Brian Flores – October 9, 2019
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Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I wanted to ask you about interacting with fans and I know that you’ve been busy obviously; but during this season, have you had a chance to interact with fans whether it’s at one of your kids’ sporting events or pumping gas? And if so, what have they said to you?) – “I’ve had a lot of really good interactions with the fans here. All positive. I was at my kid’s flag football game the other day, and that was fun. (We) took some pictures. My interactions have been really positive. We’ve got great fans here in South Florida, really just Dolphins fans from South Florida, from Florida, from really all over the country, I would say. They love this team and I love that about them. My interactions have been great. Hopefully I continue to have more.”
(Have any of them questioned how well this season has gone, or have they kind of stayed away from that?) – “Everything has been positive. Everything is – I’ve had a lot of good conversations and again, when I interact with people, I try to ask them more about themselves than about what’s going on with me or the team. Everything has been positive.”
(How do you approach with the team – at any time – the fact that polls show many fans want the team to lose?) – “Our focus is really on the improvement and really trying to win the day – win the meeting, win the walkthrough, win the practice. I don’t – we don’t – really put much energy into any polls or any reports or anything of that nature. We just kind of try to focus on our specific job. The rest of that really doesn’t matter, to be quite honest.”
(Are you considering any lineup changes after the bye? Did you consider at any or multiple positions changing players?) – “Yeah, we considered really lineup changes across the board. As a staff, we evaluated every position, every grouping, every player, every coach, everything. Everything was considered and again, always in the best interest of the team positionally, from a play-time standpoint, from a production standpoint, I would say. We evaluate it all and we’re going to try to get the best guys out there.”
(Are there are going to be changes? I wouldn’t expect you to disclose what, but will there be lineup changes that we’ll all see on Sunday?) – “I think there’ll be – I think there are lineup changes every week based on the opponent and how we need to play a specific opponent. This week we’re playing against a talented group. They’re really good up front, defensively. They’ve got obviously ball hawks in the secondary, guys who can rush, guys who can stop the run. Offensively, they’ve got obviously one of the best backs I would say of all time (in Adrian Peterson) and some other backs behind him and good young receivers and good players on the offensive line. We’ve got a tough test ahead of us. We’ll try to put guys in the best position to play against this team.”
(What’s the approach at quarterback? Is that a settled thing, or are you going week-by-week…?) – “You’re a Yankee fan?”
(Oh, yeah.) – “Oh really? Wow. Okay, I didn’t know that.”
(You’re a Mets fan, right?) – “Yeah, I am.” (laughter)
(So is that a settled thing, or are you going week-to-week with that or feel? What’s the approach?) – “Quarterback, you asked?”
(The quarterback.) – “It’s settled. I like where Josh (Rosen) is. I think he’s improving on a week-to-week basis. I think he’s a young, talented player, and I think he needs to get in there and develop and get reps and just improve. I think if we could – when he’s scrambling and if he can throw the ball away, that would be an improvement. It’s something we’ve talked about a lot and hopefully if I say it to you guys, maybe he’ll listen, but that’s something – amongst a lot of other things. Just decision-making, accuracy and making good decisions. I like where Josh (Rosen) is and hopefully he just continues to improve today, tomorrow and over the course of the season.”
(Have you had a stronger hand in the game plan in the last couple of weeks? Is there anything that you’ve really asserted yourself in more? Any changes that you want to see game plan-wise?) – “I try to assert myself really, every week in all phases. I watch all the film and say, ‘hey, here are some things that I feel like we should attack. Here are some things that I think they’re going to attack.’ In-game, you can kind of get a feel for how a team wants to play us, so you’ve got to make adjustments from that standpoint as well. Every week, I’ve got things I want to do offensively, defensively and in the kicking game; but I have a lot of confidence in our coaching staff. We tend to see things really, ultimately, the same way, and we’ve just got to try to go out there, practice it the way we think it’s going to go and then hopefully execute in the game.”
(One thing we’ve heard from some of your coaches – I know Tight Ends Coach George Godsey has said this and others have: “We want to put players in positions to do what they do best. As it pertains to LB Raekwon McMillan, he’s obviously very good against the run. He’s struggled at times against the pass. Do you want to give him another in-game opportunity – as opposed to just practice – just to see over a substantial body of work, even if it’s just one or two games – how he does against the pass to see if that area is something he’s shored up?) – “I think – look, we have no idea; if I knew every time it was going to be a run or every time it was going to be a pass, I’d be a much better coach. I think any coach would tell you that. Ultimately, the reps that Raekwon gets, he’s going to be in there for some pass plays, so I think that kind of takes care of itself. I think he’s done a good job with those reps in the pass game. That’s the kind of body of work we go off of. He has shown a lot of improvement. Obviously he was dinged up during training camp and has kind of come on these last few weeks. Every guy on this team is going to earn their reps, their snaps, their opportunities to play. I would say he’s in that boat and run, pass, first down, second down, third down, red area, two-minute – we’re going to try to put the best guys out there. I think that’s something every coach – really around the league – is trying to do.”
