Brian Flores – September 17, 2020
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Thursday, September 17, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I guess any team is probably only going to have a few defensive players who played most every snap. I sort of figured, perhaps I was wrong on this, that LB Kyle Van Noy would be one of them. He went 41 of the 64 (snaps) last week. Was that because of physical issues and rounding back into form after the hand injury or was it a game plan decision or maybe a little bit of both?) – “We’ve kind of moved on to this week. As far as snaps last week, I think for everybody – everybody had a different snap count. Last week was last week. We’ve kind of moved on to this week. Obviously we think highly of Kyle, as well as a lot of other players. I wouldn’t take one game and try to put guys into buckets as far as every-down players or situational players. I wouldn’t take one game and do that, especially in this type of season.”
(How important was it to you guys to try to get WR Preston Williams going in the game on Sunday, and how important is it going forward for him and QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to kind of reestablish the connection they had at the beginning of last year?) – “I think it’s important to establish a connection with quarterbacks and all of the receivers, not just one in particular. That’s something that you build that rapport in practice, and hopefully it shows itself in the game. That’s why we go out there and practice. We’ll do that again today and try to establish that rapport with – you mentioned Preston, but it’s the same with really all of the receivers, the backs, the tight ends. It’s the same thing defensively as far as guys playing together, the same thing in the kicking game. It’s something that you build over the course of time and through practice and we’ll continue to do that.”
(I had a question about LB Elandon Roberts. He wasn’t announced with a concussion in the press box. When did that happen and when were you guys alerted to it?) – “This is a case where every once in a while, someone has some symptoms the next day. Nothing is more important than the health of the players, and we’ll always do what’s in their best interest. He’s in the protocol now and we’ll get him back when we get him back. We’re not going to rush it at all.”
(With LB Elandon Roberts down, obviously you have to get guys prepared to work as the inside linebacker. Who can fit that role? LB Sam Eguavoen played it some last season and then I’ve seen you guys use him sort of as an edge player. Is that how you view him now? And, can you talk about LB Kamu Grugier-Hill in terms of his growth in the defense?) – “First off, Roberts we’ll see how that goes. We’re not counting him out. We obviously have some more guys in the room. (Kyle) Van Noy has played linebacker, Kamu obviously played linebacker, (Jerome) Baker, Sam Eguavoen, (Calvin) Munson, we’ve got some other guys in the room. If that’s the case and somebody is down, the other guys will step in. It will be based on the game plan, based on what they give us offensively. We may have different types of bodies in there. The good thing about that group is they are flexible and they all have versatility and they play multiple positions. We could have a variety of options.”
(I wanted to ask about the safeties with S Eric Rowe and S Bobby McCain. How much benefit is it going into year two that they have several games at the position? And also being able to incorporate the physicality of S Brandon Jones in that group?) – “I think Eric and Bobby played together for let’s call it a half a year – maybe less than that, but they played together some. They have a little bit of a rapport, so you add Brandon to that, you add Kavon Frazier to that and you have a mix of different people. We’re still trying to build that communication, that rapport; but those two guys, it’s very important to them so they’ll do what it takes to build those relationships and try to do it the way we’re asking them to do it. Brandon Jones, he’s a young player. He’s improving on a daily basis, but he still has a long way to go, just like all of our young players. Every practice is good for him. Every game experience is good for him. They are working hard this week to prepare for a very, very tough opponent in the Bills with the quarterback, and the running game and some receivers who are explosive and tight ends. This is a good offense that has tempo in their offense so we’ve got to prepare for that as well. We need as many guys like Bobby and Eric to communicate and play at a good level, and bring other players with them. I think they are trying to do that also.”
(Many signs up in Buffalo that says that they are a franchise that is trending upward. Do you see games against the Bills as important as any you’ll play if you’re going to get to where you all want to go?) – “I would agree that they are trending upwards. This is a good football team offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. They are well coached. They are tough. They’re physical. Every game is important. It doesn’t matter who you are playing in this league, they are all tough. They are all important. Obviously division games are very important. We take these one game at a time. We want to compete. We want to put our best foot forward. We’re trying to practice in a way that gives us an opportunity to play well and be competitive, but every game is important.”
