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston), (General Manager) Chris (Grier), offensive, defensive coaches based on what player it is. We try to make a collective decision on what the best thing is for the team.”
(Do you expect S Brandon Jones to be able to play with the ankle and if he can’t, has S Sheldrick Redwine, in light of being left back home last Sunday, shown he could make a case if you need him behind S Eric Rowe and S Jevon Holland?) – “I expect Brandon – he’s obviously been dealing with the ankle really all year. I’m optimistic he’ll be out there. Sheldrick has had a couple good days so we’ll continue to work with him and if we need him, I think he’ll be ready.”
(How is WR DeVante Parker doing?) – “DeVante with the hamstring, I would say he had a setback the other day so he will probably be listed as doubtful for the game.”
(What’s your message to the fans, especially those that are thinking about buying a ticket to come over on Sunday? Obviously not on a good start, why should they decide to get the ticket and come?) – “I think we’ve got a team that works hard, gives great effort, that believes in each other, that wants to win and wants to win for their fans. That’s why.”
(For clarification purposes, did WR DeVante Parker get hurt in the game or in practice this week?) – “Probably a combination of soreness from the game but probably call it reaggravated in practice.”
(With that in mind, is this a good time for WR Preston Williams to get back in the lineup and show some things?) – “Potentially. Potentially.”
(Obviously we would never ask you and you wouldn’t tell us what WR Preston Williams did to be disciplined. Was it so egregious that he can’t move past it or was it something that you are able to look past, give him a fresh start and has he seized on that at all by practicing well this week?) – “I mean look, players make mistakes. Coaches make mistakes. I’ve said this before. I’m not one to hold grudges. I think you have to move past things. Preston has done a good job this week. He’s practiced well. We’ll take it one day at a time and see how it goes. If he gets an opportunity, I’m hopeful he’ll take advantage of it.”
(I wanted to ask you about the center position with C Greg Mancz and C Austin Reiter. Greg was active last week and Austin continued to start. Is that just health-based or performance-based in terms of you guys like what you’ve seen from Austin?) – “We like what we’ve seen from both guys. Greg is still coming off of the injury. Just felt like it was best to go with Austin and use Greg in a backup role if we needed him. Still kind of working through that situation for this week as well and today will tell us a lot.”
(So it has been a competition this week, I’m assuming?) – “Yeah, yes.”
(Do you feel a little snake bitten at receiver? You all made the effort to upgrade with WR William Fuller V and WR DeVante Parker, who had been mostly healthy the previous two years. Do you feel snake bitten at the position at all?) – “I don’t think that’s a word I would ever use. This is the National Football League. Guys go down at all positions. We just have to move forward and do the best we can with the guys we have. We have a lot of confidence in the guys we have and yeah, we just move forward.”
(With WR Albert Wilson, obviously we all saw the start to camp but there hasn’t really been much there this season or since that first week. What do you hope to get from him for the rest of this season?) – “Good communication, good fundamentals, good techniques, good route-running, good blocking downfield and just the straightforward, standard, this is what we’re looking for at the receiver position. I think he has done a lot of those things. I just think we need to take advantage of our opportunities and I think he’ll do that.”
