Brian Flores – September 24, 2021
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Friday, September 24, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(With the running game,obviously it’s hard to run a lot when you’re trailing as you were Sunday. Would you like to see more of a running game generated or in your mind it’s whatever it takes to win even if you have to pass 80 percent of the downs?) – “Yeah, we want to move the ball effectively. We want to have balance – run, pass, screens, RPOs – however best way to move it. We’ve got to obviously be more efficient offensively. You always want balance. I think it helps in both the run and the pass game when you have that kind of balance and the defense doesn’t know what it’s going to be, but I think you need to have variety in your schemes, your concepts, run, pass, play-action, drop back, whatever the case may be. But at the end of the day, it’s about the execution and getting 11 guys on the same page and that’s what we’re working towards in practice and our preparation this week. It’s a very good opponent we’re facing. They play fast, they play physical, they’ve got a good rush, they’re well-coached, they tackle well. So we have our hands full for sure.”
(Where is your comfort level sticking with the backs on the pass protection that they brought in the first two games?) – “I think our backs, they do a good job in protection. I think collectively we need to do a better job as a total team from a protection standpoint. There’s a lot of different instances or situations where guys could block a backer, could block an end, could not have anybody get out into the routes, so there’s a few nuances to that. But I think our guys, they understand what they need to do. We’ve had some instances where we’ve had guys come through the hole and there’s been some pressure. We could do a better job of our technique, our fundamentals there. But our guys know what to do, where they need to be and I think they’ve done a solid job, but we can always be better.”
(With WR Will Fuller, how has he looked? This has been, by my count, his first full week of practice with you guys since probably OTAs or minicamp. How has he looked and do you expect him to play a significant role, if any, against the Raiders?) – “Will (Fuller) has worked hard. We expect him to play so we’ll get out there. Again, we had practice Wednesday, a walkthrough yesterday. Today we’ll practice and kind of put the finishing touches on the game plan, run a few things offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. But yeah, Will has looked good this week.”
(When it comes to QB Jacoby Brissett, how do you feel about the preparation this week? Do you feel like you checked all the marks that you want to in order to get him ready for the game?) – “We still have to go through today, but so far this week, I think he’s done a nice job from a preparation standpoint. He’s in here, he’s meeting with his teammates, he’s watching the film, asking questions. But we’ll see how today goes and we’ve got to finish off the week well.”
(Kind of going back to the topic of the run game, you had mentioned earlier this week the explosive rushers they have in Raiders DE Yannick Ngakoue and DE Maxx Crosby getting a lot of production so far this season. What’s the best way to kind of try to neutralize those guys? Is it the run game? Is it helping in pass pro with the running backs and chipping? Just how do you get those two guys neutralized so you can be effective offensively?) – “They’re good players. Good in the run game, good in the pass game. There’s a myriad of ways you try to limit their productivity, but they do a nice job. I think both guys have played in this league. They’ve seen a lot of different ways that they’ve been attacked, but it’s about execution at the end of the day. It’s about execution. It’s about getting in and out of the huddle, getting 11 guys on the same page and executing a specific play – run, pass, screen, draw – and at the end of the day, it’s about execution.”
(Do you have a pretty good idea what the offensive line is going to look like Sunday? If so, anything you care to share with us?) – “Yeah, I have a good idea of what that’s going to look like. I’m not going to share that with you. (laughter)”
(It’s kind of a tricky question in terms of what to do with QB Reid Sinnett, in terms if you use elevations for two games to bring him up, do you put QB Tua Tagovailoa on IR and bring Reid to the 53? Where are you and General Manager Chris Grier in that process, do you know what you want to do, is it a tough call?) – “Those are all conversations you have to have with a situation like this. I think with Tua, it’s day to day and we want to see how he is doing every day. Is he making improvement? And that kind of gives us a lot of information we need to make those types of decisions. He’s in today, he’s getting a little bit better every day. We’re kind of in this day to day space. We have a little bit more time to make a decision, to gather some more information I’d say. But yeah those conversations are definitely being had.”
(As a general philosophy question, what goes into the decision to have a walkthrough and when?) – “Every year is different. Based on the schedule, based on travel, based on your injury situation. It’s a little bit different. It’s basically a gut or a feel of what we need to include – I would say travel oftentimes becomes a part of that, and then what the next few weeks look like. It might be one week with a walkthrough, two weeks without one. It’s just different. I can’t say for sure because I think the overall general health of the team play a role in that. I think every team kind of deals with that – when to, when not to, the benefits to walking through, what you get when you don’t walkthrough which is the pace and the timing and the fundamentals and the techniques at a higher speed. I wish there was a blueprint but I think every year is different, every team is different. The travel is different every year. I think you got to take all of that into account.”
(Last season you guys really hit your stride after that trip out west to San Francisco. Is there something to a trip together out west where you have a couple of days to galvanize the team, is there something to that?) – “No, I think playing well is about execution. I think at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about. It’s about preparation. Preparation leads to confidence and preparation and confidence leads to execution. I think that’s my thought on that.”
(Determining the allocation of snaps, so much has to do with the game plan for that week. How much do you and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer, and your offensive coordinators consider past performances against a team? I know CB Nik Needham had a very good year last year but struggled like a lot of guys in the Buffalo finale last year. We saw CB Justin Coleman play a lot last week instead of Nik. S Eric Rowe who has been a very good player for you but struggled a little bit against TE Darren Waller in Week 16 even though everybody struggled against Waller. Do you look at past performances and allocate snaps for a particular guy in a upcoming game?) – “I think every game plan is a little bit different. My approach is always – I look at last year’s game, but their team is different. They didn’t have – their o-line is different, some of the backs are different. Some guys are the same but it’s not a copy and paste of our game plan from last year and just stick it in there. That’s not my approach. We look at is as if it’s brand new, a clean slate. We’ve got different players, they’ve got different players, and what’s the best way to game plan this offensively, defensively and in the kicking game.”
(What role, if any, does analytics play in decisions – game situation decision such as fourth down going for the first down, punting, field goal or punting?) – “We have, I think, a very good analytics team. Headed by (Head Coach Assistant/Research & Analytics) Harry Freid and (Director of Coaching Analytics) Max Mulitz, those guys do a nice job for us. Yeah, it plays a role. I don’t think we’re going strictly off a model or the book. A lot of it is our team, their team, how we want to play, whether or not we want to go for it or not go for it. I think there is a lot that goes into it. There is a lot of conversation that’s had about it. We talk about it as a staff. What we’ve talked about, to include the numbers, we try to execute in the game.”
