Head Coach Brian Flores addressed the media Monday. Here were some comments that stood out, along with some perspective:
"Always upbeat. Always positive. That's what I'm looking for out of this group."
— Regardless of what happens on Sundays, Flores always wants to remain even-keeled, an approach that has not changed one bit. He also wants his players to remain confident in what they're doing and keep working hard to achieve their goals.
"This is a 60-minute ballgame and we've got to find away to put a 60-minute game together."
— Asked what his biggest goal is for the second "quarter" of the regular season, Flores answered that it was for the Dolphins to play a complete game. That's obviously been an issue, given the team's second-half problems so far this season.
"That's trending in the right direction, as far as the team coming together. From that standpoint, there's been some positives, but on the field we've got a long way to go."
— The Dolphins have brought a lot of new players since the end of the preseason, and one highlight for Flores so far this season is the way the group has bonded. The time has come, though, for that to help produce better results on the field.
"We see flashes and spurts of the unit playing well. Hopefully we can continue to get better."
— The defensive line is made progress since the start of the regular season, but Flores wants to see even more improvement when the team comes back from its bye this week. Flores, incidentally, mentioned defensive end Avery Moss is a player who has made a lot of improvement over the past several weeks.
"I love Christian. He knows that. I'm going to coach him hard. I think he's going to be here a long time and he's going to be the face of what we want to be about."
— Rookie first-round pick Christian Wilkins clearly has a lot of qualities that Flores likes, though the coach wasn't shy about saying he didn't care for the roughness penalty Wilkins committed against the Chargers. Flores said it was the kind of penalty that Dolphins coaches show their players as being ones to avoid.
"He's a good kicker. He can make these kicks. I've got a lot of confidence in him. We'll keep kicking. He'll make them."
— Jason Sanders missed two long field goal attempts against the Chargers, but Flores' confidence in the second-year player hasn't waned one bit. In fact, Flores said he stood in front of the team Monday before his media session and stated his support for Sanders.
"If it's up to me, I'll be in here. But it's probably not up to me."
— With the Dolphins off next weekend, Flores was asked for his plans, and he answered that it'll probably come down to what his wife has in mind.
