Dowell Loggains – December 13, 2018
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Thursday, December 13, 2018
Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains
(Anything neat happen for you in the aftermath of Sunday? I know you’re looking ahead to Minnesota, of course, but any neighbors say anything to you? Did you hear from anyone who you hadn’t had contact with in decades? What neat happened?) – “I’m sure just like all the people in that building next door, I got a bunch of text messages that I still haven’t returned. The excitement of a game like that, (there are) a bunch of text messages from people you hear from once a year. It was an awesome way to win. It was a credit to our players, how hard they played and not to give up in that moment, because it would’ve been really easy to do that. I’m really proud of those guys.”
(Was there anything that you reminded Head Coach Adam Gase of before the play in your role?) – “We just talked about … We were trying to get ahead and talk about the 2-minute situation and stay ahead of the situation. So we started going through those things and just remind some of the assistant coaches, ‘Make sure we hit Boise and the last play of the game plays.’ So, we went through that stuff. We were just on the sideline and talked to make sure that each position group was schooled up and ready to go on it.”
(I wanted to ask you about T Ja’Wuan James and his play primarily in that game and with the pulling. How often have you seen tackles that pull? Is it common?) – “I wouldn’t say it’s common because a lot of those guys, they’re really long and they don’t have lower-body flexibility and that’s one attribute that JaWuan definitely has. He’s a good lower-body athlete. He can bend. He can move. We felt that it was advantageous that week to pull and he played really well overall and did a good job for us.”
(I know you weren’t here in past years, but where have you seen most growth from T Ja’Wuan James this season?) – “Consistency. He has a tendency … He’ll play a little high because he is a long, leggy athlete. For him to play with better pad level and be able to sink his hips, because he does have the ability to do it; but his length, it can be a strength and a weakness for him if he doesn’t play with good pad level. That’s the biggest thing I think I’ve seen.”
(Have you ever been a part of a team that’s played 60 minutes like this team played 60 minutes because no game seems to be decided one way or the other until literally it’s over?) – “I don’t know. Maybe in college. I was part of the two longest overtime games in the history of football. Seven overtimes when I was at Arkansas against Ole Miss and Kentucky. That actually got tied this year. It’s a credit to our guys because they play hard and they believe. It’s one thing to believe, ‘We got a chance;’ but they play hard. It shows up on tape how they’re committed to each other and committed to (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase. Obviously, he deserves a lot of credit for not only instilling that message, but make sure you’re picking players that football is important to and that they’re going to do their jobs for the guy next to them and for the team.”
(It seems to me the way that game went on Sunday, it would’ve been easy for some people to pack it in and go home. To see that kind of effort on the last play was pretty amazing.) – “I think the biggest thing it talks about is the buy in. Because it is. There’s always doubt that creeps in your mind. Those guys are human just like you guys. I heard after the game before that last play, ESPN has us like 99.9 percent chance we’re going to lose that game. It was just the attitude of don’t look at the scoreboard, you can only control what you can and Coach preached it all week (that) we’re a good home team and we’ve got a good home crowd and we’re going to play hard and do those things. Those guys, whatever it was, they were going to execute that last play as hard as they could and do their jobs and they did. There’s a lot of things that can go wrong with that play if everyone is not perfect.”
(You talked about being a good home team, but you guys have only won one game on the road this year. How much of that is a challenge of maybe offenses don’t travel well on the road?) – “I wish I had a better answer for it. I just don’t think we’ve executed as well as we need to as a team on all three phases. We’ve flashed. I thought in Cincinnati we played two-and-a-half really good quarters and then didn’t finish the game. We need to put together 60 minutes again this week of good execution and not turning the ball over, not beating ourselves and find a way to win on the road because this one is a big one.”
(TE Durham Smythe has had a few key run blocks. How has his performance and production increased the confidence on the coaching staff?) – “A lot. I give (Tight Ends Coach) Shane Day a lot of credit because he has developed him and done a really good job. At the end of the day, it’s always about Durham’s wanting to get better. He’s been patient. Just like every position we have, we play a lot of people here. I think it also creates a buy in for the team that everyone has a role and their job is to fulfill that role. One week it’s bigger than the next. And Durham is a guy the last two or three weeks who’s gotten to play more and really stepped up and done a nice job. From where he started when we drafted him to the point he’s at, he’s really improved in run blocking. Hopefully these next three games we get him involved in the passing game as well. He’s done everything the right way. He’s a really good kid, hard-worker, smart and we expect a lot from him this week and going forward.”
