Jakeem Grant – October 30, 2019
Download PDF version
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
WR Jakeem Grant
(I know it sticks out for the fans that the Dolphins are playing their former head coach this week. Is that something that maybe the players get a little motivation behind, maybe a little grudge match? Is that element in your head, for the guys that were here last year?) – “No, not really. Not to me. Me personally, I have a relationship with him outside of football. I’d say just for me, it will be great seeing him just because I have a relationship with him. It will be great to go against him, just knowing that he was the coach that drafted me and things of that nature. It will be great seeing him just in general.”
(It’s special for you for that reason?) – “Yes, because I’ve got a relationship with him outside of football. It has nothing to do with football. It will be great. He’s a great coach and I know he has a great game plan and so do we.”
(The thing you remember about Adam Gase just from your time with him – a particular anecdote or something that you recall about him in a smiling way?) – “I’d just say me personally, he truly cared about me. That’s what I love about him. It has nothing to do with football. Me and him have a relationship outside of football. Like I said, I talk to him outside of football. Whenever the season is not going, I just talk to him. He asks me how my family is doing and I ask him the same, and just things of that nature.”
(It’s hard for guys like you and WR Albert Wilson who have had injuries, with the type of skillset you have in terms of speed and explosiveness, to be what you were immediately after you were hurt. Do you feel like you’re all the way back or do you still feel like you’re not totally back to where you were before the hamstring?) – “Yeah. Every day I’m progressing and every day I’m going to continue to go out there and get better. I feel like I’ve just got to continue to push myself to get better and better each and every day so the coaches know that I’m 100 percent and they can get ready to roll.”
(Are you close?) – “Oh yeah, definitely close.”
Jerome Baker – October 30, 2019
Download PDF version
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
LB Jerome Baker
(What would it mean to beat the former head coach and be able to have that up on them as a little motivation?) – “It’ll be big, but I don’t think it’d be big because we beat him. It’d be big because we finally got it down, we finally got a win. We’re not going to focus on beating him necessarily. We’re going to focus on beating the Jets. It’s definitely going to be a good one.”
(The second halves have been difficult, that’s the trend. Is there anything you can do to prepare differently to make sure that doesn’t happen again or is it just a thing that is happening?) – “It’s all a mentality thing. We’ve shown ourselves that we can play in the first half, we can play with anybody. The second half, we’ve got to have that mentality of we can’t let it slip away. We have to do the same things we’ve been doing, we have to up our game more and more and more. We can’t just ooze out and hope for the best. It’s all a mentality.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick – October 30, 2019
Download PDF version
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(Just thoughts on how you’ve played so far since being back as the starter. Are you pleased with what you’ve done? You’ve obviously had some good moments.) – “I think I just need to be more consistent and we’re all working on that right now, just becoming more consistent as a unit, and that definitely starts with the quarterback. That’s something I need to do and there’s a million different things in terms of communication, in terms of my recognition pre and post-snap and what I’m seeing in terms of accuracy, getting the ball out and all of those different things. I just need to continue to do a better job of that and continue to grow as a quarterback and as I go, this offense will go.”
(With the way that you guys played against Pittsburgh, would you describe yourself as a tough team considering they had sort of manhandled you guys on the line of scrimmage?) – “Can you repeat that? Sorry.”
(Based on the way that you guys played against Pittsburgh – a physical team – would you guys describe yourself as a tough team considering it seemed like you got manhandled on the offensive line?) – “It didn’t seem that way in the first quarter, just being able to put those two touchdown drives together. I think sometimes some of that stuff gets blown out of proportion a little bit when you’re behind and throwing every play and they’re pinning their ears back. That’s not a great situation to be in sometimes, but it’s amazing that it’s such a week-to-week league because two weeks ago, no sacks and singing the praises of how these guys are coming together and then this last week some questions marks and all that; but I just will continue to say we’re getting better. We’re improving. Those guys are working hard and I’m really pleased with the guys we have up there. I’m happy to be in the huddle with them.”
(What’s going on in the second half? We talk about consistency. One thing that’s consistent throughout this entire season is you’ve only scored 20 points in the second half. What’s going on and is there any parallel you can think of in your very long career where you’ve gone through something like this?) – “It’s been – it’s obvious we’ve had trouble scoring in general this year, but I really – as I look at the season, I almost just push the first two games out and then focus on the rest of it. Two of those touchdowns or scoring drives came in the Washington game in the fourth quarter; but yeah, we just have to continue to get better and more consistent because we’ve struggled both in the first and second half, so I don’t know that it’s all a second half problem. I think sometimes when you fall behind, you get out of the game plan and what you’re trying to do which makes it a little more difficult. I think just overall, continue to be more consistent as an offense.”
