Brian Flores – October 28, 2020 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores Conference Call with L.A. Rams Media
(Can you tell us about the Dolphins season so far? The improvement on defense, I’m there’s more to it than just plugging in new guys.) – “This season has been up and down. We are 3-3. I think we are trying to just continue to improve on a week-to-week basis. A lot of young guys, a lot of new faces. We’re just trying to bring them all together on a weekly basis. I think we’ve got a good group. The guys work hard, learn how to play together and gel together really over the first six weeks. Hopefully we’ll just continue to improve. We need that this week against a very good team. (Rams Head Coach) Sean McVay has done a great job over there. Good players, good coaches, a lot of success over the last few years. It’ll be a tough task for us.”
(What went into the decision to go with QB Tua Tagovailoa at this point, and then how are you getting him ready for his first career start?) – “We just felt like it was the best move for the team now and moving forward. He’s a talented young man who works hard and it’s important to him. He’s had some steady improvements over the first six weeks from a practice standpoint. We felt like it was the best move. As far as getting ready, he’s prepared as if he was the starter really the entire year. (even though) he’s been the backup the entire year. If he just continues to do what he’s been doing, obviously he’s getting more practice reps and we’ll get him out there and see what he can do. Look, it’s a team game. I think we all know that. We need contributions from everyone – offense, defense, special teams. He’s a part of that. There are 11 guys on the field that need to execute at once on a play-to-play basis to have success. He’s one of the 11. We’re just trying to string good plays together and that starts in meetings and walk-throughs and practice, and hopefully it translates to the game.”
(What kind of challenges do you see the Rams defense presenting, and how is that generally speaking influencing your preparation especially, as it’s been mentioned with QB Tua Tagovailoa scheduled to make his first career start this week?) – “Defensively they pose a lot of problems. (They’re) talented, fast, disciplined, they tackle well. The first thing that comes to mind is Aaron Donald, and he’s a tremendous player. Mike Brockers is good, (Leonard) Floyd is playing well, Jalen Ramsey as you know. They have a lot of good players. (Taylor) Rapp. They have a group of guys playing well and again, it’s football so it’s never a one man show. You need 11 guys playing on one accord and I see that. Being a defensive coach who watches them defensively, I see a lot of good things. Kudos to their coaching staff and their players for putting the work in, and they are seeing the fruits of the work they are putting in obviously.”
(You saw QB Jared Goff in the Super Bowl, so you’ve seen a little bit of his progression. What are you seeing from him as you study the Rams this year?) – “I think he’s a very good quarterback. He’s a good quarterback. I know the last time I saw him, he was a very good quarterback then and he’s a very good quarterback now. I think you can see an improvement on a yearly basis. He’s getting the ball out quickly, making good decisions, basically overall having command of the offense, leadership on that team and production. The guy has been very productive. He can stand in the pocket and make throws, he can get outside the pocket and make throws. This is a very good player on a very good offense with a lot of good skill players, a good run game, a good pass game, a good boot game. A lot of issues. We have a lot to get ready for.”
(Your defense is playing pretty well right now, particularly on third down. I think you have the No. 1 third down efficiency. What’s been the difference from last year to this year? Is it just another year in the system for your guys? And the cornerback, Xavien Howard, is playing well. Can you talk a little about him?) – “Yeah, Xavien Howard is playing well. Similarly to what I said about the Rams and their defense, I think the guys are working hard to communicate, working hard to be in the right places, working hard to tackle well and play together. I think that’s ultimately what you need to have to play good defense, to play good third down defense, to play good red zone defense, to play good two-minute defense. A lot of things have to come together. I think it’s a credit to the players and their willingness to work at practice, work at meetings and to give them a chance to have some success in the game. We’ll need that this week. Nobody cares about – there are no percentages come Sunday. It’s how you’re doing on Sunday, and that’s it. There’s no first – there is, but it really doesn’t matter until you – on Sunday. It’s how you execute on that particular day, winning your matchups on that particular day. I really don’t get too much into the statistics. It’s a week-to-week league, as we all know. One week you could do well and the next week, in that very same area for a myriad of reasons – matchups, schemes, injury, what you are good at or not good at. We don’t take anything for granted. We will try to prepare in a way that gives us the best chance for success. Hopefully we’ll play well on Sunday, but they pose a lot of issues. It will take a real good effort on our part.”
(Your victory over San Francisco caught the attention of people out here in the west; but we were aware that the 49ers were going through some injuries and some things. What was the significance of that game from the Dolphins standpoint? What did you learn about your team?) – “Look, we played well that day. We had good energy, good execution. We played well. They’ve got a good team; but on that particular day, we played well and won the game. I was proud of our efforts that day, but that was a few weeks ago. It really has no bearing on what we do moving forward. Our players know that and the Rams know that also. I’m sure they won’t be thinking about the 49ers game come Sunday. They’ll be worried about trying to execute and playing well against us.”
(One last question about QB Tua Tagovailoa. What did you guys like about him in the pre-draft process that made you select him? What were some of the things that you thought would make him a good NFL quarterback?) – “His leadership. He’s got a lot of intangibles we look for – leadership, he’s smart, hardworking, competitive. Athletically, he was accurate in college. Mobile in the pocket. For me, leadership is a big thing at that position. I would say that was high on my list as far as the process of – the evaluation process of really all of the quarterbacks. We’ll see. He’s shown himself pretty well in practice so far. He’s a young player, so he’s got a lot to learn; but he’s a sponge and he’s willing to learn and wants to get better. Those are really – normally when you have those, that type of character, you can improve over the course of your career. Hopefully we’ll start that on Sunday.”
