Head Coach Brian Flores Conference Call with Los Angeles Media
(What did you make of QB Josh Rosen’s first start and just his overall development as a quarterback?) – “He got off to a good start in the game last week. He managed the game. He got us in and out of the huddle. He got us in the correct plays, made some throws early. I’d like to see him get out of bounds a little bit sooner, but this is a tough kid. He wants to make plays, and I thought he got off to a good start.”
(Is there anything that you can glean from obviously calling the defense last postseason against the Chargers? It’s pretty similar personnel here still. Is there anything you can glean from that defensive game plan against this guys?) – “More than anything, I just have familiarity with the roster starting with Philip (Rivers). This guy is a very cerebral quarterback. He gets these guys out of bad plays, into good plays – run, pass, play-action, down the field, short. (Austin) Ekeler I think is playing really well. Keenan Allen is playing really well. I hear Melvin Gordon might be out there, so they’ve got plenty of weapons; but there is some familiarity. But that familiarity is that this this is a tough offense to go against.”
(Speaking about the running backs, how have you seen the offense for the Chargers change a little bit with RB Austin Ekeler and RB Justin Jackson taking the line share of carries?) – “Well, Justin Jackson I’d say is explosive. I think he’s averaging seven yards a carry. This guy’s a good back. Ekeler is a good back, a good receiver. It’s almost like you’re playing another receiver out there when he’s split out, so you’ve got to be conscious of him. He does a good job on screens. They do a lot with their running backs. They play them as receivers, they play them as backs, those two are in there together sometimes, so they pose a lot of issues. (They are) good in both the run and pass game, so that along with the quarterback getting them in and out of plays – getting them into the best play, I should say – makes it tough.”
(Tell me a little bit about WR Preston Williams and his evolution as a player from going undrafted to being a guy at the wide receiver position that is getting a lot of receptions.) – “Preston came in as an undrafted player. He has size, has speed, has athletic ability. He’s really worked hard since he got here. Football is really important to him. He works at his fundamentals and his technique on a daily basis. We see improvement from him every week. That’s really what we want out of all our players, especially our young guys. It’s important that we develop them. He’s done a good job so far, but like I always say to these guys – I’m sure Coach Lynn (Chargers Head Coach Anthony Lynn) is saying the same thing – it’s about consistency and doing it play after play after play, day after day after day. That’s what makes a good player.”
(Obviously defensively, the team hasn’t probably done as well as you would have hoped, but guys like LB Jerome Baker and LB Raekwon McMillan – has there been some silver lining with some of your younger players on defense that you’ve seen so far this year?) – “Yeah, I think we see flashes from a lot of players: (Jerome) Baker, (Davon) Godchaux, Raekwon (McMillan), Xavien (Howard), Bobby McCain. I think we’ve played well in spurts but like I just said, it’s about being consistent and playing not for a quarter, not for a half, not for three quarters, but doing it for over 60 minutes over the course of a 60-minute game. I think every coach is – we’re all trying to attain that level of consistency over the course of the entire ballgame. We’re working towards that and these guys – they’ve put in a lot of effort and hopefully we can turn things around.”
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
QB Josh Rosen
(With the way the offensive line has been so unsettled, guys coming and going and now the injuries, how would you describe the challenges from your perspective of dealing with that?) – “Sooner or later I think we’ll get some consistency going, but we’re just trying to find the best spots to put guys in. Whether my offensive line – whatever kind of condition they’re in – I’m always trying to push anticipation, just trying to get the ball out as quick as possible to always help them out. I think it doesn’t really change anything I do. On certain situations, just a little bit of heightened awareness of where my issues are. Like this last game, (Michael) Deiter is a hell of a player; but he’s just not really a natural left tackle, so those kinds of things you just got to be aware of. I dealt with it a lot last year in Arizona, so (we will) sort of continue to figure out – I think it actually makes you a little bit better, because you have to work the pocket a little more, get the ball out quick. Hopefully it’ll help me in the long run.”
