Head Coach Brian Flores
(Of the guys who are injured – LB Vince Biegel, CB Jomal Wiltz, and RB Myles Gaskin – are any of those serious enough that you just know they’re out this week?) – “No. It’s still too early. (They’re) all still being evaluated, so it’s too early. I know Gaskin – none of those guys came back. I know Gaskin’s looked like a tough injury. If there was one guy who it looked like it would be hard for him to get back, it would be him. We’ll see. He’s a tough kid. If you asked him, he’ll say he’s playing. We’ll see.”
(Would you feel comfortable with just two backs, or would you probably have to add one?) – “Those are discussions we had this morning, but more than likely we probably would add one. Whether or not we can get that player ready on a week like this, it will be a challenge; but yeah, if that was the case, we’d probably add another one.”
(We ask you every week – probably much to your amusement or maybe not – about QB Ryan Fitzpatrick starting. I’m going to ask you a question: Is Fitzpatrick going to be a part of the team in 2020?) – “I don’t have a crystal ball here. I’ll tell you that I love ‘Fitz.’ I think he’s done a great job for us. Those are conversations that we’ll have at a later time, exit meeting conversations. Those are conversations for (General Manager) Chris (Grier), myself, (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore), and the coaching staff. He’s done a great job for us this year. I love that he’s our quarterback.”
(Is there anything that QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has done that would prevent him from being back next year?) – “No.”
(DT Zach Sieler, he seemed to do some things that stood out. What did you notice when you reviewed his play?) – “He plays hard. He plays with good technique. He tackles well. He made some big tackles for us in the game. I’d say in overtime, they did a good job of blocking. There was some space there for (Joe) Mixon and if Zach doesn’t make that play, we probably don’t win the game to be honest with you. I thought he played well. He had production in a lot of areas – breakups, tackles, he had a sack early. I thought he played a really good game.”
(LB Vince Biegel was a guy that joined this team right at the beginning of the season. He’s probably been one of the most ambitious, outgoing players on your team. What has he been to you guys in this rebuild year?) – “He’s tough, he’s smart, he works hard and football is important to him. He just wants to improve and get better on a daily basis. He does everything that he can from a preparation standpoint, from a meeting standpoint, from a film study standpoint, to try to become the best player he can be. That’s really all you can ask from any player.”
(I noticed during the game when LB Vince Biegel got hurt, you came all the way on the field to see him. Is there more of a personal connection there with him or more of a concern that you had at the moment?) – “I’ve gone out there for multiple players over the course of the year. Any time a player goes down, I try to get out there and check on them. I didn’t think I was doing anything out of the ordinary there. I try to build a connection and build a relationship with all of our players. I feel like I’ve done that with Vince this year. It’s unfortunate that he had to go down, and wasn’t able to come back, but he’s a tough kid. I think he’ll do everything to play this week.”
(Can you talk a little bit about this week’s challenge? Going up there to play New England in December. They are obviously motivated, they need this game for playoff standings. Can you talk about the challenge facing your team?) – “It’s obviously a very good team. It will be a tough environment. (They have) a lot of good players, a good coaching staff, so it will be a major challenge for us. We have to do a great job from a preparation standpoint, from a practice standpoint, and we’ll have to play very well to give ourselves a chance. (It will be a) great challenge, it will be a great atmosphere. It will be a great challenge.”
(Is there a specific area where you say, ‘You know what? We as a team really made improvement since the first Patriots game?’) – “I think we’ve made a lot of improvement in a lot of different areas. Every team wants to do that. For me, it is preparation, the way we practice, the way we meet, the way we walkthrough. That’s the crux and the foundation of the things where I feel like we’ve gotten better. You can get into third down and red area but for me, all of that starts with the preparation and the process portion. I think we’ve done a better job from that standpoint and because of that, we’ve had a little bit more success on the field.”
(The outcome of the game was obviously what you wanted yesterday but probably not the process with how that last six or seven minutes went. When you went back and watched it today, what stood out to you?) – “We didn’t play well for the last, let’s call it six minutes of the fourth quarter, really in all three phases. The good thing is we won. Another good thing is we get to have a live look and we’ll always have this film to go back to and say ‘these are the things you have to get accomplished to finish off a game and here’s what can happen if you don’t do those things,’ really in all phases. So if we don’t stay inbounds, that stops the clock. If we get a penalty, that stops the clock. If we allow a run through on third-and-1, we can’t pick up the first down, which would keep the clock moving and bleed more clock. Then we kick a field goal and we miss the field goal and we give them good field position. Then we don’t tackle them in bounds. There were a myriad of things that happened there at the end of the game. I can go on and on and on for the four minutes after that. We didn’t do well enough but at the end of the day, we came out of there with a win. We can show that film and we should be able to learn from the mistakes that we made. I think we will.”
(DE Taco Charlton and DE Charles Harris were both inactive. Is there a chance that they can probably play this week?) – “Definitely a chance. We’re going through the game plan right now to see what we feel like gives us the best chance to win offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. If we feel like they give us a chance to play well and (give us) the style and temperament that we’re looking for, then they’ll be in there.”
(When you have certain players that may not give you the best chance to win, is it possibly something you have to address in the offseason that maybe it’s time to part ways with such player or is it time to continue coaching them?) – “I think that’s a week to week (thing). Player X may give you a good chance this week and that may not be the case next week. Look, we’re not looking to part ways with a guy because we don’t feel like he fits for this specific game plan. We wouldn’t do that. Those conversations are for guys we feel like aren’t a fit on the team or a situation like that.”
