Brian Flores – October 14, 2020
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Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Any plans to put DT Davon Godchaux on IR and do you have a player in mind that you might promote to the 53 if you do?) – “We’re still going through – (General Manager) Chris (Grier), myself, the scouting staff – we’re just still talking through kind of our options on that one, so I don’t have a concrete answer for you as far as any moves that we’re going to make. We’re still kind of talking through it; but yes, (Davon) Godchaux has an injury. We’re still kind of getting the information on that injury before we make the final or any final decisions.”
(We talked to TE Mike Gesicki before. He called QB Ryan Fitzpatrick his favorite teammate he’s ever played with. I wanted to ask you why do you think players love playing with him so much?) – “I think he just brings a lot of energy to the field. I would say first and foremost, he’s a great teammate, and that goes, I would say, far beyond what you guys see on the field. So that’s their interactions in the locker room, outside of the building – I think that all plays a part in why he (Mike Gesicki) said something like that. But on the field, you guys see his energy, his enthusiasm, his support for his teammates, his willingness to put his body on the line for his teammates. I think that’s why you get that type of response from a guy like Mike and other players as well; but to me that starts – what you see on the field is what you see on the field, but those relationships and that respect is earned in practice and meetings and in the locker room. Then it kind of manifests itself into the relationships you see on the field.”
(What has impressed you the most so far about DE Emmanuel Ogbah?) – “There’s a lot of things – his run game, pass game, work ethic, competitiveness. I think he’s tough, smart, he can play multiple positions. Ogbah’s been obviously improving and getting better every week, getting more familiar with the system, his role and his fit in the defense. I’ve been pleased with him.”
(In both wins this year, you guys have gotten out to 14-0 starts. I’m just curious if there’s something consistent or synonymous with playing that well that early and that fast, and how do you get that fast start against the Jets on Sunday?) – “We always talk about playing fast, starting fast. It’s something that we harp on, on a weekly basis. Again, it’s football. The ball bounces a few different ways, so anything can happen and we’ve got to be able to play any type of game. When we start fast and when we’ve started fast this season – we’re five games in – we’ve started fast twice and we won those games. When we didn’t start fast, we didn’t win those games. Every game is a little bit different. I think there’s some – if we can get going early, we want to and that’s always a good thing; but we’ve got to be ready to play any type of game, and we’ve talked about that as a team. You’re up, you’re down, it’s a back-and-forth, it’s a defensive game, it’s an offensive game. We’ve got to be able to adjust and we try to play any style because every week it’s a little bit different based on your opponent, based on a lot of factors. But starting fast has always been something we put a lot of emphasis on.”
(I wanted to get your reaction to Jets RB Le’Veon Bell getting released. What does he offer a team and how does this possibly change the Jets attack?) – “The Jets have got a lot of good backs, so – (Frank) Gore, (La’Mical) Perine – they’ve got good skill players over there offensively, so I think they’ll be okay. Look, Le’Veon Bell is a great player. I think we all know that. He’s had a lot of production in this league – run, pass and just a dynamic player. For us, our preparation doesn’t change. Obviously he won’t be there or obviously that transaction hasn’t officially gone through – so that’s what it looks like, but our preparation doesn’t change. We’ll still go through the early downs and the third down and red zone, two-minute and get to know their players and their strengths and weaknesses and try to improve in all our areas – whether it’s run game, pass game, pass rush – and just try to get better and get the Dolphins better and also prepare for the Jets. Transactions happen every day and if this is – it sounds like this is going to be another one – then we have to prepare for the guys we’re going to see, which they still have good backs.”