(It’s obviously not ideal the situation you’ve been in in terms of you haven’t played with four All-Pros on your offensive line in either spot, so that’s a negative in terms of judging you. Are there any positives do you think in terms of playing with rebuilding units that maybe aren’t as developed? Can you see any positives in that from your standpoint?) – “Yeah, absolutely. As I was saying earlier, I think a lot of the reason that Tom (Brady) and a lot of these great – Drew (Brees) – and all of them can play for so long is because – unfortunately Drew got hurt – but is because they can get the ball out so quickly, so they’re not really taking that many hits and they understand defenses so well, so it can take some stress off of their offensive line and get the ball in their playmakers hands and let them make plays. I think in situations like this, where maybe you have to push the clock a little bit, I think that could be really good for my development as it has been up until this point.”
(Do you have a number in your head as far as how many seconds in a typical play you want to…?) – “No. It all depends on what we’re trying to accomplish, whether we’re sending all our guys out trying to get something quick. Sometimes protection is a little counterintuitive where you might think put as many guys in the box to block as you can. It might work, but you’ve got less guys running routes and it’s still the same one-on-one matchups inside, they just sometimes add players on top. So, sometimes it’s a little counterintuitive and you might spread guys out and you might get the ball out quick, might help them out a little bit. But at the same time, bringing guys in and max protecting is also always valuable as well. I think it all depends in the situation. Clocks are different and objectives for different plays and where you’re trying to go, so I can’t give you a specific answer.”
(You’ve talked about how important the Mike point is in this offense and for the quarterback. Could you let us in on what everything it is that you need to process or that gets processed when that thing happens?) – “I think I will say that I finally have gotten over that hump. I think finally I’m starting to really pick up front IDs pretty well. Dallas runs a little bit more of a vanilla system, because they’re really good at what they do. That’s just kind of their style. It was good for that to be my first game. But I’m starting to really feel a little more comfortable with regards to that front ID stuff that I was struggling with a little while ago. It’s essential to know exactly where your issues are. In certain situations, you’re not going to fix everting. If they’re blitzing – If they blitz and they’re always going to bring one more guy than you, then at least you know where that guy is coming from, so you know which way to slide, where to drift or where to set the protection for the particular routes, because Dan Kilgore is an unbelievable center, but he just doesn’t know all the routes. I think where sometimes if you can fill that void in communication, I think it can be a positive.”
(I imagine you grew up following Chargers QB Philip Rivers. Do you know him at all and what do you admire most about him?) – “Freshman year at UCLA, Noel Mazzone was my coordinator and he I think was Philip’s coordinator at NC State, so he would sometimes stop by. I got to meet him briefly, but I haven’t really got to talk to him too much. But he’s an unbelievable player. When I played him last year, I think he almost was one throw short of a perfect game, which is hard to compete with. He’s an unbelievable player. Coach (Mike) McCoy last year in Arizona with me as well. As he’s installing his offense with us in Arizona, we’re watching a ton of Philip film with his time with the Chargers. (He is an) unbelievable player and it’s fun to watch.”
(Do you remember following him as a kid?) – “Not like very detailed, but I grew up an Eagles fan. I followed Donovan McNabb when I was a kid. (laughter)”
(I just figured it was in the neighborhood or nearby.) – “A little further south, but yeah.”
(I know you mentioned last week your style is aggressive. How would you grade your aggression last week?) – “That’s a good question. I think pretty good. I think we had a goal. I don’t really want to say what the goal was, but I think (we) roughly hit our goal in terms of aggression and whatnot. I tried to give my guys a couple chances. DeVante (Parker) made an awesome play at the beginning of the game. I remember I chucked a third-and-long later in the game. It was kind of throwing up a prayer, but I think it’s all about taking calculated risks. You never want to chuck up a pick; but in certain situations, you definitely want to push it down the field and know who your guys are. I thought I did a pretty good job in terms of aggression.”
(An aggression goal?) – “Yeah, you usually have – You usually think out how you want to tempo a game. It’s sort of a general offensive principle like this is what we want to attack.”
(How many throws downfield?) – “Kind of. Yeah, a little bit. Not exactly, but yes.”
