Brian Flores – September 13, 2021
Download PDF version
Monday, September 13, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I’m wondering whether you have any indication if DT Raekwon Davis’ injury might be long term or if we are looking at a day-to-day deal?) – “It’s still early. We are still doing tests. We will probably have more information later on today and in the coming days. Raekwon is a tough kid. He’s eager to get back out there so we will take it one day at a time. We’re still kind of running some tests. We don’t have any final results there.”
(With DT Raekwon Davis, could he have gone back yesterday or would it just have been too risky health-wise?) – “We held him out so that’s the decision we made. We are running tests now. Look, nothing is more important than the health of a player. That’s the approach we will take and that’s the approach we took with him yesterday. We held him out, which kind of lets you know we didn’t want to put him back in there.”
(Is T Austin Jackson your starting left tackle moving forward or did T Liam Eichenberg do enough things yesterday to where that’s now an open competition moving forward?) – “Liam did a nice job yesterday. That was obviously a tough environment against a team that shows a lot of different fronts and gave him a lot of different looks. I thought he played well. But yeah, Austin is our left tackle.”
(Nobody hangs a banner for 1-0 starts. I get that of course; but can it be a nice emotional boost when you guys look at the standings and see that you’re alone on top? After all the work you guys put in all spring and all summer, to get at least some sort of little payoff and that good feeling, can that permeate a little bit and be a nice little booster going into Week 2?) – “The guys are excited that we won the game. But now it’s about – and look, you celebrate and you’re happy about it but then we have to turn the page and move on to our next opponent, which is another big game against a very good team. That’s the approach. I think there was definitely excitement but there are tough games on the horizon so we have to get prepared for that.”
(The two touchdown drives both happened the first time you touched the ball – the first one the first time you touched the ball in the first half and the second one the first time you touched the ball in the second half. I’m wondering if there is any reason that the offense was clicking so well the first time they possess the ball?) – “I think we try to execute on every drive. It just so happens in this particular game it happened on our first drive of the game and to open the second half. I think we need to do a better job executing in between. I know we are going through those corrections right now. I don’t think there’s any real correlation. We try to move the ball and be productive on every drive. It just so happens it happened in those instances.”
(A win is hard to come by in the NFL, but how much better is it a teaching tool or opportunity when you can have a tough game that you pull off and there’s a lot of correctable things that you can show them on film?) – “There’s always corrections in every game. It’s always nice to make those corrections after a win but definitely a lot of corrections that we ae making now. If we make them, we’ll be better for them. That’s where our focus is right now.”
(If I could look a little bit ahead to Buffalo, you get WR William Fuller V back this week. What impact does his speed have on this offense?) – “We didn’t have Will last week. He missed some time in training camp. We really only had him for, I would say, a handful of practices. We’ll work him in and see how to best utilize him in the offense and see how things go during practice this week. I think we got a lot of guys in that room. We will see how practice goes this week and take it from there.”
(I wanted to ask you about the stretch in the second quarter there with LB Elandon Roberts, the miss call there on the touchdown, and the stretch at the end of the second quarter. How do you feel your poise was as a coach, as a team, to close out that half and tie things up when some calls didn’t go your way?) – “That’s kind of how the game goes. Just move on to the next play and try to take it one play at a time. There are ebbs and flows in every game. A good call, bad call from the officials. That happens. You just try to move on and try to have a good play on the next snap. Make a good call on the next snap and put guys in position to have success. The end of the second quarter was a lot of ebbs and flows there. They took the lead, we had a good two minute drive and tied it up. We were able to get the ball back in the second half and take the lead again. It was a back and forth game, a tough game. That’s how games are in this league. I think our team showed some resiliency and some mental toughness, and we need that.”
(I wanted to get your thoughts on the running game. RB Myles Gaskin was out there for most of the game. RB Malcolm Brown came in late as well and was able to provide important first down opportunities for you guys. Can you share your thoughts on that after watching the video?) – “I thought specifically at the end of the game, when we needed some first downs running the football, to run the clock out, it was good to see us finish the game with the ball. They knew we were going to run it, we knew we were going to run it, and we were able to pick up a couple of first downs there, so that’s always good. I thought Myles ran hard. I thought Salvon (Ahmed) ran hard. I thought Malcolm ran hard. I think there is a lot to build on there, we can block it better, we can run a little bit better. We’re making those corrections now and we’ve got to put it into action on the field when we get out there on Wednesday.”
(The first opportunity, obviously T Austin Jackson not being there, but how would you assess how the offensive line performed in their debut this year?) – “Like every position, there is a lot of improvement that needs to be made. The first game – the first 60-minute ball game for everyone on the offensive line, and defensive line and really the entire team. I think improvement is the big mantra or coaching point right now across the board at all positions. We make the necessary improvements and we’ll get better. That’s where our focus is right now.”
(I asked you a little earlier about WR Will Fuller and you mentioned you haven’t seen him a lot with practices. Have you seen enough of him to know where maybe he will fit when you put him in there, just given the lack of time out there?) – “He’s got a lot of film from his time in Houston. We’ve had him all spring. We have an idea where we will want to play him, but we’ve got to practice. We’ve got to get timing. We can put people on the page as far as drawing something up; but getting timing with the quarterback, getting timing in the running game, getting timing from that standpoint, those are things you have to practice. We need to get more of that. I think we’ll get that this week.”
(This is the first regular season game, Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends George Godsey and Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Eric Studesville kind of called and ran this offense. How would you evaluate how the offense looked against a live defense that mattered?) – “I thought we moved the ball effectively on some drives and on other drives we didn’t. I think they’ve got a good defense. They played well. They made some plays, we made some plays. They won some matchups, we won some matchups. It was a tough ball game in a tough environment. I thought our operation was clean as far as dealing with crowd noise, getting in and out of the huddle and things of that nature. Eric and George did a nice job of getting the guys prepared and putting guys in positions to make some plays.”