(Speaking on that conversation, how do you improve your run game? Last week you did get over 100 yards, but the yards per carry average wasn’t high. I know you were playing with the lead, but where do you feel like your run game is right now?) – “It’s like every other area on this team. It could improve. So run game, play-action, run defense, pass defense, kickoff, kickoff return, punt, coaching; all of it can improve, so that’s what we’re trying to do on a daily basis. It starts in meetings. It starts in meetings and then you take it to walkthrough and then you go out there and practice and you try to improve and get better. Whether it’s blocking an eight-man front or one guy – getting seven-on-seven and the back beating the eight guy or something schematically that we could do that would help us in that phase of the game. But we’re doing that on a weekly basis and there are things that people think we’re struggling in, obviously; but also there are things that we might be having some success in. So we’re trying to improve every area – even the rover position. We’re trying to improve that position also. (laughter)”
(I’ve noticed that the Dolphins have been underdogs in every game you’ve coached – 21 straight times, the Dolphins are underdogs. That’s expected to change this week. My question is, what had it been like for you to be an underdog every time?) – “I’m not a big betting odds (guy). I’m not really big on that. I’m not really – the plus/minus, over/unders, I don’t really follow that or understand it very much. The underdog role, that’s not really something I think about. We just try to go out there, prepare for each opponent, give our best effort and try to win every week. I don’t really honestly know much about spreads. The underdog role, that’s not something I really think about too much. It’s not something that gives me a source of motivation. I think if you’re not motivated to play in this league, than you don’t belong in this league, whether you’re an underdog or not an underdog. It’s not something I put much stake into, quite honestly.”
(You said betting odds, plus/minus, over/under and spreads, I think you know a little bit. But my question for you is going back to leads, psychologically, what does that do for a team with a lot of young guys and guys still learning to play together through five games. How do you kind of reinforce that? Can early leads also translate to playing well late in games, when games are most decisive? Playing with a lead, psychologically, what does that do for a team with a lot of young guys on it and a team still five games in and trying to learn to play with each other, and how do you kind of let the guys know that if you get off to an early start, we can play great late in games as well?) – “I don’t think it’s automatic that you play (well) late, if you start fast. I think with any team – young, old – when you play well, you build confidence. That’s part of the reason you always want to start fast because if you play well early, you’re confident in the game plan, you’re confident in your teammates. Conversely, if you don’t play well (early), then you could potentially start pressing and doing things outside of your role or your responsibility. I think it’s important to start fast. I don’t think it guarantees that you’re going to finish strong. I think that’s a whole other entity to the game. That’s different, in my opinion. You may feel differently than that; but in my opinion, they are two totally different things. As far as the betting odds and spreads, yeah I know all of the terms; but -8, +8, I think anybody who has seen anything can tell you the terms, but I’m not much of a betting guy. That’s not something that I’ve spent a lot of time on.”
(What are things that make you nervous about a team that’s 0-5 and has a coach who is on the hot seat?) –“This is the National Football League. Every team has good players. On any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team. That’s my approach every week, whether the team’s undefeated, has won four out of five or hasn’t won any games. There is a competitive nature to these games that when you’re on the field and you see these guys compete, you understand what that is. I’m not taking anyone lightly. That’s going to be my message to the team. That’s how we should approach every game. That’s how every NFL team and player should approach every game. It’s the best of the best. Every team has good players. If you walk into a game thinking that somebody is going to lay down, you’re probably going to get the opposite, in my experience, in my time in this league.”
(I wanted to get an update on DE Shaq Lawson, and also DE Jason Strowbridge hasn’t been active for a game this season. Last week you guys needed a body on the defensive line and promoted a practice squad player. Where’s his status, in terms of Strowbridge, in terms of what he can contribute, and what’s he doing at practice?) – “I think we talked about this the other day as far as (Tyshun) Render being up over Strowbridge. Again, a lot of people take that and you just see the one position – d-line; but there is a special teams element here with Durham (Smythe) being down. Render’s role is kind of d-line, but also some of those tight end/d-end roles in the kicking game. I forgot who asked me about that on Sunday or Monday, but I think we talked about that one. That’s was really – I think Strowbridge has done a good job. He’s getting better, he’s improving. There are only so many spots and we’ve got to fill all of the kicking game roles, all of the defensive line roles, all of the offensive line roles, etc., etc. That’s part of what goes into the decision making to bring guys up or not. That was the case with Render. It was really more kicking game than it was d-line. There is no real knock on ‘Strow,’ but just as far as being able to fill the team and have backups involved in the kicking game, that’s part of that. Look, as we make decisions – myself, (General Manager) Chris (Grier), our coaching staff and our personnel staff – again, like I’ve said, there are a lot of things that go into those decisions that you guys may not know. That’s ok. You ask and I’ll let you guys know our thought process. But yeah, that was it on Render. On Shaq Lawson, he’s getting better. He’s rehabbing, he’s getting treatment. I expect to see him out at practice today. We’ll see how this goes in practice. We want to see him out there obviously. If he’s healthy enough, we’ll get him out there.”
