Head Coach Brian Flores spoke to the media before practice at the Baptist Health Training Facility at Nova Southeastern University on Thursday. Here were some comments that stood out, along with some perspective:
"It's something we've got to do more consistently. We've got to get better at it."
— Flores said the issues with the running game cannot be pinned on one area because sometimes it might be a blocking issue, other times a running issue and other times perhaps a wide receiver blocking the wrong defender. What is undeniable is that the Dolphins are looking for improvement across the board when it comes to their ground game.
"We've got a lot of guys that have belief in each other. We all know there's no quit."
— The issue of leaders was brought up Thursday, and Flores said his group of defensive leaders would include Davon Godchaux, Jerome Baker, Raekwon McMillan, Jomal Wiltz and Eric Rowe. But Flores added that every player has done a good job in always fighting and not getting down regardless of circumstances.
"He's made a lot of improvement since the day he got here. He works extremely hard. Football is important to him. His preparation is very good."
— Linebacker Sam Eguavoen is three-quarters through his first season in the NFL after signing from the Canadian Football League in January. Flores likes the progress Eguavoen has made, at the same time pointing out he still has room to grow.
"He just needs to continue to trust the process and play with consistency and play with the same effort and grit and toughness on a play-to-play basis. I think he's tried to do that and we're going to stay on him to do that, that's for sure."
— Rookie Michael Deiter has started every game at left guard in 2019 and Flores said he's had a solid season while battling through some ups and downs. As with every player, the goal with Dieter is for him to develop consistency from play to play and game to game.