(A non-football question: your wife must be gold taking care of seven kids.) – “She is.”
(Can you talk a little bit about that and just elaborate a little bit about your wife and what she’s doing this season?) – “I would say it might be a little easier this year with seven kids rather than me being home and having eight kids around. (laughter) Because I’m not very good at bedtime with getting the kids all riled up. Especially when she travels and does things, I’m almost in the way sometimes. She’s unbelievable and she does it with a smile on her face every day and just has a great love for life, and that’s something that trickles down to our kids. I got very lucky in finding her. It’s been awesome. It’s been a lot of fun and she makes my life a lot easier.”
(Do you FaceTime your family regularly during the week?) – “Yeah.”
(That’s how you visit with your kids each day, I would guess.) – “Yeah, a lot of FaceTime. Trying to go back and forth (to Tampa) on off days and things like that, and they’ll come for home games every now and again. Just seeing them as much as I can.”
(She wants you to play until you’re how old?) – “She’s fully supportive of whatever decision I want to make.”
(But she doesn’t want you at home, it sounds like.) – “(laughter) No, she’s okay with me continuing to play, but I’m sure she’d be okay with me being done as well.”
(I actually have a question about how they commute. How do you get seven kids to a football game?) – “Either flying – like she’ll bring them all on a flight – or we have a big ol’ Nissan Envy – a 12-passenger van that basically is just a people mover that she’ll drive back and forth. It just depends on what’s going on with activities and stuff with the kids, but she’ll do either. Seven kids on its own every day is amazing, but watching her walk through an airport with seven kids is pretty incredible as well. (laughter) I know she could write a book – and she never would – but she could a write a book about it and how to do it because it’s pretty incredible.”
Bobby McCain – October 30, 2019
Download PDF version
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
S Bobby McCain
(How do you think it will be seeing Adam Gase on the other sideline?) – “It will be refreshing. I’m sure he’s going to have those guys fired up to come in and try to get a W and we’re going to be fired up trying to get a W. It’ll be a competition, for sure.”
(Do you think there will be some trash talk?) – “Yeah, for sure. It’s Dolphins vs. Jets. It’s a rivalry game. There for sure will be some trash talk but it’s just football.”
(Do you think there’s any advantage that you all can gain in terms of knowing how Adam Gase operates an offense and going up against it in practice?) – “Definitely but that’s really just around the league because it’s a copycat league. A lot of things you see that hurt you, they’re going to come up again. At the end of the day, offensive coordinators just want to see if you get it fixed. Like I said, we’ll know some of the things that are thrown at us and some we won’t. I’m sure he’ll have a couple of things in there that are new because he’s a good coach, he’s a good coordinator and he’s a good offensive mind.”
(The thing that you’ll most fondly remember about your time around Adam Gase is what?) – “I’d rather not speak on – I’m just trying to speak on the Dolphins. He was here, he was my coach. I had respect for him as a coach. I still have respect for him as a man but we’re going out to go win a football game so there’s not too much to say on that one.”
(With turnover in the secondary and obviously no CB Xavien Howard for the rest of the year, what have you seen from some of the young guys who have had to play a lot – CB Nik Needham and CB Chris Lammons?) – “They’re learning. They’re learning and getting better. It’s just a challenge each and every week. It’s a challenge each and every week to do that. In this league, you have to grow (and) you have to mature and understand that production – it’s a ‘what have you done for me lately’ business. So you have to produce and you have to put out good film and play good ball. Our record doesn’t show how hard we’re playing or how hard we’re preparing to get it done. I promise you that.”
(Any comments about CB Aqib Talib joining your group?) – “I’m excited to have him. He’s a great leader (and has been) a great player in this league for a long time. I don’t know all of the logistics about him being on IR. That’s not my business, but I know he’s a great player. We’re happy to have him and ready to get going.”
(What was your reaction about CB Xavien Howard?) – “That definitely sucks a little bit. You’ve just got to make sure – he’s a great player (so) we want to make sure he’s healthy and make sure he gets right because we’re going to need him.”
