Flores Punts on Watson Topic

After the Miami Dolphins' wild victory against the Cincinnati Bengals in the preseason finale Sunday, Brian Flores not surprisingly was asked about a player who doesn't play for either team.

And that player, of course, is Deshaun Watson.

The Watson questions had to be expected in the aftermath of the Yahoo Sports report Saturday suggesting that the Dolphins had become the front-runners to acquire via trade the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback with the cloudy future given the 22 accusations of sexual misconduct against him.

Flores responded to the initial question exactly how one would have expected considering the way he's done business since taking over as Dolphins head coach in 2019.

"Reports, speculation are not things we really get into," Flores said. "Look, I understand the question, but as I've said in the past, any conversations that we have or don't have with other clubs are going to be internal. I've been pretty steadfast about that. ... That'll remain the case."

Given the large amount of displeasure expressed on social media at the thought of Watson coming in to replace second-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Flores later was asked whether he was interested in taking the opportunity to tell Dolphins fans the team would not be going after Watson.

Flores punted.

"I would say I'm interested in the players that are on our team," Flores said. "That's what I'm interested in. I'm interested in (quarterback) Reid Sinnett, who went out there and played his butt off tonight. I'm interested in (running back) Gerrid Doaks. I'm interested in the guys that didn't play today that we're focused on recovering and being fresh for next week. That's what I would say. Look, I'm interested in the players on the Miami Dolphins."

Another question during the media session involved Flores' confidence level in Tagovailoa.

"I'm very confident in Tua," the coach said. "He's done a lot of good things this spring, this offseason, this training camp, played well last week and, again, my conversations with the players are going to always remain between me and that player. I talk to a lot of players every day. Obviously spend a lot of time with the quarterbacks, but yeah those conversations will remain between myself and that player."