Brian Flores – November 8, 2020 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 8, 2020
Postgame – Arizona
Head Coach Brian Flores (transcribed by Arizona Cardinals)
(On overcoming adversity throughout the week in the road win) – “First off a lot of credit goes to them, that’s a good football team there. Kliff Kingsbury is doing a great job over there, Steve Keim, Mr. Bidwill, there doing a great job there. That’s a tough, physical, that’s a good football team. Kyler Murray is a fantastic player. They’re doing a great job over there that’s a tough football team. I think our guys dealt with a lot of adversity this week, these last couple of days especially. I talked about our mental toughness last week, I think that showed up again today. Hard-fought victory, players stepping up, coaches stepping up, we had assistant and strength coaches coming in, Kaleb Thornhill came in there and was helping us from a coaching standpoint. We had a lot of people step up and help and it was definitely a team victory.”
(On QB Tua Tagovailoa’s performance) – “He made a lot of plays for us, a lot of big plays, especially down the stretch when we needed it. It was kind of a back-and-forth game, they made plays, we made plays. The stage wasn’t too big for him tonight, he played well. We had a lot of guys play well, the offensive line, backs, tight ends, a lot of guys contributed. It was a team victory, we made plays on all three sides of the ball and that’s what you need to win a game like that against an opponent like that.”
(On K Jason Sanders field goal to take the lead in the fourth quarter) – “We have a lot of confidence in him. At that point in the game its fourth-and-one a lot of people want to go for it we decided to take the three points and take the lead. We have a lot of confidence in Jason, I think it was a 50-yard kick if I’m not mistaken. Good snap, good hold, good kick, good protection. He made it and that was the difference, he made it and they didn’t make it, that’s the difference in the game.”
(On the Miami coaching staff positive COVID-19 tests) – “We’re not going to disclose any medical information on any of the coaches. We’re just going to follow the protocols and the guidelines set by the league. (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle Johnston, (VP, Football Administration) Brandon Shore these guys have been on top of it the last couple of days. Again, when I say team effort I don’t just mean the guys that are on the field. This was an organization win. We’ve got a lot of good people here, they work hard, it’s important to them, and I have a lot of appreciation for all of those people from the medical staff, to the strength and conditioning staff, to our nutritionists to our equipment staff. We’ve got a lot of good people on the operation staff, we’ve got a lot of good people here. It’s important to everyone and that’s what we’re trying to build, that type of team atmosphere, building those relationships, that kind of comradery and I think that shows up on the field. I’m proud of this group, I’m proud of this team and when I say team I’m not just talking about the 53 players and 16 practice squad players and the coaches, I’m talking about everyone.”
(On Tagovailoa’s resolve and performance in his second career start) – “It was a team effort. Tua did his part. It wasn’t a perfect game. He made some mistakes like we all do. I made some mistakes for sure in this game. But he fought back, we fought back as an offense, as a defense, as special teams. We gave ourselves a chance to win it at the end and we made plays at the end. Sometimes it comes down to one play on each side and to win in these types of competitive games against good teams those are the plays we need to make and essentially we made one more than they did. I’m telling you guys that’s a good football team. Kudos to (Defensive Coordinator) Josh Boyer, he called a great game. That’s a damn good play caller over there in Kingsbury. So a lot of credit to them. That was a hard-fought battle across the board.”
(On the challenge of defending the Cardinals offense) – “When you play against good players, good coaches it’s hard, it’s not easy. It’s not easy to call that game. Feel free to call it if you feel like you can call a better game against that group then go ahead. It’s about trying to make as many adjustments as possible. There was a little bit of a chess match there between Kliff (Kingsbury) and Josh (Boyer) and what we were doing versus what they were doing going back-and-forth. That’s what you love about the game from a coaching standpoint. But at the end of the day our players executed and they won one more play then they did. It’s hard to win in this league against good football teams and we were able to pull it out today. Our effort, our energy, our execution in critical situations that’s what you need in ball games like that.”
(On when he learned he would be without coaches and the positive tests throughout the team) – “We’re going to follow the protocols and the guidelines set forth by the league and that’s what we’ve done the last few days. The protocol says that those coaches had to be out. We’ve been in constant communication like I said. Kyle Johnston has done a tremendous job, Brandon Shore has done a tremendous job and they’ve really been transparent and honest. Nothing is more important than helping this team, I want to be clear about that, nothing is more important than helping this team. If that means that I’m out, QBs are out, coaches are out and that’s the best thing for the team from a health standpoint then that’s what we’re going to do. Those are the conversations that we had between league and our front office in conjunction with myself. Again, I can’t speak this enough, nothing is more important than helping this team. We’re going to do everything possible to contain the virus. We all know there’s a pandemic, the numbers are going up, infections are going up on a daily basis. You guys have heard me say it, you can do everything possible, you can distance, and it spreads in the air. We’re trying to do everything we can and unfortunately we had to deal with some of the COVID-19 protocols of the league and we’re going to do our best to mitigate any risk. We’re just going to follow the lead of what the doctor says and the staff there. That’s what’s important now.”
