Q&A WITH MIAMI DOLPHINS HEAD COACH BRIAN FLORES

Interview with Brian Flores

What are your initial impressions of Tua after his first season? Yeah, I mean I'm excited about Tua in this upcoming season, You think about his situation last year coming off the hip, kind of threw him in the fire there in Week 7 or Week 8 — I’m not sure exactly what week it was. But he started nine games. I thought he made a lot of improvement really throughout the course of the season. Had some ups, had some downs, like all the rookies and like any rookie. But I'm really excited about that year one to year two jump, being more comfortable even down here in South Florida. He’s got a place. Look, that rookie year you got a lot going on. You got to get a house, you got to get a car, you have to move to a whole new city. I mean, there are so many things that are going on. I thought he handled it well last year, but I'm really excited about this upcoming year, especially — again we got to think that he had no OTAs, different training camp. Look, you guys know me, I mean I'm all about the development of players and helping them develop and helping them get better. And I think this time, an offseason is really going to be helpful to him and really all the rookies. I'm really excited about working with them this offseason.

What is your reaction to the speculation that the team may select a quarterback? My reaction is, I'm excited to work with Tua. So I mean, honestly, I think I just mentioned that after the last question. That's where my interests are. That's where my excitement is. So, I think he's again like I said I think he's a talented player. We here believe in developing players at all positions. I think with an offseason, with some OTAs with more reps, more repetitions like any player, they develop and get and get better. And I think he feels the same way. Tua and I had lunch yesterday. We talked about his family. I think a lot of that development is about building relationships. He's doing well. He's confident. I'm confident in him. I'm really looking forward to this offseason.

How valuable is it to have the number three overall pick? Any time you pick third overall, there’s a number of players and a number of ways we can go. I think our scouting staff, they’ve done a really great job as far as narrowing down who the top players are in the draft. We have a pretty good idea of who those players are, and I think everyone or most people who are analyzing It know who those players are. We’ll have an opportunity to grab one of them at least, let’s say in the Top 10. But obviously having that type of pick, there’s a lot of other avenues we could go. We’ll explore those also. We’re fortunate that way and hopefully, we can take advantage.

Can you discuss some of the coaching changes made during the offseason? We named Danny Crossman assistant head coach/special teams. Danny, as you guys know, has been instrumental in the development of this team, our coaching staff, and am grateful to have someone of his skill to bounce ideas off of. He's just been an invaluable asset. I've named George and Eric co-coordinators on offense. They've both done an outstanding job at their respective positions. Have a lot of respect for both guys. Very knowledgeable. Very good teachers and they both have different perspectives. We've had a lot of great dialogue over these last couple of months with those two, as well as our entire offensive staff.

How will the game day play-calling be handled this upcoming season? Definitely collaborative. It's something we've talked about and those are kind of ongoing discussions. So we have not cemented the way we're going to do it. But I think and I've always thought from a play-calling standpoint, a lot of that is done during the week. I know George and Eric. George has called plays in the past. With COVID, we had to have a backup so Eric was preparing to call the game if something happened to Chan the entire year. So I think both guys are equipped to do it. We have not cemented hey we're going to do it like this. But we'll figure out a way that's collaborative, that puts our team in the best position to have success offensively.

How does blending coordinator backgrounds help the new offense? Continuity was a big thing for me and making that decision. I wanted that for Tua and really a lot of the offensive linemen we have offensively. I feel like we have that as well as the acumen and experience with George and Eric taking that role. As far as blending the two thought processes or philosophies — you mentioned George in the pass game and Eric in the run game I think both of these guys are strongly offensively and defensively honestly. This doesn’t surprise me or really anything on our staff. It might surprise you guys. Eric is as skilled or knowledgeable in the passing game, protection game, drop back game. And George is equally as skilled in the run game, protection game. Those conversations are very good, there’s a lot of great dialogue that has gone on here the last two months. I’m not sure how long it’s been since we’ve gone in that direction. As far as blending, that happens through conversation that we had a lot of conversation. This is really what terminology are we going to keep the same vs. not keep the same. A lot of it is tied into what we feel is going to be best for the players, Tua specifically and our overall offensive philosophy as it goes with our defense and special teams.

QB | RB | FB | WR | iWR | TE | LT | RT | OG | OC | DT | NG | 3-4 DE | 4-3 DE | 3-4 OLB | 4-3 OLB | ILB | CB | iCB | FS | SS

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