Dowell Loggains – July 29, 2018
Download PDF version
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains
(Your thoughts four days in?) – “It’s been good. We need to clean up some things that happened in the red area. (We were) a little bit sluggish the first day in the red area. Just details we need to clean up. Overall, (I’ve) been pleased with the group. (We’re) still not where we need to be, but we’re getting there.”
(How would you handicap your backup quarterback battle? Where would you say it stands right now?) – “It’s too early to tell right now. It’s four days into camp. Those guys are making improvement up and down, but I think they’ve gotten better each day and that’s what they need to continue to do.”
(In your ideal offense, would four, five or six guys share the receptions? Might there be four or five guys with 40 catches at the end of the year? Do you prefer that over one guy with 85 catches?) – “I think it always depends on who you have and how those guys keep developing. I’ve been on teams where I’ve had receivers lead the league in third down receptions. Kendall Wright has had big years for us and (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) has had a bunch of guys that’ve had big years. I really think it depends on how these guys develop. They really determine the cut between them and how they develop and where the ball takes the coverage.”
(Do you see the ability to spread the ball around with this group?) – “I see we’re deep at wide receiver and we have the skill guys that can make plays in space.”
(Two days ago Head Coach Adam Gase said he wants to run the ball more and be more of a running team. Do you believe him?) – “Do I believe him? (laughter)”
(Yes.) – “He’s the head ball coach, so of course. I do know that he wants to create toughness. I do know that he wants to create balance in the offense and I think that changes weekly. I think sometimes it’s 30 runs, 40 runs and sometimes I think it’s 50 passes. It depends how the game is going. How’s the defense playing? How’s the matchups? How are we running the football? A lot of that dictates … I know that we need to be … The thing we need to do a better job of this year (as opposed to) last year is we need to be in control of more of those games and not let these things get lopsided.”
(How do you develop that running game here in the preseason and training camp?) – “It’s why Coach (Gase) goes pads when he does. It’s why he has live periods, because he wants to create a team that’s going to be physical and push the ability to run the football.”
(What has impressed you most about QB Ryan Tannehill’s first four practices of this preseason?) – “His intelligence. He’s a competitor. He comes out with a great urgency every day to practice. We’re not where we need to be but I’ve been really pleased with that part.”
(At tight end, what’s something someone needs to do to win that job? What are you looking for?) – “Just keep getting better. Right now, It’s the same thing with the wide receivers and the running backs. We’re a long way away from creating a depth chart and doing those things, but we need to really figure out what these guys can and can’t do. Adam (Gase) has always done a great job of putting those guys in situations to do that. Right now, it’s too early for us to know. We’ve had two days with some of these guys in pads. One thing I will say is Durham (Smythe) has done a great job – I’ll say a good job – the last two days – in pads blocking. He’s seen a huge improvement that way. (We) just (need to) continue to develop these guys. We need to get Mike (Gesicki) the ball in practice as much as we can and figure out what he can do. Obviously, Coach (Gase) and these guys have a feel about the guys who were here from last year.”
(It seemed at times maybe TE Mike Gesicki has an issue or two with blitz pickup. Is that something you’ve been on him about?) – “As much as we can get him out there doing it. It’s not something he’s had a ton of experience with. He’s very willing. That’s the biggest thing is it’s the courage to stick your face in there and do it, which he has. As he learns technique and stuff, he’s always going to be a guy, because he is a pass-catching tight end. None of those great guys are sitting there fired up to protect. Obviously, we want to try to get him out as much as possible into routes; but you also want him to have the ability to say, ‘Every time Gesicki is in the game, they’re getting everybody out.’ He’s going to have to block and do some of those things and we’ll be really smart with how we use him in those situations.”
(What have you seen from QB David Fales and QB Brock Osweiler so far?) – “I’ve had some experience with Fales, obviously, in Chicago. The one thing that David does is he plays really well once the ball is snapped. He can process information quickly. He’s a really football-savvy guy. The thing that Osweiler does a really good job of is he has great command of the offense. He was behind No. 18 (Peyton Manning) for four years in Denver. He’s really good with snap count etiquette, huddle etiquette and those things. He’s done a better job the last two days of going where he should go. I think it was three days ago he had a couple turnovers. Sometimes at quarterback, there are things that happen that we can’t control; but he cleaned it up the next day and is starting to stack a couple of good days. That’s really what we want is who can consistently day after day stack good days. That’s how the battle will unfold.”
(Can you think of some of the reasons QB Ryan Tannehill to WR Danny Amendola seems to be like it’s going to be a thing?) – “I think whoever the quarterback has been to Amendola has been a thing for a long time. Danny has a great feel for zone coverage. He’s got enough quickness to beat man coverage and he has a knack because he understands defenses so well, of when to sit. You guys saw in the red area out there, all of a sudden they box a bunch and he sees it and he’s giving Tannehill as he’s coming in motion he’s like, ‘Box, box, box, box.’ There’s not a lot of guys that see coverage like that. And then he slides that yard over and he’s sitting in a soft spot in the zone. I think that’s what helps everyone throw to Amendola.”
(With the wide receivers – back to them – is it something that you want each guy to have a defined role going into the season or do you want game by game to really change what personnel you’re in?) – “The most important thing for us is to figure out exactly, not define their role, but figure out their skill set. Once we figure out their skill set of what does (Albert) Wilson do well, what does Amendola do well, Stills, Parker, all these guys that we have – the list goes on and on – is now put them in those situations. Inside the matchups, sometimes that will change. It’s not going to change dramatically where one week you’re going to see a guy play 80 snaps and the next week you’re going to see 10, but there will be a rotation. There will be things that each guy does well. Then there’s going to be personnel that we throw out that we didn’t play for two or three weeks before that, because Coach (Gase) is creative and all of a sudden he’s like, ‘What if we put this group of guys out there at one time. The defense hasn’t seen it’ and self scout tendencies and all of those different things that come in. It’s not as simple as … It’s not black and white. It’s very fluid.”
(Have you had a conversation with them and said, ‘Hey guys, we’ve got a lot of talent here. One guy might not have 100 catches this year?’ Is that even needed?) – “No. The conversation is, ‘Get better every day. Worry about what you can control.’ If you don’t catch a ball in practice, when we’re watching tape, you better be getting better. There are always things … Sometimes you don’t catch a ball. There have been days when DeVante has had two catches, but it might’ve been his best practice, because he got better at his break points and he’s better sitting in zone and separating in man. He can’t control that stuff, but what he can control is lining up, doing the right thing play after play and when the ball comes your way, you need to make plays.”
(WR DeVante Parker said he wants to be great. Of course, we all want to be great. I think he can be great, but it hasn’t happened yet. What do you think is going to have to happen for that to happen?) – “It’s hard for me to speak on that because I wasn’t here. I see a really talented player that needs to continue to stack good day after good day after good day. I think once you keep stacking those good days together and build some consistency and rapport with the quarterback, I think that’ll carry into the season. It’s hard for me to comment on what’s happened in the past other than when I look out here. I get really excited to have him, because he is really talented.”
