Brian Flores – October 30, 2019
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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
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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
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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
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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.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick – October 28, 2019 (Postgame)
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Monday, October 28, 2019
Postgame – Pittsburgh
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(The game started off – you couldn’t ask for a better start, 14 points on the board – and then struggles begin. What changed at that point?) – “We had a couple of nice drives early, good momentum. Guys were out there having fun. Now, there’s just – this whole thing, it’s just a progression, and that’s a spot we need to get better in. It’s two weeks in a row now with the opportunities we had in Buffalo and now here today. Some of the stuff – coming out and getting the lead and just not being satisfied with it and continue to go for it.”
(It seems like this team, when you score it’s methodical. You’ve got to grind your way down the field. You don’t have those opportunities to get those big strikes and you see other teams that do it against you. It’s got to make it tough because you don’t really give yourself much margin for error.) – “I think when you do rely on those long drives, a penalty here or a sack or a negative play, then that makes those very difficult. I agree in that we’ve got to get to where we’re making more explosive plays and we have the guys to do it. Just to make those drives and scoring the ball a little bit easier than having the do the methodical march every time; but the last few weeks, we’ve had some really nice drives of doing that, taking it 75 yards and first down after first down. There’s more than one way to do it, but the ‘chunk plays’ certainly make it easier.”
(I know you look at this team and you see things getting better, but you lose every – the hurt’s tough when you lose these games. When does it become too much to bounce back from?) – “We’ve just got to continue to keep fighting and that’s just kind of the place that we’re at right now – just continue to keep fighting, continue to keep going to practice and try to get better every single day and then making sure that when we come out on Monday night or on Sundays now, we’re just out here enjoying each other and trying to have fun out on the field.”
(The fourth-and-1 and fourth-and-2 – were you pretty sure that you made it?) – “I thought I did, but obviously the replay said differently. I wish I would have kept my knee up for a little bit longer; but yeah, I thought that was a nice aggressive play call. I liked the play call when it came in and I’ve just got to get that first down.”
(You guys have had issues running the ball tonight. What were some of the complications there?) – “I think (the Steelers) are a good defense. I think you have to give credit to them. They’re very physical up front. They did a nice job. In the second half, especially as it got away from us a little bit, we didn’t really have a whole lot of opportunities to run the ball; but they did a nice job in the first half and contained our run game.”
(Can you take us through the interceptions there?) – “The first one was just unfortunate. (We were) putting together a little drive before the end of the half and those things happen. (The ball) got tipped up in the air and they made the play. Then the second one was a third-and-longer-type play and I just told Jakeem (Grant) I was going to chuck it up there and worst-case scenario, they’re going to intercept it inside the 5-yard line and it’s as good as a punt anyway, so I was okay with that one.”
Chris Grier – October 28, 2019 (Pregame)
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Monday, October 28, 2019
Pregame- Pittsburgh
General Manager Chris Grier
(What are some of the things that factored into the decision to trade RB Kenyan Drake?) – “For us, it was – We were always strong toward he wasn’t on the trading block. We weren’t looking to trade Kenyan. A report broke last week that we were trying to shop him, which we weren’t. We just kept fielding calls from people. A lot of people were calling and asking, so we got to the point where we listened. We just got to today and it just kind of made sense for us to do deal and it was the best value that we could get, so we did the trade.”
(Was part of the thinking that there may have been some talks about a contract, but it didn’t get done, so you’re thinking “Does RB Kenyan Drake want to be here long term?”) – “We’ll keep those between us. You guys know me, I don’t do it through the media. Kenyan handled himself well. He was a professional. At the end of the say we just had to do what was best for the Dolphins.”
(Are you expecting to make any other moves before the deadline Tuesday?) – “You never know. Like I said, we’re not shopping anybody. We’re getting calls like every team and then there’s teams calling us too trying to unload players as well. We’ll keep listening to people and stuff, but we’re not actively shopping anyone.”