(It’s 12:30 on Sunday and you are standing two yards away from Adam Gase. What are you most likely to say to him?) – “I’ll definitely say what’s up. I’ll probably say a little more. (laughter)”
(What kind of trash?) – “No, it won’t be anything crazy. I have respect for him over there. I have respect for Coach Gase and everything he’s done so I’m not going to disrespect him. But there’s definitely going to be some chatter. It’s football. If it’s not then it isn’t fun.”
(Is Adam Gase going to try you deep?) – “Yeah, I hope so. (laughter) I hope so.”
(It looks like you guys are getting closer and closer and closer. What kind of progress have you seen from the team in terms of development?) – “We’re getting better. People don’t understand, we’ve got a lot of young guys. We’re just getting better each and every week. That’s all you can do. The wins will come. You just have to keep doing what you’re doing and prepare the right way and be a pro at the end of the day because this league, it’s about routine. So if you get in a routine and you find something that works for you – that’s what I’ve been trying to tell the young guys like Nik (Needham) and Ken (Webster) and (Chris) Lammons – guys that are playing good football, get in your routine and find it because that will keep you steady and that will keep you consistent.”
Brian Flores – October 30, 2019
Download PDF version
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(What’s been your reaction as you’ve seen General Manager Chris Grier and Chairman of the Board/Managing General Partner Stephen Ross spend the money over the last few months basically to buy picks in the mid rounds? It’s an unusual thing, but you’ve seen this since you’ve been coach with three or four players. What does that say about the owner? What have you thought about it?) – “I think Chris, (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore), Steve, (Vice Chairman, President and CEO) Tom (Garfinkel) I think as executives in the organization, what I’ve seen is that’s we look at every situation and every avenue to help this team grow and improve. That’s one of the things I really admire about being here. It’s important to find any way to help this team improve and get better. We all see that as the vision moving forward.”
(With CB Aqib Talib as long as we’re on the topic, there was a report from the NFL’s website today that he’s not going to report to the team and since you have a relationship with him, he’s being permitted to stay home and rehab. Is that accurate?) – “Again, he’s on IR. He’s in a rehab program in L.A. We talked about that and just felt like there was – He’s not eligible to come back for a period of time. That conversation is between he and I. That report is – I can’t really speak to what that report said. Is it accurate? Is it not accurate? I would say it’s probably somewhere in the middle. He’s going to rehab in L.A. for a little bit and then we’ll take it from there. That’s kind of the conversation I had with him.”
(That exchange with the official was eye opening. What was your point of contention on that replay? What got you so fired up?) – “I’ve moved on. I’ve turned the page from the Pittsburgh game. I think it was obviously a big call in the game. There’s emotions, they run high in the game like that and really every game. But we’ve turned the page. We’re onto the Jets. That’s where our focus is. We talked about that this morning as a team. That was the message. I know it’s still fresh in a lot of people’s minds because it was just a couple of days ago, but we’ve got to turn our attention to the Jets. That’s kind of where we’re at.”
(You’ve faced the New York Jets Head Coach Adam Gase when he was the play caller here. What challenges does he pose as an offensive play-caller?) – “Gase does a very, very good job putting his players in position to make plays. He tries to attack defenses, defensive schemes, personnel if he feels like there’s a matchup he likes. He does a really good job. He’s a tough guy to draw up defenses against. This will be a tough test for us. “
(Have you had any interesting or numerous interactions or conversations with New York Jets Head Coach Adam Gase ever like even at the NFL owner’s meetings or anything at all?) – “Yeah, he and I have had conversations dating back to when he was at other places and when I was at other places as young coaches in the league, and they’ve been good conversations. We talk about scheme, we talk about life as a coach in this league. Those conversations, we’re not going to talk about them here. Those are between he and I.”
(You’ve played your final game of October already, moving on to November. Did you ever consider whenever you took this job that you’d be two months into the job and you’d still be winless?) – “Every situation is different. You go into any job, any situation and you never really know what’s going to happen. Good, bad, middle of the road, you never know. I think – you’ve just got to deal with every situation the way you feel best. In this situation right now, the goal for me is to help this team improve on a week-to-week basis. I think that is happening, and we’ll just keep going out there practicing. I think this team is getting closer to getting to the point to where we can pull out a ballgame. I think we’ve had opportunities. Unfortunately we haven’t taken advantage of them. I think if we just continue on the process we’re on and continue to improve in practice and start fast like we did last week, and string some things together, I think we’ll get to where we want to get.”