(I noticed that QB Tua Tagovailoa is no longer on the injury report. We haven’t had a chance to talk to him in a minute, so I wanted to ask you how he’s feeling and what’s changed?) – “He’s doing well. He’s going into – from a rehab standpoint or just from a strength training standpoint, he’s doing what everyone else is doing. We felt like we could take him off. He’s doing well physically and mentally, and getting practice reps and trying to improve from a football standpoint, from a learning and being professional standpoint like all rookies. He’s doing well and he’s learning. Health-wise though, from a health standpoint, it was obviously a serious injury and he’s done a great job as far as getting himself back healthy and getting himself to a point where he can practice and take a lot of reps. He’s trending in the right direction from a health standpoint.”
(I wanted to ask a two-parter on WR DeVante Parker if I could. How did he come out of practice with the hammy yesterday and does his past history with soft-tissue injuries have any impact on how far you push him as far as playing on Sunday?) – “As far as the history, I don’t really kind of look into that too much. How are we right now, where we are right now – that is kind of where my conversations with DeVante are and our training staff. I thought he – look, he was out at practice yesterday. We’ll see. We’re taking this thing one day at a time. We’ll see where we’re at for the game. That’s really all I have for you right now. It’s still early. We’ve still got a couple of days before we’ve got to get there. He’s doing everything he can to get out there. But no, we don’t take previous hamstring injuries – we really just focus on this particular one, which has limited him some, but he’s doing everything he can to get back out there.”
(I wanted to ask you what were your thoughts on the memo that came out about coaches and personnel on the sidelines wanting to wear more masks and how you guys can be better in that area?) – “We’ve just got to wear them. There is some difficulty trying to communicate with the guys up in the booth. At the end of the day, there is nothing more important than the health and safety of our team and the people around the league. We’ll do a better job from that standpoint. We ask our players to be more diligent in the building and it’s important. You can be mask police. I’ve got no problem with that. I’ll wear it and I’ll try to do a better job. But if a guy can’t hear me, then I got to find a new mask and that’s just some of the things we’ve just got to work through. It’s not just me; it’s coaches around the league. It’s new and different for everyone; but we all have to adjust. That’s the game, that’s the league. That’s what we ask the players to do, so we have to adjust also.”
(I wanted to ask you about young players. When you play young players as early as you do, I know you give them small roles at first. When do you come to the point where you realize, “hey this isn’t too big for them.” Is it film study? Is it when you’re meeting in the meeting rooms in preparation for the game? When do you realize that what I’m giving them isn’t too big enough for them?) – “I think it’s case by case. I think It’s a small role and then that role turns into a little bit more and a little bit more. I think you guys will see that over the course of five or six games. When do you realize that it’s not too big for them? That takes a little bit more time. You need stretches of games of consistency to really feel good that they understand how to be a professional, that complacency doesn’t set in and ‘we’ve got all the answers and watch a little less tape.’ To me, those are the things that I try to harp on. Good performance or bad performance, you still have to watch the film. We have to know our next opponent, we have to get our lifts in, we’ve got to stay on course with our nutrition, we’ve got to stay on course with our conditioning. Those are the things. It’s not one game, it’s not two games. Once you start a string of four of five games together, that means you’re doing something, you’ve been doing something over the last four or five weeks. That’s just my belief because I think the guys who have become complacent and the guys who think they have all of the answers, eventually it catches up to them. That’s been my experience with players. We just try to stay on them about keeping to their routine and just the importance of not veering off of that, because in this league there are so many good players and so many good coaches. It will find you if you’re taking shortcuts. We try to not allow that but it’s something individually for each player. They realize it oftentimes when it’s too late; but as you know with the amount of – three years that guys are in the league, oftentimes it’s too late. So the young players, if they can figure it out early enough, that routine, that attention to detail, the discipline of playing play after play after play and playing consistently, once they realize how important that is, then you can see those – what you’re talking about it – and whether or not it’s not too big for them.”
