Flores confident injured Howard will bounce back
DOLPHINS
Following another second-half letdown to remain winless on the season, Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores addressed a number of topics Tuesday afternoon — including the loss of standout cornerback Xavien Howard.
During Miami’s 27-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football, Howard exited in the third quarter after re-aggravating his knee, which forced him to miss the previous two games. On Tuesday, the Dolphins placed Howard on the injured reserve, ending his season.
“It’s unfortunate; he’s obviously one of our top players,” Flores said. “You never want to see anyone get injured. He’s a tough kid and I’m sure he’ll bounce back.”
While Flores said the Dolphins (0-7) are still evaluating him, he’s not “overly concerned” about Howard from a long-term health standpoint.
“He’s young; he’s tough,” Flores said. “Football’s very important to him. People deal with injuries on a year-to-year basis.
“For me more than anything, I feel bad for the kid. I know he loves to play, loves to compete and he loves to be out there with his teammates.”
Here are some other topics Flores touched on:
Hours before the NFL trade deadline, the Dolphins acquired fivetime Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib and a reportedly a fifthround draft pick from the Los Angeles Rams for a future seventhround selection. Talib is currently on injured reserve after fracturing his ribs.
“I have some history with Aqib,” Flores said. “I think he’s a really good player. We had an opportunity to acquire him and some draft capital and we felt it was the best move for us.
“Obviously he’s dealing with an injury; so we’ll see where that’s at. This has all happened very quickly. We’ll assess and evaluate. As far as making a blanket statement on what it’s going to be playing-time wise — we’re going to take it dayby-day.”
The turning point in Monday night’s loss came late in the second quarter when the Dolphins surrendered a 45-yard touchdown pass on third-and-20 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the half. Miami rushed eight players, allowing Dionte Johnson to catch a four-yard slant and sprint through the secondary for a score.
“If you want to win games in this league you have to be aggressive,” Flores said. “That’s never going to change for me. We blitzed them; they made a play. It happens. I’ve been in big games where you blitz, and you make a play and it works. That’s my style. I’m not going to play conservative. That’s always been my MO and it’s not going to change.
“They ran a crossing route; we didn’t tackle a guy. People say ‘live by the sword die by the sword’. We’re going to be aggressive. That’s the way this team is going to play. We’re going to go down swinging.”
Flores said Robert Nkemdiche was “OK” in Monday night’s Dolphins debut. The defensive tackle and former first-round pick was activated prior to the Steelers game after being on the physically unable to perform list.
Nkemdiche played 15 snaps in the contest, but didn’t record any tackles. Flores said he thought the defensive lineman looked a little rusty in his first game in nearly 11 months.
“From a footwork and hand placement standpoint, it could’ve been a lot better,” Flores said. “But that’s kind of the progression. I think he’ll be better in practice this week and be able to play better in the game.
“I’m not saying from, it was a bad performance, but from a technique standpoint, he looked rusty. He’s been out there 10 days, so it wasn’t surprising.”
Cordea Tanksersley is moving closer toward returning to the lineup as he continues his recovery from a knee injury. Miami’s thirdround pick in 2017, the cornerback tore his anterior cruciate ligament during a November practice last year. Tankersley made his season practice return on Oct. 16. While Flores said he’s progressing, he didn’t put a timetable on a return.
“I think he definitely had a better week than he did previous week and we’ll see,” Flores said. ‘We’ll get out there again this week. There’s definitely going to be some opportunity — or potentially going to be some opportunity — for him to be up and be active. So we’ll see how it plays out over the course of the week.”