Head Coach Brian Flores
(Had a couple things I’ll ask you one at a time. Are you and General Manager Chris Grier planning to make your cuts from 80 to 53 today or tomorrow morning or do you think you’ll bring 80 guys to practice tomorrow and then deal with the cuts after?) – “We’ll probably – we were actually just meeting this – make a few today and then make the finals tomorrow. Obviously we have to do that tomorrow by 4 p.m. It’s always a tough day. There’s always tough decisions to make. You start thinking about what you’re going to say to the player; but yeah, probably some today and some tomorrow.”
(And my other thing was LB Jaelan Phillips. You have a very interesting player there. I guess the way we saw you use him yesterday and in camp – sometimes he’s on right side, sometimes left, sometimes standup linebacker, other times hand in the ground. Would you mind explaining just the thinking and deciding to use him that way as opposed to being just a full-time hand-in-the-ground defensive end?) – “The way we structure the defense – it’s not a 4-3 where there’s just full-time defensive ends on the field at all times. We have a little bit more of a hybrid scheme where he could be up, he could be down, it could be four-down, it could be base, it could be in a few different fronts. I think that we feel like Jaelan (Phillips) can do a few different things. I think maybe some different things on early downs and some different things in some obvious passing situations. We wanted to just see him in those roles yesterday. I think that’s the goal for him, is to play a few different positions, but right now we’re just kind of checking to see where he’s comfortable and then as a staff we’ll talk about it and kind of review things and see where we want to use him during the regular season.”
(I’m wondering to what extent do you see cut day as a gauge of your roster strength. For example, when you’re cutting guys you see as promising and with a lot of upside, do you think that’s a reflection that the guys you’re keeping gives you a pretty good feeling?) – “I think we feel good about some positions. I think it’s – yeah, I understand the question. I think I never want to get too far ahead or say, ‘hey, we’ve got this super situation.’ Yeah, at some positions, we’re going to have to make some tough cuts and with guys who we feel like are roster players in the National Football League. When you have to make those decisions, they’re tough. It makes you feel good about the other players at that position, but at the same time it’s hard to let good players go. We feel okay with where we’re at. We know we’re going to have to make some tough cuts. We’ll always try to do what’s best for the team.”
(Curious to know what you think the identity of your team built during the preseason now going into the regular season.) – “I think it’s a group that’s tough. I think they try to play with some discipline. I think it’s a team with versatility offensively, defensively and in the kicking game or potential to have versatility, I should say. I won’t say we’re versatile just yet, but tough and smart and they compete. I think you saw that last night, yesterday, and we’ve just got to continue to improve. I think they work hard. They work hard to improve and hopefully we just continue with that and make improvements throughout the year and take it one day at a time.”
(I know you spoke a little about this yesterday and obviously there’s been a lot said about Deshaun Watson and everything going on with the rumors there. I’m curious how you relate to your locker room, your team, with all this going on with the season coming in a week or two.) – “I think there’s always rumors. There’s always speculation. There’s always some form of distractions and I think as a team we’ve got to block that stuff out and play. I thought they did that yesterday and I think that’s something that all players deal with in the National Football League. There’s always something going on. There’s always something that – some form of speculation or controversy and we just block it out, ignore it and move on.”
(Going back to the roster cuts discussion, I know these next 24 hours are never easy for you and your staff. But I wanted to ask if you could speak to the value of the contributions made during this training camp and offseason by the guys who might not be here for Week 1. In what ways did those guys make this team better for 2021?) – “I think we’ve had a very competitive group at all positions. The players you mentioned, the guys we may have to move on from, I think in a lot of instances, just in our conversations this morning, they have made our team better because they have pushed some of the guys that we are going to keep. (You guys) kind of mentioned this, I think probably some of the things that we are seeing is that there has been a lot of good competition and that has pushed guys and helped some other guys play a little bit better. Like I said, there’s going to be some guys that we feel are roster-players in this league and we have to move on from them. I think they certainly helped our team this training camp.”
(In the three years that you’ve been here, we’ve seen you bring in some players who sort of are in need of a second chance because of things in their past. What is your philosophy towards granting players those second chances? How do you weigh their skill on the football field versus any concerns you may have off the field? Does public opinion count in any way when you make these decisions?) – “I think there are a lot of things that we weigh when we are making decisions – fit on the team, overall talent, salary cap. But I think (General Manager) Chris (Grier), myself, the coaching staff, when we’re talking about a player or players, we’re always trying to do what’s best for the Miami Dolphins and the organization. There are a lot of variables there. We want a group that’s tough, that’s smart, that’s competitive, that loves to play, that’s team-first. I think those are the types of guys we’re looking for. I think that any time we’re looking at any player – again, you’re referencing the cuts that are going on – there are a lot of players that are going to be available via claim, potential trade, and as we talk through those types of players, how do they fit on our team? Yeah, there are a lot of variables; but at the end of the day, we always try to do what’s best for the team.”
(When these guys come in, for lack of a better term, do you say ‘hey, you’re down to your last strike, we want you to stay on the straight and narrow path?’ Do you make that clear?) – “I think with any player on our team or any person in our organization, there is a standard – look, we have high standards for the people we have in the organization. I don’t get into last strikes or anything. We want people with high character throughout the building. That’s what we’re looking for.”
(I wanted to ask you about QB Tua Tagovailoa now that he’s through his second training camp, first preseason. What specifically has he done better and where does he still need to improve?) – “I think he’s much more comfortable with his surroundings here in this area. I think he’s taken a step as far as leadership and working with his teammates to get things right, whether it’s the center and his cadence, receivers and routes, ball handling with the backs, I think he’s asking more questions to us as a coaching staff situationally. ‘Hey, would you take a time out here? Should we get it out of bounds here? How much yardage do we need on a two-minute (drill) to get a field goal?’ I think he has made some very good strides. There is still a lot of room for improvement and hopefully we continue to make improvements.”
(How do you prepare yourself for those 27 or however many conversations you’re going to have to have in the next couple of days that aren’t exactly going to be enjoyable? What’s the balance between the inherent dread of those talks versus the excitement that you’re 30 hours away from having your team?) – “I just try to be honest with the guys, and tell them the truth, tell them what we saw, tell them the truth. If I feel like a guy’s got a place in the league and he’s going to play somewhere, I tell him that. I tell him here’s what we thought as to why this didn’t work out, here’s some things you need to improve on. I try to be honest whether it’s mental errors, whether it’s techniques, fundamentals, whether it’s you’re in a room with a deep, deep group. I just try to tell them the truth. I think most players are receptive to that. Obviously it’s a disappointing conversation for a lot of guys. I think practice squad is a part of that conversation as well. If we feel like a guy we want back to be on our practice squad, I talk to them about that situation and other guys who have been practice squad and been moved up and how they’ve gotten their opportunity in this league that way. It’s just a very honest conversation that normally ties in their performance during the spring and training camp, and my thoughts on their future.”
(I know a year or two ago you told us that you started your career as the ‘turk’ or the ‘grim reaper.’ Do you have someone in your organization that plays that role and if so, could you tell us what you’d say to them about how to handle this situation?) – “We’ve got a few guys who handle that. We have conversations. You just have to be respectful and know it’s a tough situation. It’s a disappointing situation for the player so just be respectful. Understand that there may be some emotions that arise. That could be a variety of emotions. Knowing I had that job, I have a few stories of different situations that occurred. I don’t want to get into those right now. As you can imagine for a young guy who hears that news, it’s not something that – there are a lot of emotions there. Just be respectful and it’s a delicate situation and just be respectful. That’s kind of my message to those guys.”