(What is missing?) – “Again, every game is different. If something is missing – Any time you lose, there is something that is missing in that particular game. Last week we turned the ball over, the week before it was the same thing – we turned it over in a critical situation. I’d say in this league, not just for us but for every team, turnovers are the difference between winning and losing a lot of games. We need to get that fixed. At the same time, I want this team to be aggressive, and be aggressive to go and win games as well. That’s what was missing last week and previous weeks. I think at the end of the day, we need two or three more plays that have to be made. I don’t know where they will come from. Maybe it’s – we missed a block on a punt return in Buffalo that we may spring one. Nobody knows that, but that’s a big play in the game. There are little small plays like that, I guess the masses don’t know or they don’t see those plays. If you make one of those, the outcome is different. I think the big ones is the turnovers; but there are other plays in the game (where) we could actually overcome some of the turnovers (and) we’re not making (them).”
(You mentioned when you came here that you want to be a tough, smart and disciplined team. Obviously the discipline is there from the low penalties. But, do you feel like you have a tough team?) – “Oh, yeah. This is a tough team. For sure.”
(You guys have been – Yardage-wise, you’ve given up 1,100 more yards than you’ve gained. Isn’t that some indicator that the toughness isn’t there? When teams want to stop you from running, they stop you from running.) – “I think this is a mentally and physically tough team. I think watching these guys practice on a daily basis, watching how they go about their business on a daily basis, I see it in games. This is a tough team. I think this has been an adverse season and I see the way they fight and come back. From that standpoint, no one isn’t going to tell me that this isn’t a tough team. That’s where I’m at on that. If there is a difference in opinion, that’s fine too. We can agree to disagree, but I do think this is a tough team – mentally and physically.”
(How important is league-wide respect to you? And do you think you’ve gained more of that the last few weeks?) – “What anyone else thinks doesn’t really matter to me. All I care about is what’s going on in this building. I care about us having the right process, I care about us trying to improve every day from the meetings, to walkthrough, to practice. That’s what I want to see on the field come Sunday, or Monday, or whatever day we’re playing. I think I’ve seen that and we’re going to try to continue to get better on a daily basis. The opinion of others have really never mattered to me. I have a lot of peace and freedom – I have a lot of peace. I do. I’m confident in my ability to coach, I’m confident in my coaching staff’s ability to coach, I’m confident in our players. That gives me peace of mind. I don’t really care what anyone else thinks, quite honestly.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick start Sunday?) – “Yeah.”
(You’ve seen RB Le’Veon Bell quite a bit in your coaching career. What makes him so special?) – “He’s explosive, has very good vision, (is a) tough runner, breaks a lot of tackles, good in the passing game. He pretty much does everything well. He can lull you to sleep a little bit, sitting in the hole waiting for the blocks to develop and the next thing you know, it’s a 28-yard gain. He’s a good back and he’s done a good job for a long time. This will be a tough test.”
(Can you go into your thoughts about sticking with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick? Obviously neither quarterback has won a game as a starter this year. Why stick with Ryan?) – “I think he gives us the best chance to win.”
Patrick Graham – October 29, 2019
Download PDF version
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham
(DT John Jenkins really seemed to be all over the place in the first quarter, even on the pick. He pushed C Maurkice Pouncey back into the pocket into the quarterback’s face. What have you seen from him and how has he progressed since you got him?) – “It’s funny, just meeting with those guys, having a little extra time I met with the defensive linemen and went through some stuff with those guys, along with (Defensive Line Coach Marion) Hobby, and (Linebackers Coach) Rob Leonard – we all met together and the thing that he did during the game is that he did exactly what we were asking him to do to the best of his ability. He tried to get some push in the pocket, he played with power in the running game and he’s a pleasure to be around. I know I say that about all of the guys, but the relationship we’re developing with these guys, I love coming to my job every day and working with these guys. He provides some push in the pocket and a spark in there and I thought that was positive, I thought that was real positive. We asked him to be one of the guys that contributed to try to be the most physical team out there and he helped us with that.”