(How do you handle communication and positivity with teammates when mistakes occur?) – “Just a positivity thing. I think sometimes when – Unfortunately I’m a little – I’ve lost a good amount of games last year and a half, but I think sometimes when the game is getting a little bit out of hand, sometimes you just want to reign everyone’s focus and be like, ‘Let’s just play good football that we’re proud of. This is still a game. Let’s have fun, smile.’ If you grab someone’s shoulder pads and they’re pissed off and you make them smile before they leave, I think it always works a little bit. But for the most part, I think in that huddle sometimes you’re just like, ‘Guys, it’s not –” Like when we played – Sorry this is kind of weird to bring up a college thing but we played Texas A&M (and needed) a big comeback, and we’re down a bunch of points. I’m like, ‘Guys, who really cares about that? Let’s just play good football. Let’s do what we were brought here to do and let’s just have some fun.’ I think sometimes with enough of those words of encouragement, it can snowball into actually manifesting itself in real positive plays, drives, quarters and wins.”
(Did it work that day?) – “It did.”
(You seem to have really good chemistry with WR Preston Williams and I know everyone is an individual, but how do you get close to that with the other guys and how long does that typically take?) – “Reps. I really haven’t gotten – I think part of the reason I have chemistry with Preston is because he wasn’t really in the starting lineup with me all throughout OTAs and the beginning of training camp. So, I really haven’t gotten a lot of reps with these guys. DeVante (Parker) is pretty easy to throw to. You can put in it in the general vicinity and he’ll find it. But still getting my chemistry down with Jakeem (Grant). I remember I’d air-mailed one to him at New England. Albert (Wilson) is coming out, so that’s someone new. All of the tight ends – Mike (Gesicki) and Durham (Smythe). ‘K.D.’ (Kenyan Drake) and Kalen (Ballage). It’s just reps. I’ve just thrown with Preston a good amount, so time will come.”
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
DE Taco Charlton
(Can you talk about what it’s been like this last week? A few days after getting picked up by the Dolphins, you’re out there playing against your old team. Do you kind of feel like you’re sort of in the defense now?) – “It was a fast week for me last week, just a quick turnaround to get picked up, travel here Thursday night and then coming back and play on Sunday. It was a quick turnaround, but I was happy to go against that team and earn some plays and everything like that. And now, I’m happy to be here, working hard, and trying to earn my role on this defense and try to help us win some games.”
(Do you think, obviously getting a sack was big, but you mentioned earning a role here. Do you see it already in the last few days that you are getting more snaps even at practice?) – “Yeah, like I said, it’s something that has to be earned. I go out there with the same work ethic every time and try to work hard and show what I can do to prove to the guys that I’m here to work hard and show that I’m willing to do whatever needs to be done to get on the field.”
(How challenging was it to play two days after your first practice?) – “The challenging part was trying not to think as much. Like I said, it’s a whole new playbook, a whole new defense. So just trying to get that down and trying to be able to play fast. The more comfortable – the more I’m trying to be in here all day trying to learn new things, so once I learn the defense and I’m able to play fast, I think I’ll be ready to go.”
(How excited are you about the possibility, now that you have a…) – “Oh, yeah. I’m definitely excited to get a whole week of practice in. Like I said, get these days in where I get a chance to go out there and run through this defense and go to the meeting room and see different things like that, and also the whole scouting report, and getting to watch film the whole week is definitely a bonus. So seeing all of those things and getting a full week at practice is definitely a plus.”
(How significant was it for you to get in that stat column with that sack?) – “Yeah, I’ll take it. I’ll take it. I’ll take it. It was a long one. It wasn’t as clean as I’d like it, but everybody gets coverage sacks so why not me? I’ll take mine. (laughter) Like I said, going into this week I’ll get some more – like I said, it’s all improvement. I’ll keep working. That’s my mindset going in and like I said, help this team win some games and be an asset on this defense.”
(What about just the opportunity you got?) – “Oh, yeah. I love it. That’s why I said I’m happy to be here. I get the opportunity to play again, so that’s why I’m happy to be in this position and get a chance to get on the field and make plays and show what I can do, and show my ability and show how much I’ve grown over these past couple of years.”
(You get a chance to take a little bit of a breath now.) – “Oh, yeah. Like I said, we got a nice little day off, so a break – well I didn’t really get a day off, I had to study some more; but like I said, getting a full week of preparation is a plus. Like I said, I’m excited to go out there for my first time playing in a Dolphins uniform in Hard Rock (Stadium). So I’m definitely excited to get my chance.”
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
S Reshad Jones
(Are you back healthy and ready to play?) – “Yeah, I feel pretty good. It feels good to be back out there with my teammates. I’m just taking it a day at a time.”
