Chris Grier and Brian Flores – April 24, 2020
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Friday, April 24, 2020
General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Brian Flores
Chris Grier:
(It seemed like you guys focused on improving the trenches in the second day. Was that a priority for you guys or was that just sort of how the board fell?) – “Brian (Flores) and I got together and started talking about – when we first hired him – we always talked about building from the ground up and a big part for us was just finding the right types of guys to fit what Brian and the coaching staff want. For us, we always talked about … and that’s how you win in this league – with o-lines and d-lines – so we saw great value. We got players that we were excited to have and we feel really good about the picks.”
Brian Flores:
“I agree with Chris (Grier). We just felt good about Robert (Hunt), Raekwon (Davis), Brandon (Jones) – all three picks. All are tough, physical players, fundamentally sound; but like all rookies, (they have) got a long way to go, a lot of improvements to make, and hopefully we can them as soon as possible.”
Chris Grier:
(Did you guys try to move up for RB J.K. Dobbins? I know he went one spot before you picked. Was there any conversation about moving up for Dobbins at all and also have there been any conversations with the Jaguars about RB Leonard Fournette?) – “No, we have not had any conversations with anyone, and for us with the board, we’re calling teams all the time up and down, (but we weren’t) specifically moving up to go after any real specific player.”
Brian Flores:
(How much better do you think you’ve gotten on the offensive line in the last two days?) – “I think there’s a lot – we don’t have the players (in the building). When guys don’t play for a long time, it’s hard to say, ‘you’re better at this or better at that.’ We’ve got to get them here. We’ve got to get them the terminology. We’ve got to work together as a group, as a unit. I think we feel good about the players we’ve selected, but at the same time there’s a long road ahead. We’ll start by getting them here, which with all that’s going on, obviously that’s an obstacle and we’re going to have to find a way to get them the information – the terminology, the information – through obviously these types of platforms. On the offensive line or the defensive line, it’s a team game. We’ve got to get to know each other, trust each other and build communication; so we’ve got a long way to go.”
Brian Flores:
(I wanted to know how close you are after two drafts and free agency to getting the types of players that you want. I know you want tough players. You want versatile players. How close are you to having a team full of the guys that you want right now?) – “I think there’s a lot of guys like that in our building. Prior to the draft and every year, every team brings in new players whether it’s through free agency – every team is picking new players during the draft, so every year is a little bit different. Building a team and building that camaraderie, communication; it’s different every year. As far as specific players, we’ve targeted guys who fit the Miami Dolphin criteria: guys who are tough, guys are smart, guys who love to play and compete. I think we had a lot of guys like that on our team a year ago as well. Chris (Grier), myself, the personnel staff, the coaching staff – we’ll always try to get those kind of guys in our building in all areas – coaching, scouting, playing. Anyone who enters the building – you guys have heard me say that and I don’t think that will change. The more guys we get who fit that bill, then hopefully we’ll improve; but again, we’ve got to get out there. We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got to practice. We’ve got to get into meetings, get into walkthroughs. We’re a long way off from that given what’s going on. Hopefully we get that going at some point. I’m hopeful that we’ll get back to practicing, but obviously there’s a lot more pressing issues out there, so when the time is right, we’ll hopefully build a team that communicates, works well together and is improving daily.”
Chris Grier:
(I see Robert Hunt listed as a tackle. Did you guys draft him first and foremost as a tackle? And then also if you could talk about what you think his best traits are.) – “Robert can play right tackle, he can play right guard. So for us, he’s going to come in and compete for a job. Brian’s talked about it. It’s a competition. That’s one of the things we liked about him – position flexibility to play those things, but the thing we loved about him was his competitiveness. He’s a tough, physical player. He plays with an attitude. He’s got good football intelligence. It’s important to him. A lot of those criteria and qualities the coaching staff is looking for, this kid has them so we’re very excited. After we took him, Brian and I got multiple texts from people on other teams saying that was their guy, so we were happy to get him and think he will be a good fit. (We are) looking forward to having him – when he gets here – to work and get on the field and compete for a job.”
(With DT Raekwon Davis, there was so much production his sophomore season and then his play kind of tailed off. When you guys did the evaluation, where did you feel like he was in terms of the reasoning for that limited production?) – “I think when people talk production, they want to talk sacks. Brian has mentioned it before, this kid has created a lot of opportunities. He’s had plays where he’s been blowing up stuff. The one thing he is: he’s big, physical, tough, he stops the run and I think as a kid, he’s matured over the years. We were really happy to get him. We didn’t have any qualms about him and I know Brian and the coaching staff and the scouting staff were really excited. We all had him rated as a high-rated player for us.”
Brian Flores:
“I’ll piggyback on what Chris just said. I’ve always told players that you can play a great game and have no stats. If you set the edge every time, if you’re in your gap, if you make every tackle, if you force the ball wherever we want to force it, if you make your block, you can literally have nothing on the stat sheet but play a great game. I’m on record saying that to players dating back to as long as I have been coaching. I truly believe that. So when people say statistics – when I see Raekwon, I see a guy who is defeating blocks, taking two blocks and creating plays for his teammates. There are a lot of hidden statistics that I look at personally. I think he does a good job at maybe some of those hidden stats.”
Chris Grier:
(With S Brandon Jones, how much of special teams was some of the appeal to you guys?) – “It’s his whole game. He’s a good football player. He’s smart, he tackles, he covers, he can play on (special) teams. We met him at the Senior Bowl and the coaching staff and Brian (Flores) felt really good about him. The more that we got to spend time – they showed that thing about him watching every team’s (defensive plays). He’s a really good football player and an all-around football player … this coaching staff is always looking for.”
(You have nine picks tomorrow. Do you intend on using them all or are you going to thing about moving them a little bit?) – “Like I said, we’ll always look for every opportunity we can to improve and do what’s best for the roster and the organization. We may move it around, we may pick them all. Who knows how the day unfolds. The third day of the draft is always … so we’ll see how it unfolds.”
(On the field, S Brandon Jones checks a lot of boxes playing safety, special teams. But I wanted to ask about his request to get all of your defensive tape from last season through that draft process. How much does that type of knowledge and preparation help bump a player’s grade on your board?) – “Just like I said earlier. I’ll speak for me, I won’t speak for Brian. But we talked to the people at Texas (about him). A three-year starter and had all of the qualities and intangibles …”
Brian Flores:
“I’d say first and foremost, he’s a good player. I don’t want guys to feel like if they just show up and show us that they watch a lot of tape, that we are going to draft them. That’s certainly not the case. This is a guy who is a guy who is smart and he communicates, and that’s obviously an important part of the game. He can run, he tackles, he does a lot of good things physically. While that was impressive, what we saw on the field was the lion share of the evaluation we made.”
