Dolphins veterans explain why they want to be here and why team is better than it seems
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Thursday:
▪ Tight end Mike Gesicki, an impending unrestricted free agent, said the team has not conveyed to him whether it wants to retain him beyond the end of his contract.
“I haven’t talked to anybody,” he said.
Gesicki — who is represented by prominent agent Jimmy Sexton — has never been more visibly angry as a Dolphin than last Sunday, when he was fuming that the team wasn’t lined up correctly before two plays against Buffalo.
So has the losing (1-7 record) and frustration and other factors lessened his interest in remaining with the Dolphins?
“No, absolutely not,” he said.
He gave a long explanation for why it hasn’t:
“I think that we have a phenomenal organization. We have coaches that are in here into the late hours of the night preparing and helping put players in position to be successful. We have great guys in the locker room. An unbelievable strength staff that is helping guys maximize their abilities on the field. The best trainers. The best people in the kitchen. The best media team. Security staff.
“The list goes on and on about all of the positives about this organization. The product on Sunday, I think, will follow. I think that we’re close. I’ve said that for weeks now. At some point, we’ve got to turn the corner.”
But if everything is so great, does he ever wonder why the team isn’t winning.
“Yeah, I think that’s natural in this business,” he said. “When you do have all of these great people and you do have so much hard work and you have this big nice building and you’ve got everything and anything that you could possibly want, why aren’t the results there on Sunday? That’s when I always going back to we’re close. We’re a ball bouncing the right way for us — instead of going out of the back of the end zone, maybe somebody falls on it in the end zone [and it’s a] touchdown.”
The Dolphins could keep Gesicki by giving him a new contract or giving him the franchise tag (projected to be $10.8 million for tight ends) or the $9.3 million transition tag.
Gesicki has 40 catches for 475 yards and two touchdowns in eight games; he has ranked in the top five among tight ends in receiving yardage over the past 2 1/2 seasons and is fourth this season, behind Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews and Kyle Pitts.
“I see him as a receiving tight end,” Texans safety Justin Reid told Houston media this week, in advance of Sunday’s game at Hard Rock Stadium. “I don’t think he likes to block very much, but he has good hands. A long guy. I don’t think his speed will be a problem, but he’s a big body. Going to have to be able to play those jump ball-type balls.”
During the offseason, the Dolphins gave a three-year, $39 million extension to linebacker Jerome Baker and a five-year, $22 million extension to kicker Jason Sanders. Both have played below expectations.
So Gesicki is the most prominent remaining member of the 2018 Dolphins draft class not to get an extension; 2018 first-rounder Minkah Fitzpatrick previously was traded to Pittsburgh because he didn’t like the way Flores was using him and subsequently became a Pro Bowler.
▪ Emmanuel Ogbah and Elandon Roberts both insisted Thursday that the team is better than what people think.
“A lot of people may look at the record and say, ‘their season is done,’ but they need to really start watching film because if you look at the games, we’re getting better as an overall team,” Roberts said. “The average fan wouldn’t understand that because they are just looking at the game; they don’t really know what they’re looking at. But if you are really a football person and you really know the game and you look at the game and not look at certain stuff, you’ll be like, ‘This team is getting better.’ And we are getting better each week.”
But the Dolphins rank 30th in total offense and 32nd in total defense and have been outscored by 95 points, which is third worst in the league.
▪ According to Pro Football Focus, Jesse Davis has allowed the sixth-most quarterback pressures among NFL tackles (29), and PFF rates him 70th among 79 tackles.
“Pass pro is not where I want it,” he said Thursday. “It’s especially different for me with Tua [Tagovailoa]; I haven’t played [right] tackle before [this season] with Tua. Understanding where he is; understanding where I need to be and being more physical.”
Because Tagovailoa is the NFL’s only left-handed starting quarterback, the right tackle — not the left tackle — protects his blind side.
Davis said the Dolphins have never asked his opinion on their decision to put Robert Hunt at right guard and Davis at right tackle, instead of vice versa.
▪ After spending two seasons on the 53-man roster, running back Patrick Laird had something of an adjustment getting used to life on an NFL practice squad before Miami signed him to the 53-man roster last week, filling the roster spot of injured Malcolm Brown.
Laird was chosen over fellow practice squad running backs Gerrid Doaks and veteran Duke Johnson.
Though Laird traveled to road games, he was required — as a practice squad player — to watch home games at his house or a Hard Rock Stadium luxury suite.
At the stadium, he felt like a “random dude with coffee in my hand [walking by fans who] don’t know who I am.”
When he watched games at home, “I felt like a fan.”
Though he attended the opener in New England, the “first week during warmups and I watched everyone else warm up, I wanted to be out there. I miss putting on pads and being in a real game. But you’re still an integral part of practice and the game plan.”
Laird played 10 offensive snaps and two special teams snaps against Buffao and caught one pass for 10 yards.
▪ Tagovailoa, on Thursday, was limited in practice for the second day in a row with a finger injury on his throwing hand, in addition to his previous ribs injury. But Gesicki said Tagovailoa has thrown the ball well in practice this week.
Linebacker Jerome Baker (knee), safety Brandon Jones (ankle) and receiver DeVante Parker (hamstring, shoulder) also were limited for the second day in a row.
Houston safety Reid had some notable remarks about Tagovailoa this week: “’Talented kid. I feel bad for him he’s struggled with so many injuries. As far as a QB talent, I think he has an accurate arm. I think he’s trying to find his groove into the NFL, so they’re taking care of him with the short passes, RPOs.
“He’s one of the few lefties in the league, so that’s a little different as far as quick game goes. He’s a solid guy. He’s talented. He was a first-round pick for a reason, so he’s still just trying to find his wings and become their guy.”
▪ Christian Wilkins said he took no offense that Bills quarterback Josh Allen waved him bye-bye during a heated moment late in last Sunday’s game.
“I love when things get a little chippy... whether it’s a little gamesmanship or little battles within the game,” Wilkins said. “I’m sure if, and you can ask a lot of other guys around the league, they would have a lot to say about me. I laugh at it all. It’s funny to me.
“It’s nothing personal. It’s all love. We’re all brothers in arms in this league but when we’re against each other, we’re competing our butts off and it doesn’t matter if you’re my best friend in the world or if I don’t know you at all, we’re competing.
“You probably get it worse if you’re my best friend in the world because I got some dirt on you. I know what buttons to press.... I’m more of a mosquito, an annoying kind of trash talker.”
Here’s my Thursday piece on the Dolphins’ curious usage of Jaylen Waddle.
Here’s Thursday’s part 2 of my 3-part Marlins series, with a team official assessing the ballyhooed outfielders in the system.
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 5:12 PM.