(How do you think CB Eric Rowe has played since he’s been needed at safety?) – “The thing about Eric is that he’s a selfless guy that he’s going to be willing to do whatever you ask him to do. Whether it’s safety, corner, whatever it may be – covering tight ends, backs or receivers – I think he’s done a good job of competing and getting his hands on people, and that’s really helped us as a defense. Then of course the tackling. He’s a guy that’s a physical tackler, a guy that gets people down consistently. He’s constantly trying to improve, so it’s been positive.”
(On the subject of takeaways, you had the one early, and got your hands on some balls. Do you as a coach see that as progress, or how do you see it?) – “I think I said it a few weeks ago – progress, we’re progressing, we’re progressing. But you want more. There were opportunities out there and hopefully we will capitalize on those more as it goes along. There has definitely been some progress, but it’s hard for me the progress – I want to win games. That’s what it comes down to: you’ve got to win the game. Guys are improving and we’ve just got to find a way this week when we’re facing the Jets on how to finish the game as a complete group.”
(Do you think that you have guys with good hands?) – “Yeah, we have guys with good hands here. We definitely have guys with good hands. I think the old adage about defensive players don’t have hands, I don’t know if that’s the case anymore. I was an offensive player when I started in college, but I didn’t have hands. (laughter)”
(What have you seen that you liked from your young cornerbacks?) – “This is how we evaluate the cornerback position: we look for guys with toughness. That’s what we start with – whether it’s mentally or physically. Guys who can tackle. Then the willingness to get up in somebody’s face and get your hands on them. The toughness and all of that stuff, that all plays into it. I’ve seen that form those guys. The ability to come back – whether it’s a good play or bad play, and be able to compete and just keep working at it – that’s something that I – I never played that position. I understand being out there on an island like that from a coaching perspective. I’m just amazed at how those guys – one good play, bad play or whatever it is, it’s the next play. I’m always amazed by that, especially when they’re younger because it can be harder, especially in the big stages like we are here in the NFL whether it’s a Monday Night game or whether it’s a Sunday 1p.m. game. It’s a big stage. It’s NFL football.”
(What led to LB Vince Biegel playing more last night. He played well.) – “He’s been playing a lot lately. What led to it really is practice. Practice and then his diligence in the classroom in terms of our meeting room, and then just the performance on the field. He played the way we were asking him to play. He did a good job of trying to set the edge and rushing on the right side. He’s providing a spark and he’s definitely providing some energy out there and he’s doing a good job of using his body and his tools to help us as a defense.”
(It seemed like LB Jerome Baker was a lot more active last night than he’s been in recent weeks. What did you see from him?) – “He’s hungry right now. He’s hungry right now. Just by his play, he was running around, attempting to do the stuff that we’re asking him to do. I thought that play he made on that third down, that was critical. I don’t know what his speed rate was, but he got over there. Obviously we’re going to need that next week against the Jets because, you’re dealing with (Le’Veon) Bell, (Balil) Powell and all of these backs – Ty Montgomery. At some point he’s going to have to cover those guys. But I thought it was a good illustration of his toughness, his awareness to see the play and also just his natural ability and his physical traits.”
(I know that fans sometimes or even people in our business look at snap counts. Some teams when they see a guy’s snap counts go down they think maybe he’s not playing that well. With your team though, the way you and Head Coach Brian Flores run things, a player’s role can change. He might be playing well, but he can play a lot more one game or not a lot in the other. The one thing I’ve noticed with that was DE Taco Charlton. He had less snaps yesterday than he’s had in the previous two games. Was that a reflection of the type of defense that you wanted to use? Did Taco not have a great practice week, what?) – “No. Taco worked hard this week in practice. We put out the defense, or the unit – however you want to look at a particular unit – for what we think is going to be best that week. For this week it was a different configuration of the guys. It wasn’t anything bad on Taco, it was just a different configuration of the guys. When Taco got in there, he was productive. We got that from him. I think his work ethic and what he’s been doing in the classroom and also on the practice field has been good. Based on what we think is best that week, we’re going to move it around a little bit.”
Chad O’Shea – October 29, 2019
Download PDF version
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea
(I guess there was one lineup change during the game, moving from G Shaq Calhoun to C/G Chris Reed. What was the thinking behind that and having Chris play?) – “I think that the one thing is I want to compliment the Pittsburgh Steelers’ front. It was a front that we had a lot of respect for going into the game and probably even more respect as we came out of the game. It was a great challenge for us in the game. We thought at the time to make a change, to put in Reed for Calhoun, was the best thing for the team. I think that Reed went in and performed well. He’s a player that’s always very well prepared and one that we consider a dependable player on our roster and we were pleased with his performance once he went into the game and replaced Shaq.”
