Brian Flores admits to playing Jay-Z songs to push Kenny Stills

The drama that unfolded two weeks ago when Kenny Stills called out Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross didn’t end there. Brian Flores made sure of that.

If there was going to be a quiet end to the Kenny Stills/ Stephen Ross drama that unfolded two weeks ago, Brian Flores made it known that he was the coach and would call the shots.

Earlier this week the NFL and musical artist Jay-Z agreed to a deal that would, in essence, help the NFL with music and social injustice. It also paves the way for the entertainer to purchase what is described as a “significant” part of an unnamed NFL franchise.

After the announcement, several took issue with the agreement. This included Dolphins’ receiver Kenny Stills who took exception with the fact that Jay-Z made the comment “they have moved on from kneeling”. Stills stood up for Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid who have been at the forefront of the NFL’s kneeling.

At practice earlier this week, a day after the league announced the deal with Jay-Z, Flores who controls the music played at practice, lined up eight straight Jay-Z songs and admitted to the media that he was indeed sending a message to Kenny Stills.

"So after the playlist was done, what you guys don’t know is I walked up to Kenny in front of the entire group and said, this is a challenge to you to get open, catch the football and make plays for this team regardless of what’s going on outside of this building. – Miami Dolphins released transcripts"

It was not a “shot” at Stills but it was a definite message that Stills needs to concentrate on football as much as he does on other things. To be clear, Flores supports Stills 100 percent and told the media and the team as much. Flores admitted to speaking with the entire team about the music and then leaned on his own upbringing to highlight the fact he has lived the life that Stills is trying to fix. But he is also trying to keep his football team focused on football.

While Flores said he supports it all and that it is important, he also said that guys have to perform. He said 89 guys on the team are relying on Stills to make the catch. Flores said that he hasn’t been thrilled with what he has seen from Stills in camp this year.

"I would say – and I’ve said this to him – he hasn’t performed to that level over the course of this training camp as I’ve seen him. So that was a challenge.” (In reference to the Jay-Z music)"

Flores supported Still’s comments about Ross but he also questioned his receiver about the route he took to do so. Flores cautioned Stills and asked him why he didn’t take it up directly with the owner.

Stills handled the music and the challenge by Flores professionally. He said the coach spoke with him briefly before the music played simply saying he was going to play it. Afterward he talked to Stills about the situation.

"“No. We talked about it in house and he handled it in house, but for the most part I think it was just him trying to see if I could handle if someone was going to heckle me, or play Jay-Z music in another stadium, if I was going to be mentally strong enough to withstand that type of treatment I guess. I’ve been dealing with this since 2016 – music, boo’s, racial slurs, so I don’t think a little bit Jay-Z is going to really ruffle my feathers that bad.”"

Flores is trying to make sure that no only Stills, but the entire team knows who is in charge and it was a very Bill Belichick type of coaching. Flores is trying to build a mentally tough football team but like he had in New England, he knows that off-field stuff needs to stay inside the team to lessen the distractions. It was handled very well by Flores and taken just as well by Stills.

On a final note, Flores was asked why, if he supports what Stills and the others are trying to do, he stands for the National Anthem. “Why do I stand? I stand because I want to stand. I feel like it’s important to stand. I do. I feel like it’s important to stand. I feel like it’s – I don’t know what you want me to say on this one. I think it’s important to stand.”

It is unclear what Brian Flores will make out of this football team this year or three years from now but one thing seems to be certain from the start. He is setting a tone for his team that he wants things handled a certain way and he isn’t worried about calling someone out to prove his point.