(Would you consider yourself a buyer right now?) – “We might be, yeah. There’s some things that might tempt us. We’ve had some conversations with teams.”
(With S Reshad Jones, Dallas has expressed interest in upgrading at safety. Where do you feel Reshad Jones fits into the organization right now?) – “First of all, we’ve not gotten one call on Reshad all year, really. I think the only time we got was in February of last year and then we had the press conference where I told you guys he wasn’t going anywhere. So, we have not fielded one call on him. Reshad has been great. He’s been a complete professional. He’s crushed he’s not playing tonight. With the injury, he’s like, ‘I wish I could play.’ He’s really – he’s down.”
Brian Flores – October 28, 2019 (Postgame)
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Monday, October 28, 2019
Postgame – Pittsburgh
Head Coach Brian Flores
(The third-and-20* just before half, you guys sold out. Can you explain the thinking and why you did that?) – “We felt like that was the right call in that situation. We blitzed them a few times and had some success and they got us on that one. It’s one play in the game. We’re still up at halftime. We’ve still got an opportunity to play well and win the game. Look, there are bad plays in the game; there are good plays in the game. You’ve got to be able to overcome to bad ones. We just need to play better (in the) second half.”
(Some missed opportunities in the first half. You scored the two touchdowns but a couple balls up for grabs – CB Xavien Howard gets one interception but a couple other balls were up in the air that were available and how this team could afford to leave those…) – “Yeah, there are plays to be made out there. We made a few plays early. There were some other plays that were available to us (that) we didn’t make. Those are plays we need. I thought we came out strong in the first half and like you said, there were still a couple of plays we could have made, but we just didn’t make them.”
(You were able to get pressure in the first half by blitzing and doing a lot of different things. Then it seemed like you got caught there, the one with the long touchdown to Steelers WR Diontae Johnson – wide open – I guess you kind of live and die by it?) – “I think the guys did a good job defensively getting pressure on them. We wanted to stay with it. I don’t have any regrets on the call. I think they made a play just like we had made some plays prior to that defensively, and we just move on.”
(Were you asking CB Xavien Howard to cover WR Diontae Johnson on that play from the outside? It was supposed to be a man-to-man coverage there?) – “Yeah, it’s a blitz, so everybody’s in man coverage. Yes.”
(What was the reason for the timeout before that play, the third-and-20?) – “We wanted to take a look at what they were in.”
(With 20 yards to go, what was the nature of being so aggressive?) – “We wanted to be aggressive. We can second-guess a lot of calls and I’m not going to second guess that one. I think we’d had success with the call and they made a play; but at the same time, it’s 14-10 at halftime. We had opportunities in the second half. We didn’t take advantage of them. I’m not going to sit here and say that was the play that was the detriment of the game. We turned the ball over four times so as a total team, we didn’t do enough to win the game. It’s easy to look at one play and say, ‘that’s the one,’ but there were 150 other plays in the game.”
(It’s true that there were a lot of plays, but the momentum – you seemed to have control of the game and – the momentum seemed to swing.) – “Momentum shifts – there are ebbs and flows in every game. You’ve got to deal with (momentum shifts). That’s part of playing in the National Football League. Look, if you can’t deal with a momentum shift – that’s part of the game. We’ve got to be able to overcome that, move on, play a good second half. I’m not going to make excuses on one play. It’s never one play. It’s a series of plays and we didn’t make them, especially in the second half.”
(What was the issue on the measurement of the yards on that questionable first down or not a first down?) – “It was a first down, then it was not a first down. Obviously we felt like there wasn’t enough to overturn it. It got overturned and we move on. We’ve got to move on to the next series. That’s what we did; but that’s a big play in the game. Again, we didn’t get the call on that one and that’s fine. We’re not going to make excuses about that or point fingers at officials or anything like that. We need to be able to go back out there and get off the field. We weren’t able to do that.”