(I know obviously with the roster move today with TE Nick O’Leary, it leaves you with two tight ends. Can you do everything you want in the offense with those two and how have TE Mike Gesicki and TE Durham Smythe played?) – “So what we’ll do now from a game-planning perspective is we’ll go and kind of work with the players that we have currently on our roster, and that might be to adjust some things personnel-wise. But certainly there’s enough that we have from a personnel standpoint that we can do the things that we want to do versus the Jets. There’s always changes during the week and this is just an example of another change that we’ve had. I think that’s one of the challenges we’ll have as a coaching staff, just putting together a good game plan. But we have enough personnel groups to be successful.”
(WR Jakeem Grant is getting a little bit healthier. Yesterday he had a couple of catches in the 15-17 yard range. Getting him out there and healthy, what can he bring to the offense?) – “It was great to see him get going and have a couple of the catches. Certainly he’s got a great skillset and his speed is one that’s part of that skillset that’s unique. It was really nice and a positive to get the ball to him some. I think he’s made some progress here in the last couple of weeks, especially with where his health is. He’s made progress and hopefully he continues to do that. And if he performs like he did last night and has the catches, he’ll have more opportunities as we move forward here.”
(I wanted to ask you about G/T Jesse Davis. He’s back at right tackle now after starting off at left tackle. Do you see any differences in him on one side as opposed to another? And all things being equal, would you prefer keeping him on the right side?) – “I think the first thing that I’ll say is the tackle position in general – whether you’re on the right or left, especially when you face the front that we did last night – is challenging. But there’s certain things about the right and the left obviously that are different, that we know. We think that’s best for Jesse right now on the right side and (J’Marcus) Webb fits best on the left. That combination has been something that we’ve had the last couple of weeks here and that’s something – the offensive line spot, as I’ve said all along, we’re continuing to evaluate every week, and do what’s best for the team. Some of that is based off of who we’re facing too, and what the personnel is from a lineup standpoint on the other side of these guys. That’s something that we’ll talk about today as a staff and see what’s best as far as the right combination for us – not only at that spot, but there’s going to be some other moving parts at some other position groups. We talked about the tight end with Nick (O’Leary) not being on the roster right now, and just some things we’ll have to juggle to put the best 11 out there for us.”
(When you and Head Coach Brian Flores and Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville talked on Sunday and Monday, was there much thought to giving RB Patrick Laird any carries last night? Or was the thinking ‘let’s just go with our two veteran guys on a Monday night game and maybe we’ll weave in Laird or RB Myles Gaskin down the road?’) – “Certainly Patrick – when (Kenyan) Drake wasn’t with us on game day – that definitely factored Laird into being a running back that could factor into the game. He stays well prepared and he’s always one that knows exactly what he’s doing, so we were very confident that if we had to put him in the game, he would know what to do and execute it at a decent level. As we’ve told all of the players here this year that are backup players or in those roles, we need to stay ready because at any time you can be put in there. Certainly because of the numbers that we had on Monday, he was definitely somebody that stayed ready and potentially could have played for us.”
(I know it’s way too early to know with the Jets because you just started, but is there any thinking about whether you’d like to see RB Patrick Laird or RB Myles Gaskin at some point as a third back or is it tough to give carries to a third back in this league?) – “I think that this is a challenge that we had when we had the three backs that were playing for us – (Kenyan) Drake, (Kalen) Ballage and (Mark) Walton – is it’s tough to have three. It’s a good problem to have, that you have three backs that can do some things in a positive way for you, but it’s also difficult to get them all in there. What we’ve stressed to those guys is obviously you have to back up different roles and stay ready and that’s what we’ll do. (Myles) Gaskin and (Patrick) Laird certainly approach practice (like) they’re playing and they’ve been good in the meetings. Again, they’ve stayed well-prepared so I think that if they have the opportunity to play, I’m looking forward to seeing them play.”
(You guys got a lot of mileage on all the quick slants to WR DeVante Parker and WR Preston Williams last night. How much does their size help with that play?) – “I think it helps greatly. To have a size wide receiver, which I think we have in both of those guys, is something that makes it hard on the defensive backs, and I think that they do a good job of using their size as a strength. Certainly there were some good examples of that last night. I just think that that’s something that you can’t replace, is size. Especially with – I think ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) does a good job of throwing those tight balls, so whether it’s a slant or whether it’s a go route, they can utilize their size, so it really helps to have two size receivers on the outside.”
