BUFFALO, N.Y. — Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores is generally the first or second person to speak with the media following a game, win or lose.
But roughly an hour after Miami’s 26-11 loss Sunday to the Buffalo Bills, Flores still had yet to speak. When he finally stepped to the lectern in a stuffy room inside Highmark Stadium, he explained why it had taken him so long to get there.
“Today, I really just kind of sat there,” he said. “It’s a tough loss, it’s a number of losses in a row, so I just figured we’ll let the players go.”
He met with team owner Stephen Ross and general manager Chris Grier after the game, which he said he always does, but declined to comment on what was discussed.
Sunday marked Miami’s seventh consecutive loss after winning its season opener, eclipsing its entire loss total from last season with nine games still to play in 2021. The third-year coach won 10 games in 2020 but was asked about his job security as the Dolphins’ poor season continues.
“I’m just worried about the players,” Flores said. “I’m worried about getting them better, helping them improve. So no [I’m not worried about job security].”
Flores’ comments came as criticism from some former Dolphins players arose Sunday. Hall of Fame fullback Larry Csonka wrote on Twitter that it was time for a “total rebuild.”
“Sad times for #MiamiDolphins fans. Hoping for better days ahead,” Csonka wrote. “But it seems obvious it’s time to get back to basics and revisit the drawing board. #MIAvsBUF #totalrebuild”
Hall of Fame defensive end Jason Taylor criticized the team’s playcalling toward the end of Sunday’s game.
After Miami lost 3 yards on a screen pass to running back Myles Gaskin with roughly a minute remaining in the game, Taylor questioned the point of the play on the team’s radio broadcast.
“If you’re going to run a play here in this situation, there’s a minute left and obviously you’ve lost the game … that’s the play you run?” he said. “If you’re just trying to get out of here, turn around and hand the ball off or take a knee, but that’s the play you run? You run a play for a 3-yard loss? I just don’t understand it.
“There’s one of two things to do here — you either take a knee and go home without getting anybody hurt or you run the football twice and go home, with no timeouts. But to motion your back out of the backfield to an empty set and then throw the ball to your running back to a 3-yard loss, I mean what is that?”
Flores’ record with the Dolphins through 40 games is now 16-24.
