Dolphins coaches dish on why catches dropped for Williams and Gesicki and defensive woes
The Dolphins have done a great job incorporating DeVante Parker, who has led all NFL players with 1,280 receiving yards dating to Week 7 of the 2019 season, which encompasses 16 games.
But they have had less success getting the ball to two of their other weapons in recent weeks.
After catching eight passes for 130 yards in Week 2 against Buffalo, tight end Mike Gesicki has just one reception for 15 yards in each of the past two games.
Receiver Preston Williams, meanwhile, has caught only six of 17 targets this season, for 89 yards and a touchdown. He’s on a pace well below his 2019 rookie season, when he caught 32 for 428 yards and three touchdowns in eight games before a knee injury ended his season.
With Gesicki, offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said: “They have covered him a lot tighter and have been a lot more – I mean, wouldn’t you after he had 130 yards or whatever it was? That’s what they are doing. If it’s double-covered, you don’t want to force it. If it’s single coverage and he’s one-on-one but it’s tight coverage, you can afford to throw a ball in there at times and give the guy a chance to make a play.
“A few times it’s looked like they were double-covering him and they ended up single-covering him; but to the quarterback on his first look, it looked double covered, so [Ryan Fitzpatrick] got off of him. We just have to pay closer attention to how they are actually playing him during the course of the game. I think hopefully now that we’ve put the ball in other places, things will start to come back his way.”
As for Williams, Gailey said the Dolphins, schematically, are trying to put him in better positions to make plays.
“We’re trying to use all of our weapons,” Gailey said. “The good thing is we think we have several weapons. The bad thing is there is only one football. If it’s not a clean look, he’s not getting the throws right now. We’re hoping to continue to work with him and put him in positions to get some catches. We know he can be a weapon, we know he should be a weapon. We’ve got to continue to work with him on what suits him best and get him in a position to be successful. We need him to – the more weapons we have on the field the better off we are as far as creating problems for the defense.”
THIS AND THAT
Dolphins left tackle Austin Jackson’s status for Sunday’s game at San Francisco is in question because of a foot injury that forced him to twice leave the Seattle game.
“We’ll make a decision this week about the direction we’ll go,” Gailey said, adding that Julien Davenport played “pretty well” in his 25 snaps against Seattle.
The Dolphins are optimistic that Jackson will be their long-term solution at left tackle.
“Austin has had a great start to this season,” offensive line coach Steve Marshall said. “He’s learning every time he’s going out there. I’m very excited for his future. He can be a heck of a pro offensive left tackle.”
▪ Defensive coordinator Josh Boyer made clear he needs more from himself and his players: “I need all 11 guys to be on the same page and understand the calls. We’ll see another one this week [San Francisco] that motions as well as anyone in the league. I wouldn’t say all of the errors have been communication. Some are basic stuff, play in play out from multiple players. We have to be able to handle motion and know and understand our calls. We’ve shown flashes of playing good defense from time to time.”
▪ With 49ers starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s status for Sunday undetermined because of a high ankle sprain, Boyer said the Dolphins would prepare for three quarterbacks: Garoppolo, Nick Mullens (started against Philadelphia on Sunday night and went 18 for 26 for 200 yards and one touchdown and two interceptions before being benched) and C.J. Beathard (14 for 19 for 138 yards after replacing Mullens).
▪ Asked what cornerback Noah Igbinoghene can do to rebound from a rocky start to his first season, Boyer said: “I think a lot of it starts with more attention to detail, more focus in practice. [But] Noah is a diligent worker.”
▪ The Dolphins have allowed several sizable runs up the gut. Asked to assess his defensive tackles, Boyer said: “We’re looking for improvement. We’ve had some good plays. We’ve had some plays you would like to play better.”
But Boyer likes what he has seen from Zach Sieler, who has taken some snaps from Davon Godchaux.
“One thing that makes the job enjoyable is they put in a great day’s work, constantly striving for improvement,” Boyer said. “Zach embodies that. He’s constantly in the coach’s offices, trying to watch more film. There’s some things good he’s doing and some things he’s working on to try to get better. He’s a high effort guy, a joy to be around.”
▪ Jordan Howard has just 14 yards rushing on 18 carries and running backs coach Eric Studesville said: “I’ve got to find ways to help him and get him in position where he can be more productive. Things haven’t gone well to this point.”
Here’s my Tuesday piece on the Dolphins’ decision to stick with Ryan Fitzpatrick over Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback against San Francisco and what coaches are saying about both players.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 12:32 PM.
