Brian Flores – September 1, 2021
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Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(You had some tough decisions to make with the 53-man roster. What were you trying to get to with some of the veterans that were released?) – “We always try to do what’s best for the team. A lot of tough decisions really across the board, starting last week or a couple of weeks ago, and then culminating yesterday or the last couple of days. They are all tough decisions – veterans, some younger players who we thought played in practice well. We can only keep 53 and 16 on the practice squad. A lot of tough decisions, but we’ll always try to do what’s best for the team.”
(Can you detail what CB Trill Williams and G Robert Jones showed you throughout camp and the preseason to make the 53?) – “I think two young guys who really made a lot of improvement from the spring to the early part of training camp, then getting into games and doing some nice things. We just felt like two young guys that we could continue to develop and work with. We feel like with continued development, we may have something; but still a lot of that is on their plate. We see some potential but they’re going to have to continue doing the things they started to do – from a work ethic standpoint, from a routine standpoint. I think (they are) two competitive guys that want to get better. I think if we just continue to work with them, they’ll have a chance.”
(There was a report that you addressed players and staff and stated that ‘QB Tua Tagovailoa is our quarterback.’ What can you tell us? Is that accurate? What was the message? And why did you choose to deliver a message about Tua?) – “You guys know this, I don’t really get into conversations I have with the team, players. Those conversations are private. Like I’ve said before, I think it’s just common courtesy to keep those conversations between myself and the player or the team. I will say that Tua is our quarterback. I think he’s had a good training camp. I think he’s made a lot of progress. I think he’s made a lot of improvement and we’re pleased with where he is. He’s going through his preparations for New England the way he should be, and that’s where we are as a team.”
(It’s always important for players to feel that you have their back. But is it that much more important for the quarterback to feel that way, do you think?) – “Yeah, I think it’s important for players on the team to feel like they have the support of their teammates, their coaches and everyone in the organization. I think that’s very important. Yeah, I think that’s important.”
(Do you think that team meeting you had yesterday, do you think that was enough? Do you think there is still a process of kind of maybe regaining some trust or anything that needs to happen further?) – “Again, I’m not going to get into what was said in the team meeting. I think we’ve got a team full of guys who work hard, who will support one another, who are tough, who are smart, who love to play and are team-first. We’ll go out to practice today and try to improve and get better and prepare for an upcoming game.”
(Your roster has three running backs and 11 receivers/tight ends. When you go into that meeting to put together the 53, how much is the balance of the roster enter that conversation compared to just taking the top 53 guys?) – “I think there is a lot of conversations around depth at some positions versus keeping the guys we feel are the best players. At the end of the day, we did keep a number of tight ends and receivers. We feel good about it. We feel good about those players. If it’s one player over another, that was a choice we had to make. Again, we always try to make the decisions that we feel are best for the team.”
(With the Patriots claiming RB/WR Malcolm Perry, how much does that affect changes you might have to make with your offensive playbook and calls between now and the opener?) – “Malcolm is a tough kid, a hard-working kid. He’s smart. I wish him all the best. As far as changes, I don’t think there are very many changes. This happens, really quite a bit I would say, where you end up with a player who’s on a team that you are going to play down the road or in this case, it will be the next game. I don’t think we’ll make very many changes. I don’t think we’ll make very many changes.”
(What about the player that was added – DB Elijah Campbell, the defensive back? What do you know about his skillset?) – “Tough, fast, tackles well. He can play in the kicking game. We felt like he’d be a good addition. I’m glad we got him.”
(After the tough day yesterday, how important is it for your guys, your team, to know that you have their back so that they can give everything for the team on the first week of the season?) – “I think our guys – they’re a tough group. They play hard, they prepare well and it’s important to them. I think playing well is important to them, to each guy. I think that supersedes really everything. It’s a good group. I’m lucky to coach them and we’ll keep coaching them hard.”
(I know you said what you said about QB Tua Tagovailoa. Is he going to be your Week 1 starter?) – “Yes. I don’t know if I can be more clear. (laughter) I don’t know how many times – I don’t know how much more clear I can be here. Tua is the starter. Do I need to say it again? I will.”