(How would you assess what CB Eric Rowe has done well and maybe what you know he can do a little better after you evaluated the first four games?) – “I think his communication is good. I think his tackling for the most part has been good. I think he has got to do a better job consistently – have more consistency – from a coverage standpoint. And that is technique at the line of scrimmage, top of the route, there are a few different areas there and I think he knows that. Look, there are some other things going on there too. We have got to rush the passer a little bit better, we have got to have a little bit better disguise, better communication – I mean, you can point to one player but there are 11 guys out there, so – Eric is a professional. He is working at the things he is struggling with, just like all of the rest of our guys, and I think he will improve and get better.”
(You had really high praise for DE Charles Harris in the preseason and we have not seen that production yet show up on the field. Are you pleased with how he has played?) – “I think when you talk about production, I think people think sacks, interceptions and tackles. I think Charles is – he has been in the right spots, been where we want him to be and like everybody else, he has had some tough plays as well. But, when I think of production, I may think of it a little differently than some other people. Are you in the right place? Are you setting the edge when we want you to set the edge? Are you penetrating from a pass rush standpoint when we want you to penetrate? And I think from that standpoint, he has done a lot of good things; but he can always be better. At the end of the day, there have been a couple plays here and there – and it is not just Charles but it is across the board – that we could make that we didn’t, that I feel like we can make. The goal is to make those plays. I think he understands that. We all understand that as a team and it is not just the players, it is the coaches as well. We have to continue to stress the fundamentals and technique and how important those plays are because every play counts. It really does. Every play counts, so we want the right guys out there and everybody has got to take care of their responsibility. If everybody does that, then we should have a good play.”
(Where is WR Preston Williams in his development and is it about where you thought it might be at this point in the season?) – “Preston is getting better every day. I think he has kind of taken that approach since he got here in – I think it was April. He is full of energy, obviously very talented. I think consistency is the key for all the young players and he is no different. Is he where we want him to be? No. Nobody is really where we want them to be; but I think he is on the right path to hopefully become a smart, tough, disciplined, professional receiver in this league. I think he blocks. I think he has to be more consistent catching the football. We say one drop is one too many, one missed tackle is one too many, one missed assignment is one too many and I think if we all take that approach as an organization, we will be on the right path. So from that standpoint, I would say yes he is; but he has a long way to go.”
(The rookie quarterback on the other team this week that you guys evaluated and decided not to draft, what were your thoughts on him during that process and through his limited action this season?) – “Very talented. Big arm. Gifted. He had a great year a year ago and he is a talented player, a very talented player. I have watched a lot of his film. We may or may not see him this week. We are trying to get ready for everyone; but I think he has a bright future ahead of him.”
(If I could ask kind of a philosophical question going back to that DE Charles Harris thing, isn’t a player being in the right place and using the right technique – isn’t that the minimum? That’s, that’s – anybody can do that, right? I mean you need them to make plays.) – “I kind of hear what you are saying and it somewhat makes sense but when you’ve got a 320-pound guy coming at you and we are asking you to set the edge and lock them out with your inside arm – yes, it is the minimum but it is a hard thing to do as well. It is those small details that are the difference between winning and losing a lot of the time and taking care of those things, in my opinion, in my experience, when you take care of all of those little things, those minimum things as you call them, that is when big things happen. When you don’t take care of those minimum things, that is when the big plays or the dropped pass, or not in the right spot, the quarterback and receiver kind of being off, not in sync – so those details I think that some people call minimum or they take for granted, I think those are the things that we really have got to be good at those. The ordinary things that – I think those are the – If we can get that process done more consistently, done right, I think the rest of it will take care of itself. That has been my approach as a coach. I think I may differ from some other people, but I mean it has worked for me.”
(When you are facing a team that is 0-5, how is the challenge of the week different from facing, let’s say the New England Patriots?) – “To me, it is the same. I don’t really look at records. I look at – I am looking at a team and I see a front that is as good as a front we have seen. I am looking at receivers that can take the top off the defense. I am looking at a talented team. Every team – look, this is the National Football League – Every team poses problems and issues and every game is tough, so my approach is the same. We are going to have to play – we are going to have to execute – we are going to have to play smart, disciplined, tough game. We are going to have to take care of all of the little things. We will have to be detailed, play 60 minutes, play together and I don’t really look at records to be honest with you. My focus is on really today and trying to execute the early down and tomorrow will be third down and two-minute and Friday will be red zone. If we can get all of those phases, the detail, all those phases – offense, defense, and the kicking game – if we can get all that done or executed at a good level, at a high level, then the rest of it will take care of itself. That has been my approach.”
