On The Beat: Talking Fish tanks, Brian Flores and players to watch with Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald

Every week, we up our prep on the Patriots’ next opponent with our “5 questions…” feature where we check in with a writer who covers New England’s next opponent. For this week’s game against the Floundering Fish, we talk with old buddy — keyword being old — Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Check him out on Twitter here.

1. OK Mando ... you've covered the Dolphins for a long time, how many plagues are we up to for this franchise? What the hell is going on there?

Right now it looks like more of the same. The Dolphins didn’t expect Brian Flores to bring Tom Brady with him from New England but the level of expertise I saw from the New England defense at the Super Bowl was not brought by their defensive play-caller with him to the Miami opener.

2. A lot of people are rooting for Brian Flores up here. We didn't hear from him much with the Patriots ... what are your impressions of him? Are they going to stick with him or is he a tank patsy/placeholder?

He’s a young inexperienced head coach who has already made mistakes.  But I think one game is a bit early to rate him versus other guys. As to how long they stick with him, I know he’s got a five-year guaranteed deal that pays at least $5M per. So he’s going to be fine.

3. Give me a guy we should be watching on defense...

Watch Minkah Fitzpatrick because he wants to be traded — he’s not the only one — and this might be his last game with the Miami Dolphins.

4. Offense?

Nope, no offense.

5. Finally, do the Fins have any shot?

The Dolphins are not winning this one if the Patriots show up. If the Patriots literally do not show up, Miami might make it close.