(How much different is the I-formation stuff you guys are running when TE Nick O’Leary is in the H-back and what Head Coach Adam Gase is comfortable with as he calls it?) – “It’s something that we’re trying to incorporate some here and there when we think it’s advantageous to give us a two-back look because when you look at the league, all these defenses, they just get used to fitting one gap. It’s easier to fit a one-back defense, because each guy is responsible for one gap. And all of a sudden when you put a two-back thing and they have to fit it … It’s not something we’ve done a lot of. We’ve had some success last couple weeks with it. If we feel like it’s advantageous, we’ll keep doing it and growing that package a little bit. We have more than we’ve shown with that tying in some of the play-actions and naked (bootlegs) off of it as well.”
(Considering it’s so old-school football, I’m assuming it’s pretty easy to build off, you just go back to 1980 film and bring it back?) – “Now we’re calling the I-formation, two-back old school, 1980 film. (laughter) New England had more snaps than anybody, then I think it’s San Francisco, of two-back runs. It’s a package you can build off of and there’s a lot of flexibility in it. Sometimes when you run a bunch of one-back (looks), the defense can balance up and sometimes you can gain a number advantage with the two-back stuff. Teams that play really sound defense anchor and box things in. Sometimes the two-back stuff can really help you.”
(QB Ryan Tannehill since he came back from the shoulder I think his passer rating is 120.0 or something and eight touchdowns and one interception. Is he playing, when you watch the film, as well as those numbers suggest?) – “Ryan has done a good job. There’s definitely things that we need to improve on. He’s his biggest critic and I’m probably second. (Quarterbacks) Coach (Bo) Hardegree has done a really good job with Ryan and I think things are starting to click for him. I think he’s seeing things really well here lately, taking care of the football, being able to get the ball down the field some with the play-action stuff. Sometimes as the season goes, the goal is to always keep getting better and I think Ryan has done a really good job of that. I think as the year has gone on, he’s starting to feel more and more comfortable with the moving pieces and starting to feel better about Brice (Butler) and where he’s going to be when he’s out there. He and (Kenny) Stills have always had a good chemistry. Ryan has done a good job. We need to continue to get better. He needs to continue to take care of the football and we have to keep making explosive plays.”
(Has WR Kenny Stills’ number been called more or is it just coverages are favoring him?) – “I think it’s a little bit of both. I definitely think that there’s a chemistry that Ryan (Tannehill) and he have together, that Ryan throws the ball down the field really well. That’s one of, I think, his strengths. I think it’s really gone up since Ryan came out. I think that his deep ball action has gotten better through the years. That’s obviously one of Kenny’s strengths is he has the ability to stretch the field because he can really run. Some of the stuff has been game-planned to him and coverage-dictated. I think he’s the only guy that had multiple catches last week – Stills was. Everyone else had one or two here or there but Kenny had eight and he played well for us.”
(The No. 1 thing the Vikings’ defense does best?) – “There’s a lot of things they do well. Number one, they draft well. They’ve done a really good job of the draft picks. They’re big, they’re athletic. The best thing they probably do is probably third-down defense because they get after the passer. (Viking Head) Coach (Mike) Zimmer has always been known for the double-mug package. They’ve kind of added to it and added a couple of different packages this year that he hadn’t shown. Now they have one with a third guy down with (Harrison) Smith sitting over the ball as well. He’s just creating different looks with really talented players.”
(What’s double-mug?) – “When they walk the two linebackers up in the A-gap and they have their four-down front and the two guys are sitting there. They do that package as well as anybody in the NFL.”
(You mentioned third-down defense is a strength. Third-down offense is not one of yours. How do you overcome that?) – “That’s definitely an area that we need to play better at. It’s been a big emphasis for ‘17’ (Ryan Tannehill) as well. We keep talking about that stuff. The red area stuff has gotten better the last couple of weeks. We weren’t as good as what we need to be there. I think he’s done a better job the last two or three weeks of making sure when we’re getting inside of the 20, we’re getting touchdowns. Third down is going to be a big key this game because they’re the best in the NFL and they have been for a couple years. We need to do a good job with protection. It’s a tough challenge but Ryan’s up for it, seeing the coverage and making sure you’re getting the ball to the open guy. You can’t win or lose this game on third down. They do a really good job creating turnovers and doing those things. We need to be smart and win on first and second down because their third-down package is going to create some issues and we need to be prepared for it.”
