Flores: Spotlight Should Be on George Floyd

Two Miami Dolphins players were scheduled to conduct video interviews Thursday, but Head Coach Brian Flores called an audible and decided he should be the one speaking to the media in light of what's been going on around the country over the past week and a half.

"I felt like it was important with all that is going on right now that you guys hear from me first on a lot of these issues, so I wanted to lead the way on these discussions," Flores said before taking questions.

Flores, who released a passionate statement May 28 addressing the killing of African-American George Floyd at the hands of a while police officer, said he wanted the focus to be on Floyd and his family.

"What happened was a tragedy," Flores said. "For me right now, there's a lot going on. There's a lot of anger, a lot of emotion, a lot of emotions. For me, I just want to make sure the spotlight is on George Floyd and the horrible murder that occurred. That we focus on George Floyd, his family, and justice for his family."

Flores said he supported his players' right to protest the racial injustice issues that have plagued this country, though he deflected the question of his players kneeling once games start being played.

Dolphins wide receiver Albert Wilson is among the few NFL players who have consistently kneeled since former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first did it during the 2017 preseason.

"I understand that question, I appreciate it, but like I said earlier, to me, the conversation, the focus, the spotlight needs to be on George Floyd, justice for George Floyd, obviously condolences for his family," Flores said. "I think we're in a situation here where — I've had this conversation numerous times over the last few days — we're in agreement. It's not often that everyone's in agreement on a topic.

"What happened to George Floyd was a tragedy. It was disturbing. As a country, we're in agreement. As a world, we're in agreement. What happened to him wasn't right. Doesn't matter race, religion. Everyone was disturbed by what they saw. For me, the focus needs to stay on that. Focus needs to stay on justice for George Floyd, his family, and really making the necessary changes so that doesn't happen again. That's all I want to talk about, to be quite honest."

Police officer Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder last week before the charge was increased to second-degree murder Wednesday when the other three officers at the scene, who did nothing to stop Chauvin, were charged with aiding and abetting.

New Dolphins safety Kavon Frazier, who was signed as a free agent from the Dallas Cowboys in late April, took part in a peaceful protest in San Francisco earlier this week.

Flores said he wanted his players to exercise caution if they're going to protest and mentioned that he was friends with Indianapolis businessman Chris Beaty, who was shot to death over the weekend — though his murder was not related to the protests.

"My No. 1 thing for guys is they have a right to protest," Flores said. "That’s important. Everyone’s got a right to protest. But even more than that it’s about being careful. I want my players to be careful. I actually had a friend who was murdered in Indianapolis. His name was Chris Beaty, a good friend. He actually played football with Lance Bennett, who is on our staff. Beaty was full of life. He was a great human being.

"To me that was the first thing that kind of came to mind. Kavon was protesting. And, look, I’ve had a lot of conversations with players over the last few days I support those guys. I understand the emotion, what they’re going through. But at the same time I want them to be smart. I care about each one of these guys. I had a situation hit home pretty closely for me, so there’s some fear on my end, to be honest with you. I might as well take this time to send condolences to Beaty’s family, his friends in Indianapolis. He was an incredible human being. It’s sad. It’s another tragedy that we’re dealing with. Hopefully we learn from it and again make the necessary changes so that these things don’t happen again."

Flores was asked how he was dealing with his own emotions and those of his players in light of the recent killings of African-Americans Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Floyd.

"I think that we’re watching," Flores said. "We’re dealing with a pandemic. People are hungry, people are out of jobs, there’s a pandemic and people are angry as well, so there’s got to be time to be angry, have a platform to show their emotions. They have that with me, they have that with our coaching staff. We’ve had conversations just like everyone else had. But at the same time these guys they’ve been working also. They’ve been working on football. That’s been a kind of a place to get away for a little bit.

"But, yeah, our hearts and minds are with the Floyd family and the Arbery family and Breonna Taylor. It seems like we have to share our condolences. These guys, they have my support. I know it’s an emotional time."

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