Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has spent much of his time issuing challenges to his players. Coaching and motivation are a huge part of Flores’ approach to the game of football and being a leader — so it is logical to hear that Flores covets the mental side of the game and constantly pushing his guys to be better.

Yesterday, Flores served up a challenge to rookie defensive tackle Christian Wilkins: get your pads down.

“(Wilkins) is a kid who’s high energy, who’s got a lot of ability. He plays extremely hard. He’s got to play with better pad level, for sure,” said Flores.

“I hope he reads this. Somebody make sure that he reads that. He has got to play with better pad level, but is a talented young man…the early down stuff is good. The pass rush, his technique has got to little bit better. Again, his pad level will help him. Christian, if you’re listening, that’ll help you!”

The message is generally positive and Flores’ tone was light-hearted — yet the message is loud and clear. Wilkins’ ability to make impact plays is going to stem from improvement in the little things, most notably getting under the pads of those who would stand in his way as a pass rusher.

And after bumping pads with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two days of practice, Wilkins will have a great opportunity to showcase his attentiveness to pad level tomorrow night. Can Wilkins get push up front against Tampa’s interior duo of LG Ali Marpet and C Ryan Jensen? If he does — it will be a win for Flores’ public call to action for his starring rookie of 2019.