Head Coach Brian Flores
(What went into your thinking in terms of sticking with the same offensive line group, including T Liam Eichenberg at left tackle, and did they do enough well last night to make you want to continue with those five at least a week from Sunday?) – “It was a short week so we felt like it was best to stay with the same group. They had some good moments and obviously like every game, there are always some plays that they all wish they had back. Overall, I think it’s a group that’s developing and getting better. We’ll always evaluate and try to do what’s best for the team. We went with that group more because of the short week.”
(How did T Liam Eichenberg play at left tackle? I don’t know how much film you’ve been able to watch overnight yet.) – “We’re still working through that. I know there were a couple of big fumble recoveries he grabbed that were big plays for us. From what I’ve seen so far, (there was) some good, some bad. Liam is a tough kid, a hard-working kid just like the rest of those players on the offensive line. We’re still working through the film, but I thought he did some good things.”
(Last night felt possibly like the kind of win that might be a springboard for this team. I wanted to get your thoughts on the possibility that it could be just that.) – “I thought the guys, they played hard for 60 minutes. Baltimore is a good team – good players, good coaches. We talked about that last night. It’s always good to get a win. I try to just take things one day at a time. I’m going to continue to watch the film here this morning and try to build on this and build on some of the things we’re doing well, and try to improve in some of the things we’re not doing well. Just try to prepare for our next opponent and help this team as best I can.”
(Is there one thing at the top of your head that you know at this early stage of going through the film that definitely jumped out at you as something that was a real positive that hadn’t happened up to this point in the season?) – “We didn’t turn the ball over offensively. That is always a big stat. I think when you start there, that’s something we hadn’t done this year and we were able to do that last night. That went a long way.’
(Do you anticipate that QB Jacoby Brissett might need imaging or anything like that to make sure nothing bad happened, or are you guys pretty confident that he’s ok?) – “We’ll always evaluate guys in the morning, especially after they go down or there is an injury in the game. I think he’s going to be ok based off of last night – how he responded last night. But we’ll definitely evaluate his situation as well as some of the other guys.”
(I know it’s never about one player, or one play, and this play didn’t even count obviously. But we don’t see a 327-pound man go airborne often and do what G/T Robert Hunt tried to do last night. How emblematic is that play – as you guys get ready for the seven games or whatever you have left to – that’s just what it requires to win. Effort like that, I’m sure it’s what you’re preaching, I’m sure everyone knows it takes efforts like that to win a football game. How emblematic can that be for the rest of your group to watch a guy try to do something that deep down he knew wasn’t going to count?) – “I think that speaks to the type of player Rob is. I think we have a lot of players like that. Effort is not an issue. I think our guys give great effort and desire to work together and play for one another. I think that showed in that play and obviously it was a penalty. We’ve got to execute better than that. But I think with our guys effort and desire to have success and play for each other, that’s not an issue with this team.”
(I know obviously you all are one of the league leaders in blitz percentage anyway, even before the last couple of weeks. And I know each week you all put in the gameplan that you think is best for that week. With both of those things being said, did you and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer at all discuss, prior to the last couple of weeks, about becoming even more aggressive and blitzing even more just as a general strategy? Was that something that you felt or discussed with Josh?) – “I think Josh and the defensive staff did a nice job coming up with the gameplan. They do it every week. Each week may call for something a little bit different. This week the feeling was that we tried to apply some pressure as much as we could. Josh, (Anthony) Campanile, (Gerald Alexander), Charles (Burks), Austin (Clark), Rob (Leonard) and all those guys work together to come up with the gameplan they feel is best for us to try to have success. Really it boils down to the players executing, which our guys were able to do last night against a very good football team.”
(I know you said there was good news this week with WR Will Fuller this week. Would he be able to practice next week and possibly even play against the Jets?) – “It’s possible. We’ll still take it day to day. He’s definitely improving and trending in the right direction. We are hopeful for this week. Can’t say definitively just yet. We’ve still got a few days until we get back out there. We’ll know more next week.”
(You said you think QB Jacoby Brissett is going to be ok. I know you got time before your next game but do you envision QB Tua Tagovailoa continuing forward as starter with both kind of nursing injuries?) – “Jacoby was banged up yesterday. Same with Tua. I thought Tua did a good job of fighting through the discomfort. He’s obviously – we all saw him bang his finger too in the game, which that’s kind of what we were trying to avoid. I think the situation with Tua, obviously I’ve said many times that he’s our quarterback. I said this last night – we try to protect players from themselves. (We were) trying to avoid that situation with him banging his finger last night. We’ve got to take it day-to-day with both players and see how that goes. But this isn’t like a – I think people are trying to turn this into a controversial situation where we don’t want a certain player to play. I try to look out for the best interest of the players individually, the team. All those things play a role in the decisions we make and that was the case last night.”
(I’m not asking you to share your personal schedule for the next three days but how much are you, the staff and the players looking forward to what I assume will be at least a few hours off for you guys and kind of catch your breath a little bit?) – “The players, they’re not in and won’t be back in until Monday. The coaches have a couple days off as well. I’ll be spending a lot of time with the family so that will be my schedule.”
(When you’re in the season, you guys have London and you came back and played right afterward. Is this the right time for a break? It’s been, when you go back to camp, it’s been like 15 nonstop weeks for you guys.) – “Yeah. I mean we don’t make the schedule so we take the time off when we get it. I think it’s a good time to recharge – recharge the battery, get some rest and then come in Monday ready to go.”
(WR Albert Wilson had been very quiet for pretty much all of the season and last night did some good things when his number was called. What led to his success and based on what he was able to accomplish, would you think you might want to make a more concerted effort to get him involved on offense?) – “We talked as a staff about beating a team like that. You’ve got to get a lot of guys involved. We challenged Albert in practice that he was going to have some opportunities and he came through. I think that was the case for him and Isaiah Ford and (Adam) Shaheen. When you need a team effort every week and we got contributions from a lot of players on the team – offense, defense and special teams – that’s what you need in this league. We need as many contributions from as many guys as we can. Albert is part of that and is always part of those conversations. We’ve got to do a better job of trying to get him the ball and get the ball in his hands. And he’s got to come through.”
