Why the Dolphins’ offensive and defensive schemes seem tailor-made for the pandemic
Jesse Davis can play all five spots on the offensive line.
Bobby McCain can line up at every defensive back position — with perhaps strong safety as the lone exception.
Mike Gesicki is a tight end who also plays wide receiver. Chandler Cox is a fullback who practiced occasionally at tight end last year.
And new linebacker Kyle Van Noy is so versatile that he doesn’t even want to be called a linebacker.
Dolphins coach Brian Flores places a high premium on position flexibility in normal times. During a pandemic, it might be his and any team’s best (only?) chance to compete.
Just a week into training camp, six Dolphins players have already landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list (although two have since come off it). Until there’s an effective vaccine, positive tests will be inevitable, not matter how many safeguards teams put in.
And so it’s not only possible, but likely, that the Dolphins will lose a starter to COVID-19 just days (if not hours) before a game this fall. Teams who have a bunch of quality players who are able to do a bunch of things will be best positioned to succeed.
“We still need guys who are multiple,” Flores said. “We still need guys who can play multiple positions. I think that’s even more important this year, in a year when we don’t know. You could lose one, two, three, a group of guys. We’re going to get other guys to step in.
“So tackles are playing guard. Guards are playing center. Defensive tackles will end up kicking out to defensive end. Corners playing safety, safeties playing corner. I mean, you can’t get all of that in practice. I’m not saying that. But the guys that we feel are flexible enough and smart enough to handle those different positions, we’ll try to introduce those positions and those schemes to them in small increments, I would say.”
Flores on Monday sent well-wishes to Eagles coach Doug Pederson, who announced the evening before that he tested positive for COVID-19.
Pederson’s news brings up an important question: What happens if Flores or a member of his staff get sick?
“Everyone has got a backup,” Flores said. “Everyone has two backups. It’s something we’ve talked about. We’re taking the same approach we take with the players. If I go down, we’re doing this. If the D-line coach goes down, we’re doing this. And so on and so forth. So, it’s something we’ve talked about but it’s not just the coaches and player staff, it’s our strength and conditioning coach, head trainer, head equipment guy, nutritionist. You have to have a plan for everyone especially in a time like these.”
Other tidbits from Flores’ 15-minute Zoom session:
▪ Wide receiver Preston Williams, whose bust-out rookie season ended with a torn ACL, has been cleared for football activity.
“He’s running, he’s lifting,” Flores said. “We’ll see him in a walk-through setting. But again for Preston, it’s a new offense so learning the terminology, the depths on some routes, things of that nature, are a little different than they were a year ago. That’s where his focus is right now. He’s worked extremely hard.”
▪ Flores said the Dolphins’ team fitness has been “OK” with no in-person conditioning program this year.
He added: “The first week has been good. The acclimation period that the league and the [NFLPA] agreed to. I think it shows how important the offseason is from a rep standpoint on the field as well as a strength and conditioning standpoint. I think guys are in OK shape. We’ve got a long way to go.”
This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 11:36 AM.
