Brian Flores – October 15, 2020
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Thursday, October 15, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I wanted to ask you a question about the rushing attack and how you would evaluate it going into Game 6. RB Matt Breida, RB Myles Gaskin, and RB Jordan Howard, they are collectively averaging 2.8 yards per carry. Obviously that can’t satisfy you, I assume.) – “Just like everything else, we’ve got to improve the running game, play action, red zone, two-minute. We’re working on it on a daily basis. Those guys are working hard along with the offensive line, the full backs and tight ends, getting the blocking where we need it and running it better. These guys are working hard. I think we’ve ran it effectively in some instances; but we can be better overall. That’s the case in really a lot of areas, offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. These guys are working to get better and improve. Thankfully we have another opportunity to try to go out there and improve on Sunday.”
(When we were in Santa Clara, I don’t recall hearing anything in the press box about LB Kyle Van Noy. Can you explain what happened and was it something that flared up after? And if he does have an absence, how does that affect your defense moving forward?) – “Kyle’s got a little bit of a groin. I’d say it’s something that happened after. These guys, they fight through something’s during the game, which he obviously did. He’s doing everything he can to get back out there on the field from a practice, from a rehab standpoint, from a treatment standpoint. He’s a tough guy. Obviously (he’s) a focal part, a big part of the defense and this team – I shouldn’t say just the defense – from a leadership standpoint. He’s doing everything he can to get back. Hopefully we’ll see him today. Obviously when somebody is nicked up, you go through the contingency plans, but we do that every week. We’ve got a plan if we have to limit his snaps; but that’s the case for every position. I think that happens across the league. You’ve got to have a backup plan for everything, especially in this climate. Kyle’s a tough guy. We’ll see – hopefully he’s out there today.”
(I guess somebody asked you about RB Le’Veon Bell yesterday and defending him with the Jets. Obviously now he’s a free agent. I wanted to ask if you guys are going to try to go after him to add to your team?) – “That’s really more of a question for (General Manager) Chris Grier. My focus right now is on the Jets and the players they have on their team. I’ve said this before, he’s a very good player. As a personnel staff, as an organization, we look at anyone who is available that could help our team. Obviously all conversations stay internal and quite honestly, my focus has been on preparation for this week. It’s really more of a question for Chris and the personnel staff. But yeah, he’s a good player. Our focus is on this week, on the Jets and the preparation for the players on the Jets this week.”
(Regarding kickers, you were with an organization that was very blessed to have K Adam Vinatieri and K Stephen Gostkowski, who were very dependable. Now you come here and have K Jason Sanders. I wonder if it might easy for people to overlook the importance of kickers until you don’t have one. How much better do you sleep at night knowing you have a guy who you could depend on?) – “I started in the kicking game. That’s where I got my break in coaching. I know and understand how important those guys in those positions are, whether it’s kicker, punter, long snapper, returners, ball security and things of that nature. To have a guy who is dependable, a guy you know is going to do everything possible to make sure he puts himself in the best position to make a great kick – make the kick that we need, make the punt that we need, give us the snap that we need. You really want that at all positions, but no one thinks about those specialists until we’re down to the wire and we need the kick. Jason has done a great job. I think it’s important to him that he continues to improve and get better and continue with his consistency. That’s been good thus far and we need to just keep going in this direction. Yes, I’m very pleased at where he is, and the job he’s done really on field goals but also kickoffs. He’s done a good job from that standpoint. Just every day, just his attitude and work ethic on a day-to-day basis, he’s really done a good job really since I’ve been here.”
(The Falcons had four positives today, it sounded like. Do you think we’re getting to the point now that the league would be best served to just put in a second bye and give themselves more flexibility going forward? Are you expecting to play 18 weeks this year because of what’s going on?) – “Literally I just heard about that right before I got on here about the Falcons. It’s unfortunate. I think teams are trying to do everything they can to limit the spread of this virus. Unfortunately, it’s hit a couple of teams. We’re just going to do – we’re going to control what we can control and kind of follow the lead of the league. If they add a bye, I’m not going to have an opinion on it. At the end of the day, I’m really just going to focus my energy on our team. If they make a schedule change like we’ve already dealt with, we’ll just do what needs to be done so we can try to play games and play a season. Whatever that means, if it’s an 18th week, if it’s another bye, if it’s more changes to the schedule, than that’s what we do. I think at the end of the day, every one of us that are a part of this league, we just need to continue to try to be responsible, make good decisions, wear the mask, social distance, wear the tracers so we can at least put ourselves in position to play games and play this year.”
(On DT Raekwon Davis, how much is he capable of do you believe you’ve seen so far?) – “Raekwon (Davis) is very – he’s got a lot of talent. He’s big. He’s strong. He’s athletic. But he’s young. He’s a young player still learning how to play in this league against a lot of good players, and he’s still trying to find his way and find his niche – his role – within the scheme. I think as a staff, we’re trying to put him in good positions or in the best positions, to do what he does well. He’s big, he’s athletic and he’s tough and he cares. So I think with the injury to (Davon) Godchaux, he should get a few more opportunities along with some other guys, and hopefully he takes advantage of those opportunities. But yeah, there’s talent here. We’ve just got to get him to play with more consistency, which is the case for all young players.”
(I wanted to ask when the other teams in the league are going through their COVID situations, are you guys just kind of reaching out seeing what’s going wrong? What are some things that maybe you guys could do to continue to be on the right track of this as you guys have been so far?) – “We’re always trying to find different ways to get better. I think (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston) and our medical staff – Kyle Johnston is our head trainer – our medical staff, they’re constantly trying to (ask) ‘what can we do better?’ From a meeting standpoint, from a walkthrough standpoint, from a practice standpoint. So yes, we’re trying to find ways to mitigate the risk really on a daily basis, so I think those guys have done a good job of that and they’re getting compliance from the players, coaches; everybody’s involved here. It’s important to all of us that we keep – first and foremost, it’s not about the games – it’s about keeping everyone here safe and healthy. I think that’s where we always start. That’s where my meetings always start. This isn’t about playing 18 football – whatever things in the season. That’s important, but what’s more important is the health and safety of everyone in this building and then that also applies to all their families also, as we know how this virus spreads. So keeping everyone safe keeps your family safe, and then a byproduct of that is we get to play. So yeah, we’re always trying to look for different ways to help or to get better, but we also know that we’re not exempt. We can do everything right. We could pop a positive test and we’ve just got to try to isolate whoever that is or whenever that shows up. We want to be able to trace it, we want to be able to say that we were all wearing masks and hopefully we continue to go about our daily routine, our daily business.”
(If I could take a little bit of a detour – I don’t know how big of a boxing fan you are, but there’s a match going on Saturday and one of the fighters is Teofimo Lopez. He’s from Brooklyn. He’s Honduran. So I was curious if you had any knowledge of him or if he was in your rooting interest?) – “Yeah, a Brooklyn guy from Honduras – yeah, I know exactly who he is. Good fighter. I’m not really big into boxing – aside from Mike Tyson being right from the neighborhood I grew up in. I always a big fan of his; but yeah, I know a little bit – but yeah, a Brooklyn guy from Honduras – yeah, I’m rooting for him no matter what’s going on.”