(Was there any rust today? Head Coach Brian Flores said it’d be natural for you and WR Albert Wilson probably to have a little rust.) – “Not too much. I feel pretty good. It’s going to take probably a couple of days to get back and acclimated or whatever; but for the most part, I’m where I need to be.”
(You’re coming back to a different secondary. Obviously S Minkah Fitzpatrick is not here. CB Jomal Wiltz is out at the moment. It would seem as though you’d be back at strong safety and playing a lot. Is that what you would think? Do you have any sense of that?) – “We’re taking it a day at a time. I’m definitely going to be playing wherever is needed. Wherever I’m needed, I’m willing to go out and do what it takes to help this team win.”
(How frustrating was it having to fight through an injury – not only that but seeing the way the team had been losing?) – “I’m a competitor so I always love to be out there with my teammates and the guys and doing whatever it takes to help this team win. (I was) definitely frustrated not being out there and being able to help my guys, but I’m back now. Like I said, I feel healthy. I feel pretty good and I’m ready to go.”
(What was your reaction to losing S Minkah Fitzpatrick?) – “It’s just part of the business. I only control what I can control. He’s not here anymore, so it’s the next guy up. We’ve got a lot of good talent in this locker room. That’s what it is.”
(What’s made you want to still be here because you’ve made clear you’d like to still be here?) – “I love my home. I’ve been here 10 years. It’s home for me. I love the guys in this locker room. I just love South Florida. I just want to see the Dolphins win football games, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes for us to win.”
(Have you reiterated that to the club that you want to stick around or do you think there’s a need to say it?) – “I don’t know if they know. I mean I think they pretty much know. If I wanted out, I had a chance to make that known. I’m here for the long haul. Like I said, I’m here to help this team win football games.”
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
G/T Jesse Davis
(First of all, how is the arm doing?) – “It’s doing good.”
(Obviously you are practicing today. Do you expect to play? Any limitations with it?) – “As of right now, it’s day-to-day. I’m not counting myself out. We’ll see moving forward where we’re at at the end of the week.”
(Has it been tough not knowing – not just for you but the line in general with a lot of shuffling, even this past week and now whether you’re in or not.) – “No. I think everybody takes it in stride. We don’t sit there and look for answers with different guys. It’s a next-man-up mentality and that’s what it’s always been when I’ve been here and that’s going to continue.”
(I think you mentioned that you’re going to have a brace on. Have you ever played with one and what’s that going to be like?) – “No, I haven’t played with that certain brace but I had a soft one last year. It’s not going to be a big issue. A lot of tackles around the league wear one, so I don’t think it will be a big issue.”
(What stood out for you as far as QB Josh Rosen, especially in the first half, as the starting quarterback?) – “Definitely a lot of confidence in himself, which was nice. For us, it just made everything else a lot more smoother, when you have a guy in the huddle that confident, especially when production was happening early. So it was really good.”
(QB Josh Rosen was talking about how he tried to keep people’s spirits up. From a leadership standpoint, can you give us an idea of what it’s like working under a guy when he’s calling the shots like him?) – “Yeah, it was just in the huddle. You get the call and there was no stuttering. There was no, ‘Hey guys, give me some time here.’ There was none of that. It was, ‘Here’s the play,’ and we went out and executed it and got stuff done.”
(What was a factor in you guys – it seemed like the offensive line played probably its best game of this season. What do you think was a factor in that?) – “I think – that was Week 3, so there’s a lot of stuff going on between line changes to people coming in. Now we’re getting more used to playing next to each other and talking the same language. Our technique is showing up a little bit better. Moving forward, it’s just keep hammering and doing what we’ve been doing, and continue the course.”
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(To ask what may seem to be an obvious question, is QB Josh Rosen your starting quarterback this week and presumably the foreseeable future?) – “He’ll be the starter this week, for sure. You can write that one down. (laughter)”
(What is your system for challenges? Who’s your eye in the sky and how does all that work?) – “The system starts during the week. I spend a lot of time – a good amount of time – on challenges throughout the league and the way things are being called. Then we’ve got a team of guys up in the booth who have obviously the video footage and are taking a look at it and kind of helping me out as far as the challenges are concerned, rules, etc. We’ve got a pretty good system, I feel. Hopefully as we get into more games – look, at the end of the day, we just want to make the best call and do what’s best for the team because it’s obviously a long process that goes into it, and we just try to do everything possible to get all the right information and make the best call.”
