Flores Scores Points With His Players
Brian Flores said he walked over toward the Cincinnati Bengals sideline Sunday to stick up for one of his players, though he regretted the incident taking away from his team's 19-7 victory at Hard Rock Stadium.
There was nothing but support for Flores from his players afterward, though.
To set the stage, the skirmish occurred in the fourth quarter after Bengals gunner Mike Thomas plowed into punt returner Jakeem Grant before the ball got to Grant. It was the second time Thomas had nailed Grant, the first time when he was flagged for roughness after lowering his helmet to hit Grant immediately after he fielded a punt.
Grant lost the ball after both hits and rookie Noah Igbinoghene picked up both times, and he ran to the right after the second hit. Before he reached the sideline, Mack Hollins threw a vicious blindside block.
When Igbinoghene reached the sideline, tempers flared up with players on the field, and that's why Flores came over from the Dolphins sideline gesturing his displeasure before being stopped by director of team security Drew Brooks.
“It’s good to see that kind of just because you know he has our back and we’re a family," defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said. "So that’s the biggest thing. That’s all I’ll say. We’ve all got each other’s back. So we’ll just keep that in the family.”
“That’s what we’re going to do," linebacker Kyle Van Noy said. "We’re a family. That’s what you do for your family, right? If you saw somebody get hit, you’re going to act a certain type of way, so keep it moving.”
Said quarterback Tua Tagovailoa: “Well, I think it speaks a lot to Flo’s character, how much it means to him that his player got hit, and it wasn’t the first time. It was the second time. It just means a lot. He’s not just a coach out there. If his guy gets hurt, he’s not going to let it go. He stands up for us as a team. You got to see, not just him, but other guys going in there trying to defend Jakeem and whatnot. Although it happened the way it did, it’s also a testament to how close we are as a team.”
And that's all Flores was thinking when he got involved — sticking up for one of his players.
Afterward, though, he sounded like somebody who regretted his actions.
“We’ve got to do a better job of keeping our poise," Flores said. "That starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job of keeping my poise. But, look, I’m going to stick up for my players. They’re going to stick up for each other without getting penalties, without hurting the team, but we’ve got to do a better job of keeping our poise as a team. I’m just going to be honest, these are like my kids. The first time, yeah. The second time I got a little upset about it, but still I’ve got to do a better job. I have to. I can’t do anything to hurt the team. My emotions got the best of me there."
As a result of the skirmish, Hollins, Dolphins wide receiver DeVante Parker and Bengals safety Shawn Williams all were ejected.
Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor wasn't asked about the skirmish, per se, but was asked what he would tell Thomas after the two big hits that were penalized.
"We want to play within the rules," Taylor said. "But our guys were playing hard. It was unfortunate. You hope he's fine. But again there's no I'll will there by Mike Thomas; I can promise you that. He's just being a gunner, trying to go down there and make a play."
For his part, Flores said he was disappointed after the game spending so much time talking about the skirmish and his part in it, as opposed to the focus being on his players.
“Look, I mean, the people in this organization, they’re very important to me. I’m going to try to protect everyone here — players, coaches," Flores said. "But there’s a way to do that. There’s a better way to do that, and, again, like I said, unfortunately, this is one of the things that I don’t like is that our team went out there, played a good game against a tough opponent, won the game, played well in all three phases, really played well in the second half. Defensively, we played well. Offensively, we really moved the ball a lot better. A lot of things from the game that are good that should be highlighted, but unfortunately, we’re talking about my situation, and that’s what I don’t like.
"I don’t want the spotlight on me. It should be on the guys that are on the field, the players. DeVante playing well. He played well for us. He made plays for us. So did ‘Mike G’ (Mike Gesicki). So did Myles Gaskin. I thought the O-line played well with the three young guys in there. I thought defensively, we made a lot of plays. But unfortunately, we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about this situation. ... Hopefully we spend some time talking about the things that they did well in the game and not that situation.”