(I’m curious, obviously this year QB Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t here. QB Tua Tagovailoa has been the guy throughout. How much did you reach back to maybe his Alabama times to maybe try to form this offense and what you want it to look like?) – “I think you always want or try to do things that fit the skillset of your players – receivers, tight ends, quarterback, offensive line, safeties, corners, d-line. And there’s always different themes, different concepts that show up. You grab from the college game, from other professional teams wherever. If you think they fit the skillset of the players you have, then you try to use them. We have used some concepts – some college concepts. We’ve used some, let’s call it ‘professional concepts’ as well. And you kind of put all those together and you try to put together a game plan that fits the quarterback, but also the rest of the players on the team. That’s a collaborative effort from our offensive coaching staff. I think they’re always trying to put our players in the best position to have success and obviously the quarterback is a big part of that.”
(The roster – it only has two guys over the age of 30. One of them is DT John Jenkins. What role does his leadership and experience play into the decision to keep him on the roster?) – “John (Jenkins) was here in ’19. Didn’t have him last year, but we were happy to get him back this past offseason. Leadership is a big thing. It’s probably the first thing that comes to mind when I think of him, but he’s a good player, too. He’s already kind of taken some of the younger players under his wing and teaching them how to be professionals and talk about some of the things he wished he would have done as a young player that he does now. I think from a leadership standpoint he does a nice job.”
(Someone did some research. At this time last year, you guys had the second-youngest roster by age in the NFL and now you’re all the way up to 14th-youngest. Does that feel about right?) – “I think we’ve got a young team. If we’re 14th – there’s probably a small difference between 14th and fourth, but we’ve got a young team. It’s a bunch of hard-working young guys who football is important to them and as coaches, it’s a group we can mold and I think that’s what coaching is all about.”
(You guys made a couple trades on the offensive line these past few weeks. How comfortable are you where that position group as a whole in terms of your front five and your depth right now?) – “I’m comfortable. I think a lot of those guys have played a lot of football together last year and this training camp. So I think they do a good job as a group, as a unit – going through the material, practicing it, going through the material again, practicing it. I think there’s communication – good communication – but they’re always kind of working on it. And they’ve got a good feel for working with one another, I would say, over the past couple years. (There’s a) couple new guys in there, too, and we’ve mixed and matched I think enough where they all feel comfortable playing. I feel good, but we’re still just trying to improve and get better every day.”
(You talked a little bit about it yesterday with Patriots QB Mac Jones. You spent time with him at the Senior Bowl. What do you remember about him at the Senior Bowl?) – “Smart. He has a process of how he goes through things throughout the week and I think it’s a good process. He’s a tough kid. You can kind of feel that tough mentally, tough physically; you see that in his play and I was impressed by him.”
(I wanted to ask you about your depth at linebacker. Obviously we don’t know what the practice squad looks like right now, but seven guys on. A couple of them have battled some injuries during training camp. LB Elandon Roberts is nine months into a knee rehab. Do you feel like that unit is deep enough to carry you through a 17-game season?) – “I do. I think it’s a group – and we talk linebacker and we talk personnel groupings – sometimes there’s three, sometimes there’s two, sometimes there’s one, sometimes there’s none. So I feel good about where we’re at and kind of the conversations we’ve had defensively and what we want to do and how we want to use those guys, that group, along with some of the other groups. We feel comfortable. Like you said, there’s always the potential for injuries and hopefully we’ll add some guys to the practice squad that we’ll feel good that if they needed to step in, they could step in. So we feel good about where we’re at.”
(If I could go back to Patriots QB Mac Jones a little bit, what do you – obviously every quarterback is different, but defending a rookie quarterback – is there something that as a defense that you guys can do for a rookie specifically to make his first start difficult?) – “I think you try to make it difficult for any quarterback. Rookie – kind of goes through that position, but it doesn’t just happen because you talk about it. Everyone is saying that every week and we’ve got to prepare the right way. We’ve got to get lined up, have good communication so that we can have good execution because if we don’t do that, then we’re not going to make it hard for anybody. So rookie, 15-year vet – we’ve got to execute defensively in order to make it hard for the opposition. So that’s kind of my thought on it. There’s been plenty of rookies who have gone out and played well and we’ve got to execute.”