(Do you have any update on S Reshad Jones or WR Albert Wilson? Do you expect either to practice today?) – “I expect to see both of those guys at practice today. Again, they’ve both worked extremely hard to get back and we’ll see. We’re taking it day-to-day. They’ve been out for a little bit, so from a conditioning standpoint, from a communication standpoint, from a technique and fundamental standpoint, there may be a little bit of rust. We’ll try to knock some of that off hopefully in practice.”
(Regarding social media, I know it can be kind of bitter out there. Do you talk to your players about that, and have you talked to them maybe since the second week or last week about not getting caught up in it or anything along those lines?) – “I’m not really on social media, so I don’t really know what’s out there. Again, I tell my guys really the only thing that matters and is important is what happens on the practice field and what’s going on in our meetings, in our walkthroughs. Good, bad or indifferent – it doesn’t matter what anyone else is saying. I think individually, we need to come in, try to improve and get better and nothing that anyone says on social or outside of our building – it really shouldn’t affect anything we’re doing in the building. That’s kind of my message on a daily basis and really a message to myself. It doesn’t matter (whether it’s) good, bad or indifferent, we’re always trying to improve and get better. So that’s really the focus and the message.”
(I feel like every day you try to present to us and I’m assuming to your players the same tone, the same attitude, the same approach. Can you talk about how you’re managing your emotional stability?) – “My entire life I was taught, ‘never get too high, never get too low, you want to stay even.’ I’ve had some highs, I’ve had some lows and I always stay the same. I think that’s the way you have to approach really anything because you’re going to face adversity, you’re going to have success and you don’t want to let success get to your head, and you don’t want to let adversity get you in the tank. I guess that’s how I handle the emotional part of the game. If that makes me ‘emotionless’ – but I just try to stay even.”
(When do you process the pain of the losing? When is your time to process that and flush it?) – “It’s after the game and then the day after, we make the corrections and then we move on. That’s the beauty of the game is we have another opportunity on Sunday against a really good opponent. We get to come back to practice today and try to find a way to win a game, so I’ve moved on. I move on from wins and I move on from losses very quickly. I think when you dwell on either, you just kind of get stuck. I’m always moving forward and improving, and that’s really the message I give to the team, and that’s not just for football. Everyone’s going to face some adversity and hard times and hopefully a lot of successes as well. How you handle both kind of speaks to the kind of person you are. People handle success the wrong ways as well. That’s really my message. I just try to stay even always.”
(How much of an immediate impact do you expect or do you want to get out of T Andrew Donnal?) – “Immediate? (laughter) Well, let’s see if we can get him into practice, get him lined up. We’ll just see how much he can – there’s a lot to digest in a little bit of time. If we can do one or two things or if he can do a lot, then he may be able to help us, but I think this being Day 1 for him, we just need to get him in the huddle, get him aligned and let him know his assignment. We’ll be in pads today and see if he can execute some basic fundamentals and technique and take it from there.”
(How are the linebackers doing so far?) – “I would say as a unit – obviously everything could be better – I think from an alignment, assignment and execution standpoint, there have been some good plays. You see speed and athleticism out of (Jerome) Baker, Sam (Eguavoen), Raekwon (McMillan), guys playing downhill, guys playing hard, guys getting off blocks and making tackles. We just need to see more of that more consistently. I think as a unit, we’re playing okay. It could be better. I would say each one of those guys feels the same way, and we need to do it over 60 minutes. I think there have been spurts of good play, and I think you could say that about really every unit on our team – spurts of good play but we just need to do it more consistently and really over the course of a 60-minute ballgame, not a quarter, not a half, not three quarters but 60 minutes. That’s been another message to the team and hopefully we get there, but it starts in practice.”
