A DeVonta-Tua reunion? Plus Flores on Dolphins’ OC situation and a new face emerges

Ramp that hype up, DeVonta Smith.

After spending 90 minutes watching Brian Flores and his Dolphins staff coach the Senior Bowl’s National team Tuesday, the Heisman Trophy winner went public with his openness to joining their real squad.

More to the point, Smith acknowledged he’s be onboard with a reunion with his college quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa — the Dolphins’ first-round pick in 2020.

“We talk about it,” Smith, who attending meetings with Flores’ staff put not practicing or playing in Saturday’s all-star game, said on NFL Network. “We talk about it would be nice to run in back again.”

And here’s an important factor: Flores, judging by his comments after practice Tuesday, is a fan. A big one.

Flores, speaking with reporters via Zoom, practically gushed about Alabama’s stud wide receiver.

“This guy’s a very, very good player,” Flores said.

And when asked about Smith’s size — he’s listed generously by the Crimson Tide at 6-1, 175 but declined to get measured at Senior Bowl weigh-ins Tuesday — Flores replied:

“If you’re a good player – I mean, you can nitpick all you want about a guy’s size – good players are good players are good players. I think we all can see that, and this guy’s a very good player. He made a lot of plays in college, he made a lot of plays in the big games – biggest games of the year. You can nitpick all day about things on people but he’s a very good player. It’s been good getting to know him, too. He’s a good kid, too.”

So mark it down: Jan. 26, 2021 was the first time Flores spoke on the record about a player widely linked to the Dolphins in draft chatter. And those on-the-record remarks were positive.

Flores weighed in on a range of issues during what will likely be his lone news conference ahead of Saturday’s game.

The most newsworthy?

The offensive coordinator search

Flores shed no new light on who will replace Chan Gailey, but did talk a bit about who’s handling playcalling duties this week.

We’re going through our process with the coordinator position,” Flores said. “Look, we’ve got very capable guys in Eric [Studesville] and George [Godsey] and a good young staff. Putting together a plan is really not much of an issue. Those guys are doing a good job and we’ll go through the process. But really the focus is on the players here at the Senior Bowl, the evaluations of the players here at the Senior Bowl, and hopefully we’ll get as much information to help us make good decisions come draft time.”

Godsey and Studesville are the two internal candidates for the job, but it’s believed the Dolphins are still considering options outside of the building.

Godsey was spotted at times relaying play calls into the huddle during practice Tuesday, but so was new quarterbacks coach Charlie Frye, hired to replace Robby Brown just last week.

COVID-19’s impact on the offseason

This week will be the most intensive time all spring Flores, general manager Chris Grier and the rest of the Dolphins brain trust will get to see these prospects work in person.

The NFL Scouting Combine has been scaled back dramatically. Workouts will be at college campuses.

“In my opinion, I think it will be similar to last year,” Flores said. “Maybe even a little bit more different in that there won’t be a Combine. There have already been restrictions on the Pro Days and the private workouts and things of that nature. I think we’ve gone through it a little bit. I think we’ve done the Zoom meetings and players have worked out on their own and sent video. We’ve kind of done it that way.

“We did it that way last year so this isn’t the first time we’ve done it. But right now, I think this is a great opportunity for us to see the players live and up close, meet with them, talk to them, get some face time with them – not on the iPhone, but actual face time – and get to know them as people, as players, the things that make them tick. We get to coach also, which that’s always fun. We’re excited about this week and I think we’ll get a lot out of it.”

▪ The Dolphins on Tuesday signed ex-Ravens defensive back Terrell Bonds to a futures contract. Undrafted out of Tennessee State, Bonds briefly played in the Alliance of American Football and is coming off a season-ending knee injury.