Head coach Brian Flores talks about the Raekwon Davis injury, beating New England Week 1, Tua Tagovailoa, Noah Igbinoghene and more

COACH SPEAK

- Brian Flores

Q: The game last year not only showed how far you guys have come but also how much further you could go. I guess from the offseason and in past weeks, how do you like where your team is at this point going into the game?

BF: “We’ve still got a long way to go. I think it’s early in the season. I think every team is trying to find different roles for the players on their team – things you do well, things you don’t do well, things you need to improve on; which there are many things we need to improve on. It’s early and I think every club is having these same conversations. I thought we did a lot of good things in training camp and we’re trying to build on those things. I think it’s important to our guys, so we’ll continue to work in all areas – offense, defense, special teams, situations, our overall awareness, and just try to get better every day.”

Q: I noticed last week that the team was on the sideline during the national anthem. I was just curious if there’s a policy change or was that just a one-week thing?

BF: “We decided to go out for the national anthem and we’ll do that moving forward.”

Q: The other day LB Jerome Baker said that fast starts were a big emphasis of the offseason for you guys and over the course of your tenure here, fast starts has correlated to winning football games. I’m just curious if there’s a specific that thing starting faster – this particular team – what that does to help you guys win the game in the end?