Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores addresses Curtis Weaver, Byron Jones, ongoing battles
Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores addressed several issues in his press briefing before Day 8 of padded practices on Wednesday:
▪ Why did the Dolphins waive defensive end/rookie fifth-round draft pick Curtis Weaver instead of merely placing him on injured reserve, thus allowing him to be claimed by Cleveland on Tuesday?
Flores didn’t want to say.
“We waived him injured,” he said. “He was claimed [by Cleveland]. I wish him all the best. He’s a good kid. We’ll leave it at that.”
Asked his general philosophy about giving up draft picks so soon, Flores said:
“Draft picks are very valuable, but every situation is a little bit different. I like Weaver; I thought he was a good player. I thought he had some potential.
“His situation; there are a lot of things that go into that. You guys don’t know much about it, whether it’s the injury itself, salary cap ramifications, depth at the position, next year’s draft, 10 different things. We make the decision we feel is best for the organization. When we make a selection, we feel good about it then. The transactions that happen after that, we live with them and move on.”
According to a source, Weaver will undergo surgery Thursday on a foot/toe injury and is out for the season. Because it was deemed a serious injury, the Dolphins could have placed him on injured reserve without subjecting him to waivers, according to a source with direct knowledge.
▪ On the slot receiver position: “There’s a lot of competition. As far as slot, we’ve had a few guys working in there. We have outside receivers working there as well; DeVante Parker, Preston Williams have been there a little bit.
“Isaiah Ford has done a good job in there. Jakeem Grant as well. We’re going to bring the five, six, seven best guys that we feel are going to help us win and will be productive and block and do things in the kicking game and do things in the slot. That whole group has done well.”
▪ Flores liked having game officials at practice, he did on Tuesday. He noted the team had a delay of game penalty on Tuesday (during a red-zone drive handled by Tua Tagovailoa) and another “potential 12 men in the huddle” infraction.
“Those are penalties we can take care of ourselves,” Flores said, adding that having game officials present “was great. Get more of what a game atmosphere would be like. I I tried to talk to the players about not worrying about the officials, moving on to the next play. It was nice to let them call it, handle it. Whether you agree or disagree, you just have to move on.”
▪ On the running back battle, Flores said “there’s a lot of competition with Jordan Howard, Matt Breida, Myles Gaskin, Kalen Ballage, Patrick Laird, Chandler Cox.
“It’s been a physical camp. Obviously we’re not taking them to the ground [tackling]. We have a pretty good feel for who’s getting yards, who would break what tackle. Are they making the right cut?
“Each guy has some good moments, had some not so good moments. The blocking, from a protection standpoint, has been good for the most part, at least as far as knowing who to block and where to go. In the pass game, they’re doing a good job as well. We’ve got seven or eight padded days left and they’ll keep competing.”
▪ Flores, on the Detroit Lions’ canceling practice on Tuesday to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Wisconsin:
“Lot of history with that organization [with Flores having worked with Lions coach Matt Patricia in New England]. I know a lot of the players there. Their protests, I have a lot of respect for what they did there. Our focus is on us and what we’re doing there. We have had conversations about that and many injustices that have gone on, in our locker room with this team. We will continue to do so. What they’re doing in Detroit, we respect that. We respect that organization.”
▪ On how cornerback Byron Jones has looked: “I think he’s done a good job. He’s getting acclimated. The heat down here for a lot of players is something you have to get acclimated to. It was something I had to get acclimated to as well.
“He’s doing a good job. Practices have been competitive between he, DeVante, Preston, Jakeem — that receiver/DB competition has been good. Byron is a good player. He’s improving every day. He’ll continue to improve. He’ll put the work in. He’s very diligent. It’s a new system. He’s still learning some of the nuances. I think he’s progressing well.”
▪ Why no tackling so far in practice?
“It’s something we talk about on a daily basis. The health of the team is the most important thing. Maybe some point we’ll get some live tackling.
“I can evaluate the run game without live tackling and get a sense of whether or not we’re getting yardage. We will go to the stadium [Hard Rock] and practice on Saturday. We may have live tackling or not.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 9:18 AM.