(And are the run fits okay?) – “The run fits, there is a lot that goes into it. Setting the edge, run fits inside – inside are we playing the blocks the way we practiced them? I wouldn’t put it solely on the linebackers. Again, it’s a defensive – It’s a team defense and a defensive effort, and again, if one guy is out of his gap, there’s a problem. When you’ve got 11 guys and you’re expecting one guy to be in his gap and he’s not, and you go to your gap, that’s how big plays happen. When you’re playing team defense, when you’re expecting everybody to do their job and one guy doesn’t, we have problems in the run game and the pass game. It’s the same thing offensively and the same thing in the kicking game. We’ve just got to shore that up, and then guys got to defeat a block and make a tackle.”
(Can you talk about Chargers QB Philip Rivers a little bit and the challenges he poses for your defense?) – “Again, he’s one of the top quarterbacks in this league. He’s done it for a long, long time. Very cerebral, great arm, can get them in and out of plays – will get them into the best play. He definitely (has a) perfect play mentality. To him and to that team, they do a really good job from that standpoint. He gets up to the line of scrimmage quickly, he surveys the defense, looks at it. If there is a weak spot, (he) puts them in a play and tries to attack it. That’s hard to defend. They’ve got a lot of good skill players – obviously Keenan Allen, (Austin) Ekeler are guys that have been very productive this year. But, they’ve got obviously a lot of good skill players and it starts with Philip Rivers. (They have a) good o-line. This is a good team – another good quarterback. We’ve got to do a good job really as a total defense. From stopping the run, to rushing the passer, to doing a good job in our zone coverage and playing with good leverage in man coverage, and with our picks and games in the pass rush, we’ve got to execute it correctly. Run fits as we mentioned, everything has got to be spot on. They are going to stress us. That’s what Rivers does. He does a good job putting his team in positions to stress the opponent. They’ve played well this year offensively. It’s a good team.”
(The first red zone drive, QB Josh Rosen came over to you guys on the sideline and kind of signaled that he wanted to go for it on fourth down. Do you like it or do you encourage guys having that confidence in themselves and his teammates to want to go for it on fourth down?) – “Yeah, I love it. We want competitive players. We’ve got a group of competitive guys. We just didn’t feel like that was the right call in that situation. We kind of had a different plan of action, so we moved forward with the field goal. But the fact that he wanted to go for it, I liked that. I want our players to want to go out there and put it in the end zone. We need to do more of that for sure.”
(What did you notice about how QB Josh Rosen reacted, communicated, interacted after some things went wrong?) – “I thought he was good on the sideline. I thought his interactions with his teammates, receivers, line, tight ends, backs were very positive – trying to get guys going. I think he saw, just like a lot of guys saw, there were some plays to be made in that game. That’s good as we move forward to this week in particular. Hopefully there is some confidence that we can get open, we can move the ball offensively and there are some plays out there that we could’ve made and that we did make, and hopefully as we move forward, we continue to improve and do that more consistently. I think that’s kind of – for all of us – coaches, players – that’s what we’re looking for.”
(Did you see during the game any frustration in CB Xavien Howard that might have affected his play, and if so, have you talked to him about that?) – “I mean look, he played against a good player. I think when you have a tough player, yeah there is always frustration. Xavien is very resilient. The kid has been through a lot. He’s a tough kid. He’s very resilient. He definitely has a next-play mentality. What you may see as a frustration on one play and it’s gone the next. That’s what you want out of a corner, specifically one as talented as he is. That, to me, is not anything that’s a red flag or anything. I think he’s – I think Xavien will be good to go. He’s a good player and I think he’ll be ready to go.”
(It’s been a while sense we’ve asked you about CB Cordrea Tankersley or DT Robert Nkemdiche. Are you confident that both of those guys will play at some point in 2019?) – “I know they are both working to get back. They are working extremely hard – both guys. As far as the time table – They are working to get back. If they are healthy enough to get back into practice, I’d love to have them. But right now, I’m not even sure of the exact date – I think it’s October, somewhere in October where they are eligible to come back. Actually it’s October 14th. We’ll see. If they are ready then, great. If not, then we’ll just continue with what we have and hopefully they’re back sooner than later.”
(Are we going to see G/T Jesse Davis working today?) – “Jesse thankfully felt a lot better than Monday and these last couple of days. We’re going to take this thing day-to-day and see how he’s feeling. He’s as tough as they come, so if he can get out there, he will. I know that. He’s one of those guys where you almost – he’ll try to get out there. That’s what you want. That’s what you want out of your offensive line and out of leaders on your team, and he’s certainly that.”
