Brian Flores – September 16, 2020
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Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(You’ve got a stretch of two games here in the next, I guess, nine days or so. Is there any thought of possibly sitting WR DeVante Parker out the next two games to nurse his hamstring injury or are you guys going to try to manage it to see if he can go on Sunday?) – “We’re just taking it one day at a time. He’s been rehabbing. He’s been in treatment, so we’ll see what this looks like today and instead of making a decision for the next two games, we’ll just try to take it one day at a time. Sometimes guys turn around quickly. If it takes more time, then that’s what it is. We’ll just try to make the best decision for DeVante (Parker) and obviously for the team.”
(What do you think about how QB Tua Tagovailoa processed the game from the sideline with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and listening with the hat on, on Sunday? Did you get any feedback from him after the game?) – “Yeah, we talked about just the game and from the sideline, what he saw. I think he’s trying to play every play in his own mind, so that experience was good. It’s a different atmosphere. It was a different atmosphere for everyone and it’s no different for him. It was his first live look at a game from the sideline. I thought he did well from that standpoint.”
(Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey basically said that a lot of the base runs weren’t as effective as you would hope. What were some of the issues? Was it just the defense that they were running or just execution stuff?) – “We’ve kind of made all of the corrections from the game. I’m sure you’re talking about Sunday. We made the corrections from those games. We’ve kind of moved on to Buffalo. That’s where our focus is. There were a lot of issues in the game. We tried to get them all corrected and we’re going to go out and practice today and try to make those corrections on the practice field. We’ve moved on and our focus is on the Bills. There’s a lot to focus on there. They’re a good team.”
(How much catching up would you say WR Lynn Bowden Jr. still has to do to get to the point where he’s ready to contribute?) – “He’s been here two weeks, three weeks – somewhere in there – so he’s worked extremely hard. He’s been meeting one-on-one with ‘Grizz’ (Wide Receivers Coach Josh Grizzard) trying to get caught up; but when you’re a rookie, you’re young, you need reps. So we’re trying to get him as many reps in practice as possible, but as far as getting caught up, there’s going to be, I think at best for a young guy in that situation, a couple packages, a couple things he could feel comfortable doing and maybe get him out there; but I’m not sure we’re there yet, so we’ll see.”
(A couple of cornerback questions. How well equipped do you think CB Nik Needham is in the slot at this point in your nickel packages if you could talk about the choice to use CB Jamal Perry over Needham in that role, and also why did CB Ken Webster leave the practice squad?) – “Ken (Webster) – he got an opportunity to go to another team and he did that. We had a good conversation on that. We felt like it was best for him and I support that decision. Nik Needham versus Jamal Perry – Nik has practiced well, Jamal has practiced well. Nik spent a little bit more time on the perimeter over the course of training camp. Jamal was more inside, but we have a lot of confidence in both guys and obviously they’ll both go out there and practice and compete this week and we’ll see how it goes.”
(I wanted to ask just about the running back situation and how do you balance wanting to use an explosive player more like RB Matt Breida, incorporating him more into the play-calling while also rewarding a player like RB Myles Gaskin, who has had a very good camp and continues to practice well?) – “We try to play the guys who are productive and if we’re going and getting positive plays; but we’re game plan-specific and guys we feel like give us the best chance to have a productive play or a productive series or are best in the situation, those are the guys we’re going to stick in the game. That’s offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. It’s really specific to the play, specific to the situation; but the guys who are in there who are productive, I would say more times than not, are going to continue to play.”
(I wanted to ask you about CB Xavien Howard. How is he feeling having played in the first game? How did he come out of that?) – “I think he came out well. It’s good to get in there, get some snaps. It’s been a while since he played, so he came out well. I thought he did some good things and we’ll continue to move him along and get him more reps this week and see how it goes.”
(I wanted to ask you about the receivers that the Bills have. The boundary guys didn’t get challenged much against New England. I’m assuming you’d expect a little bit more action on the outside this week?) – “Yeah. This is a very good group of receivers, really a good overall offense – receivers, backs, tight ends, o-line, (Stefon Diggs, John Brown, Cole Beasley. This is probably as good of a group as there is around the league. This will be a great challenge for us as a defense to go along with the quarterback, who has the ability to scramble, who has the ability to fire the ball down the field. He’s been more accurate. They pose a lot of issues. We have to do a great job with our communication. We have to do a great job with our fundamentals and technique. We have to do a great job across the board to try to limit this offense. They are good.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick throughout his career has had good games and bad games like any player. In your conversations with him this week, what makes you confident that he’s going to bounce back and have a good game this week?) – “He’s a competitive player. That’s what makes me confident. He’s a competitor. He’s had success in this league. He’s bounced back before, like you said. Hopefully – he played a tough game. I think everyone feels like they could’ve played better, feels like it could’ve been better last week. We’ll just go back to the drawing board, go back to work, do a good job in the meetings and the walkthroughs and the practices and try to be better this week. That’s ‘Fitz,’ that’s everyone else on the team as well, myself included. I have confidence that he will play well and the entire team will do everything they can to play well this week.”
(I wanted to get your take on S Brandon Jones and the game he had on Sunday. What did you see on film and if you think he can continue to have such an active role in the defense?) – “For his first time out, I thought he played well. I thought he tackled well. He showed good speed. A lot of things we saw in training camp – this kid is fast, aggressive, he tackles well. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. There were some plays I know he wished he had back that we talked about it on the sideline. I would say they were in some of the critical moments of the game. Hopefully he learns from them. Every play for these young guys is a learning experience. Hopefully he comes out and plays better this next week.”
(When I watched the Bills game on Sunday, I noticed the quarterback Josh Allen fumbled twice. I’m curious, what’s the approach you want your players to take relative to just get the guy on the ground versus here’s an opportunity to strip?) – “I think that’s something that’s talked about extensively really on every team. You want to tackle well, you want to get him on the ground. There are opportunities. If there is an opportunity to knock the ball out, when to take those opportunities, and for anyone who is played – do I try to knock it out, do I make the tackle if I don’t knock it out, if I don’t knock it out and I miss the tackle, I’m going to get yelled at, if I knock it out then I’m everyone’s favorite player. That’s kind of the conundrum every player is in. At the end of the day, we’ve got to be a good tackling team, try to eliminate yards, try to force turnovers. Some players have a knack for when that opportunity presents itself and they take advantage when it does present itself. We practice it every day and try to show them instances where those opportunity present themselves, when to try to take advantage, and hopefully we get some opportunities to do that and we can knock the ball off a couple of guys.”
(I wanted to ask you about WR Jakeem Grant. Obviously with WR DeVante Parker not being completely healthy, Jakeem will get a lot of reps in practice. Do you have to have a Jakeem package or do you look at him as just another normal flanker?) – “He’s a receiver. Receivers have to get good releases, do a good job with their route technique, do a good job at the top of the route. They’ve got to recognize coverages, is it man, is it zone. There is no package. A receiver is a receiver is a receiver. Jakeem’s an explosive guy, so we want to try to get him on some things when he’s on the move and can make people miss. Yeah, we see him as a receiver. That’s his position. He’s a receiver, he’s a returner. No package. Just run the plays. If it’s a post, run the post. If it’s a slant, run the slant. If it’s an out route, run the out route. If he’s open, try to get it to him.”
