Flores discusses his conversations with Tua Tagovailoa plus update on Melvin Ingram, minicamp
Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores spoke to reporters before the team’s OTA session Wednesday, and not surprisingly, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was the major topic of the his news conference.
Flores said he believes Tagovailoa is much more comfortable now than he was at the end of the 2020 season but that’s what was expected.
“He’s definitely more comfortable,” Flores said. “But I think that’s normal for anyone in the second year doing anything that you’re doing. As a journalist, Year 1 is Year 1 and you learn a lot but in Year 2 you’re more comfortable.
“I think that’s the case if you’re a football player, football coach, journalist, plumber, firefighter, I think you’re just more comfortable. You know your surroundings, you know what’s expected of you. You have a better rapport with your teammates or the people you work with.
“I would say I’ve seen him as well as a lot of the second-year players, and over the years it’s kind of what you see, they have a better understanding how we practice, the things we expect from them as coaches.”
Those things include:
Cadence.
Communication.
Getting to the line.
For players at other positions, Flores said that expectation of greater comfort is should improve fundamentals in pulling, defeating a crack block, or working on protection.
“Everyone’s got something they want to work on,” Flores said. “In the second year you’re a little more comfortable, and we’ve seen that from [Tagovailoa] so far. And hopefully he continues to grow and improve.
Flores and the coaching staff talk to Tagovailoa about a wide variety of subjects all the time, including leadership, and all those talks are to make him better.
“I think we talk to him about his fundamentals, his technique, his accuracy, his command in the huddle, I mean, I’ve talked to him about a lot of things,” Flores said. “I think all of that kind of goes together. We talk about presences, his presence in the huddle, presence in the building.
“But we also talk about everything football specific as well. Because he’s got to lead that way, too. If his fundamentals are good and his techniques and communication are good, that kind of leads the way for the entire offense and gives us an opportunity.”
Update on Melvin Ingram
Flores confirmed the Dolphins’ recent free agency visit with former Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Melvin Ingram but didn’t say if adding him to the roster is imminent.
“Melvin as a player over the years I’ve seen him, he’s had a nice career. He’s had a very productive career. As a run player, as a pass rusher, as a disruptive defensive player, I’ve seen that from him.
“We do our due diligence on any player that available. That’s the case with Melvin. We brought him in and had conversations. I’m not going get into what those specific conversations were with Melvin or what our conversations have been internally about the possibility of adding him or not adding him.
“We do our due diligence. In this instance we’ll see where that is. We’ll see where it goes from here.”
Flores discussed 17-game schedule
The 2021 season will be longer for everyone, and the Dolphins will play 13 games in a row.
“I think we’ve always spent a lot of time on load management and recovery and things of that nature,” Flores said. “The 17-game season, with us playing 13 in a row, we’ll keep a sharp, keen eye on that.”
Flores said the Dolphins have a plan in place for handling the longer season — which may include getting enough practice to prepare but not overtax players.
The Dolphins will play in London and will play the the following week.
“I guess my first thought is the schedule is what the schedule is,” Flores said. “We’re going to London and playing the next week. We’re excited about playing football in the Fall but I’m really kind of worried about today.
Flores called playing 13 games in row “a challenge.”
“There’s challenges in any schedule,” Flores said.
Dolphins Covid vaccinations
Flores said he has been vaccinated but declined to get into the choices of his players, who can opt to take the vaccine or not per NFL policy.
We certainly educated the players on the different vaccines,” he said. “We did a lot of education on it. I’m not going to get into the medical information of our players as far as who is and who isn’t. I just feel that’s kind of personal.
“It’s each person’s individual choice.”
Minicamp update
The Dolphins will have a mandatory veteran minicamp June 15-17.
“We’re going to have minicamp. We’re excited to have minicamp. We’re excited to have the guys out here in Phase III [of offseason]. It’s good to see, we had a fairly good turnout the other day, and really the past couple of weeks. It’s good to see the guys and they’re trying to work on their fundamentals and techniques.
“And it’s like I’ve told them, you don’t just roll out of bed and jump back into it as if you’re in midseason form ... Its good to get them out here. So, yeah, we’ll see them out here in the next few weeks including minicamp.”
Flores reflects on Floyd milestone
Tuesday was the one-year anniversary of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis, and Flores said that upon reflecting about the last year, he believes the United States has become a better place.
“Yes. Obviously yesterday was the one-year of the George Floyd murder. It just brought back a lot of memories of that time.
“I think this country’s grown a lot since then. I think empathy has increased. I think that’s a good thing. And hopefully we continue to do that. And it’s not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. But I think some hearts and minds were changed. And hopefully we continue to educate people and continue to improve and get better from that standpoint.”
This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 12:18 PM.