(What did you see with the turnovers on film as far as any common denominators?) – “Common denominators – obviously we don’t want to have any of them, but I thought on the first turnover obviously we had a drop. I thought ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) made a nice throw and a nice read on the (Nick) O’Leary (play). That was a key play in the game. Then I thought on the second turnover, we almost looked at that as it was almost like a punt. It really was. Then the third one on the strip sack, obviously – like I’ve said – it takes all 11 to have good ball security and it’s just not all on ‘Fitz’ and we weren’t as good in protection as we would have liked on that play and put him in a tough position to be able to hold onto the ball. Then the (Mark) Walton turnover, I think that the one thing I respect and admire about Walton is how hard he plays and how much energy he brings. Certainly he was trying to make a play with the ball in his hands and giving great second effort and really playing hard like he always does to the bitter end and unfortunately, they made a good play from behind and the ball was out. We don’t want to accept turnovers. That was the difference in the game for us. It doesn’t matter how they happen. They’re turnovers at the end of the day and we’ve got to do a better job of eliminating those.”
(How would you assess how C/G Evan Boehm has played center since C Daniel Kilgore is injured?) – “I thought it was another good week of him being in a tough environment on the road. I always look at the center position and think of how is the operation first. How can you handle the snap count? How can you handle some of the things from a communication standpoint? And I thought he did another good job of that. I think so much of that position is making sure you get the other guys on the same page to your right and left, and obviously the quarterback’s involved in that; and again, it was a second week for him, it was positive and that the overall operation was good. We didn’t have many issues, especially on the road in a tough environment versus a good front of just getting in and out of the huddle and those things. I thought it was positive last night.”
(It was totally justified, but the degree of anger we saw from Head Coach Brian Flores on the sideline – you being around him for many years – have you seen him that angry ever?) – “Yeah, I think the word is ‘competitive’ (laughter) and obviously I’ve been around Brian for a long time and know him very well, and I think the one thing that I know is he’s highly competitive. That’s how he kind of approaches everything and that’s how he’s approached obviously our season and the game last night. This matters obviously a lot to him, a lot to us as a team. He’s a highly competitive person.”
Brian Flores – October 29, 2019
Download PDF version
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(With the CB Aqib Talib move, was that purely a financial move or would you hope to be able to see him in a Dolphins game when he becomes eligible in Week 15? Would you have interest in him when he’s a free agent this offseason or was it purely a financial-based move?) – “Obviously I have some history with Aqib. I think he’s a really good player. We had an opportunity to acquire him and some draft capital, so we felt like that was the best move for us and obviously he’s dealing with an injury and we’ll just see where that’s at. This is all happening very quickly, so there’s a lot of things we’ve got to assess (and) evaluate. It’s hard to make a blanket statement on what it’s going to be playing-time-wise, etc. So we’re just going to take it day-by-day and just see where he is physically and take it from there.”
(So CB Aqib Talib will report to the team? At the very least he’ll be here as opposed to just being a…) – “This has gone – we’re half an hour into this, so I’m not – I don’t have his flights and I don’t have any details from that standpoint. When I know, I’ll let you know.”
(And multiple reports about CB Xavien Howard being placed in IR. Does he need surgery and what led to that decision?) – “That’s another one where we’re still doing the evaluations there and seeing where he is physically from a health standpoint. Again, it’s unfortunate. He’s obviously one of our top players and you never want to see anybody get injured or deal with things, but he’s a tough kid and I’m sure he’ll bounce back. We’re still kind of going through that process right now and figuring out where we are.”
(I know you’ve been asked this before but now how concerned are you about long-term issues with him with CB Xavien Howard knee problems?) – “It’s still very early. Injuries are part of the game so I guess there’s not too much concern from my standpoint. He’s young. He’s tough. Football is very important to him. People get dinged and deal with injuries on a year-to-year basis and guys come back, they play and have successful careers; so no, (I’m) not overly concerned. For me more than anything, I feel bad for the kid. I know he loves to play. I know he loves to compete. He loves to be out there with his teammates, so my concern is more for him than his long-term ability to play.”