(You mentioned the four turnovers – four to one – tough to overcome that.) – “Yeah, it’s always tough to overcome that. Turnovers – like we say every week – that’s the stat that determines winning and losing a lot in this league and four to one is not going to get it done. We need to play better.”
(You’ve been outscored 130-20 in second halves. What was your assessment of this second half? Was it any different?) – “I think we turned the ball over. I think we were moving the ball fairly well and then the turnovers, that’s what really got us. I think it was three in the second half. It’s hard to get anything going when you turn the ball over.”
(We saw CB Xavien Howard got hurt. Can you update us on how he’s doing?) – “He wasn’t able to finish the game, so we’ll evaluate that over the course of the week and see where he is.”
(Are you worried a bit that CB Xavien Howard has kind of had a few of these knee injuries?) – “I think injuries are a part of the game. We’ve just got to – the next guy’s got to be able to go in there and perform. Obviously ‘X’ is one of our best players and made a couple plays for us tonight, but injuries happen on every team. Again, we’re not going to sit here and make excuse about a guy being out. We’ve got to go in there and the next guy’s got to perform, which we didn’t have that. I thought Pittsburgh went out there, they made some good throws, good catches – contested catches whether it was (JuJu) Smith-Schuster or (Diontae) Johnson. They made some plays out there as well. Sometimes you’ve got to tip your hat to those guys for making a couple of those plays.”
(On changing the game plan in the second half without CB Xavien Howard.) – “We’ve got a backup for everyone so the game plan doesn’t change dramatically and I think the guys that went in there, there were some good throws and good catches. A couple instances I’m sitting there going sometimes you’ve got to tip your hat to your opponent. (Mason) Rudolph made some good throws. (JuJu) Smith-Schuster made some good catches. (Diontae) Johnson made a couple good catches. We didn’t make enough plays.”
Brian Flores – October 26, 2019
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Thursday, October 24, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Is T J’Marcus Webb going to play on Monday and what would it be like for you to have the same offensive line for two weeks in a row?) – “Yeah, we expect him to play; but his situation, he’s doing everything he can. He’s been out there at practice. He’s trending in the right direction. We expect him to play. As far as the offensive line, I think we’ve had a lot of different groups in there I think every week, and regardless of who’s in there, I think we’ve gotten a little bit better and hopefully it continues that way. Now I’ll say this: it’s a big test this week against a really good defensive line really across the board from (Bud) Dupree to (T.J.) Watt to obviously Cam Heyward – him being one of the best lineman in the league. Really, that group is collectively as a group, one of the best units in the league, so it’ll be a tough test.”
(CB Eric Rowe – you had a chance to see his versatility at corner and safety over the last week, 10 days or so. What’s been your biggest takeaway about the versatility he’s been able to show you guys?) – “The willingness to play different roles, play different positions and really do what the team needs. That’s what we’re looking for out of all our players, and Eric (Rowe) has been able to do that and play at a – take the new roles, learn the new roles, his different assignments. Playing safety (and) playing corner are very different positions from a run-fit standpoint, from a play-action pass standpoint, from just a coverage standpoint, covering bigger bodies and more physical players and it’s a more physical game playing safety than it is corner at times, so he’s done a good job. I think he’ll continue to get better in that role, but basically what we need, he’ll give us. It could be some corner. It could be some safety. It could be some nickel. He’s a very versatile player and we’ve got a few guys who are versatile in the back end, who allow us to do a few different things and he’s definitely one of them.”
(How has WR Jakeem Grant come along in the last week practicing? Do you expect him to continue returning and everything?) – “He got dinged a couple weeks ago and he’s worked his way back. He was obviously out there last week and he’s progressing and getting better. Again, he’s one of our most explosive players. (He is) fast. Quickness can make people miss so as much as we can get him in from a return standpoint and from an offensive standpoint, we’d like to; but at the same time, we’ve got to – when a guy’s coming off an injury, we’ve got to not be careful but obviously manage it accordingly.”