(The roster move with TE Nick O’Leary – was it purely because you needed a roster opening or do plays like last night obviously where he couldn’t hold onto the ball and that led to a pick, did that contribute to his decision?) – “We claimed Xavier Crawford yesterday, so we needed a roster spot and we just felt like that was – we needed a roster spot so we had to make a move, and we made the move with Nick. That was the reason behind that.”
(Any thinking of bringing up TE Chris Myarick or adding another tight end or do you think two would be enough at this point?) – “We only have 53 spots, so that was a one-for-one. If we make a move, we’d have to drop another player and we’ll see.”
(After watching the tape of last night’s game, what were some of your takeaways?) – “I think we started fast. I think we were ready to play. It’s a big stage and a tough environment and I don’t think it was too big for us, so that was good. I think at the end of the day in this league, it comes down to executing in critical moments and I would say, like I talked about last night, one of the biggest stats in this league is turnovers and we lost that battle 4-1. That’s something we – I would say most teams – it’s hard to overcome losing the turnover battle in this league and we’re no different. (There were) some good things. I thought we started fast. I thought we made some plays early defensively. We just couldn’t sustain it. We didn’t play well in the second half and I think turnovers were a big part of it.”
(It looked like LB Jerome Baker went and had himself the best game of the year. He might have been more involved in plays than he’d been all year. Would you agree with that and what did you see from him?) – “Yeah, I think he flew around and played fast and was physical and tackled well and did a lot of good things. I think he’s definitely improving, getting better, taking on more of a leadership role week after week after week; and he played well last night, but the individual efforts – I think he’d even say that – they’re great. We need good individual efforts, but we need more of a better team effort and we need more guys having better individual efforts and us all collectively playing better as a team.”
(With obviously the prospect of now CB Xavien Howard’s and CB Ken Webster’s injury, do you think you might move CB Eric Rowe back to corner and with CB Cordrea Tankersley, is he ready where you think we could see him against the Jets?) – “It’s still early in the week. I don’t even know if we’ve been here 12 hours. (laughter) We’re going through every potential positional changes we would make based on injury, based on our opponent; so there’s a lot to do and we’ve been on it all morning so we’re still working through a lot of those things. I would say it’s too early to say we’re going to move this guy here or this guy’s out. I think it’s too early to say all that.”
(I know as you mentioned last week, there’s obviously rust at cornerback when you haven’t played for a while, just the technique of having a guy in front of you to cover. Did CB Cordrea Tankersley look to you last week like he might be close to being polished enough at this point to help?) – “Yeah, I think he definitely had a better week last week than he did in the previous week. We’ll see. We’ll get out there again this week and there’s definitely going to be some opportunity or potentially going to be some opportunity for him to come up, be active and we’ll just how that plays out over the course of the week. Again, it’s too early to tell whether we’ll have a spot. Again, to bring somebody up, you’ve got to put somebody down, so we’ll see how it goes.”
(Looking into the film – the touchdown pass on the blitz at the end of the half – what did you see?) – “I’ve been asked this a couple times. To me, if you want to win games in this league, you’ve got to be aggressive. That’s never going to change for me. We blitzed them. They made a play. That happens. I’ve been in games where we’ve blitzed them and I’ve been in big games where you blitz them and you make a play and it’s the right (call). To me, if you’re going to win in this league, you’ve got to be aggressive. Period. That’s my style. I’m not going to play conservative. That’s always been kind of my ‘M.O.,’ so that’s not going to change. What I saw was we blitzed them, they ran a crossing route, we didn’t tackle a guy. People say you live by the sword, you die by the sword; and I guess that’s something people say, but for me, we’re going to be aggressive. That’s the way this team’s going to play and we’re going to go down swinging. Period.”
(What did you think of DT Robert Nkemdiche’s first 15 defensive snaps as a Dolphin?) – “I thought he played okay. Again – I mentioned this last week – there’s a lot of technique, a lot of fundamentals, a lot of those things that you need to train your body, train yourself to get into; so from a footwork (and) hand placement standpoint, it could’ve been a lot better but that’s kind of the progression. Hopefully – I do think – I think he’ll be better in practice this week. I think he’ll play better in the game. I didn’t think it was – I’m not saying it was a bad performance – but just from a hand placement, a footwork, a technique standpoint, it could be (better). He looked rusty. He’s been out there 10 days, two weeks or however long it’s been so that wasn’t surprising.”
