Mike Gesicki – December 28, 2020
Download PDF version
Monday, December 28, 2020
TE Mike Gesicki
(It surprised me that you were able to play again this season. What is your injury and how painful is it to play through this injury?) – “Specifically, I can’t really get into all the medical diagnosis-es. I think I used the wrong term there already. I’m 0-for-1. (laughter) But obviously it was my shoulder. It is what it is, but I think our medical staff – (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle Johnston, (Assistant Athletic Trainer) Troy Maurer – those guys did a phenomenal job helping me and motivating me and me motivating myself with just doing treatment and getting in there each and every day, and I was able to get back out there on Saturday. So it was fun. It was a lot of fun to get back out there after missing a week.”
(Did you have to play through some pain on Saturday?) – “Did it look painful? (laughter) It is what it is. You’re never going to be 100 percent playing this game, especially me. You guys know I just play so physical out there. (laughter) Just 100 percent physicality out there on the field, so all those hits and blocking and all that kind of stuff out there just takes a toll on the body.”
(I want to hit you with two questions if I can. First, when you hit the ground on the play in which you were injured, you were thinking what? Were you thinking “that’s it, I’m done for 2020” or what was going through your mind? And second, I want to ask you about the block you threw on RB Myles Gaskin’s touchdown. Is that going to end all debate about you and your blocking?) – “(laughter) Well, I’ll start with question two. The debate will probably continue because you guys got to continue to make some articles and get some clicks. You guys got a job to do, too. I respect it. I’m not going to hold it against you, so the debate will go on. As for the shoulder, when I first hit the ground, I just thought I had a dead arm because I couldn’t really feel it. So I was like, ‘all right, it’ll come back.’ And then I tried moving and it wouldn’t come. Obviously at that point, I’m just trying to get out of pain and feel better and all that kind of stuff, which our doctors and our medical staff and everybody did a great job. I lived to tell the story, so here I am.”
(I just wanted to let you know ahead of time I’m going to write a lot about Kyle Pitts and Mike Gesicki, the tight end duo.) – “Good player. Good player.”
(Just reaching up and catching, are you really relying on adrenaline and whatever you take before the game to kind of get through a game? What is the game day process kind of like for you and what is it kind of after playing, how do you feel?) – “Like I said, at this point I think I’ve shouted out (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston) too much – our trainer. Me and him kind of joke around a ton, so he’ll love all this media availability. This is great for him. This is huge, honestly for him. (laughter) But he did – him and Troy (Assistant Athletic Trainer Troy Maurer), my guy Troy – they did a great job just helping me just do the rehab, strengthen it and get back to wherever I’m at right now to be able to play. Honestly, I’m just going out there and I’ve just got to make plays when they come. Whether it’s once or 10 times or whatever it is, once you’re out there and you agree to go out there and play, it doesn’t matter what percentage you’re at or how you’re feeling or whatever it is. Nobody cares. You’ve got to go out there and make plays.”
(I’m curious because obviously every time we see a QB Ryan Fitzpatrick or QB Tua Tagovailoa thing come up, there’s a lot of debate on who should be the quarterback this and that, but it seems like for you guys in the locker room, that hasn’t been an issue all year. I’m curious what maybe Head Coach Brian Flores has done for you guys as a team to make sure that that situation hasn’t become anything that’ll create any tension?) – “I think that the whole team has done a great job and honestly at the end of the day, it’s not up to us and it’s not up to honestly anybody besides ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores). The only people it should really affect, if that’s the right word here, is ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) and Tua. And they handle it great. You always see ‘Fitz’ helping out Tua, Tua supporting ‘Fitz,’ ‘Fitz’ supporting Tua, however you want to do it. So I think that they’ve done a great job with it and just kind of understand each other’s roles and like I said a bunch of times, just making the most of opportunities when they present themselves.”
(I couldn’t tell with the jersey and pads, in all seriousness, have you found a brace or harness to be helpful? Did you try multiple braces or harnesses out to pick one?) – “Yeah, I ended up finding something that works nice. Obviously I wear my half sleeves that I wore back in college. I got away from it a little bit and then last year before we played the (Washington Football Team), Durham (Smythe) was like, ‘Mike, I think it’s time to go back to the half sleeves. It’s what you did in college. Just give it a shot.’ I went back to the half sleeves and I’ll probably never go back. The half sleeves have been good to me and now they’re covering up my brace that people just don’t even know about, which leads you to ask questions about it. The half sleeves have really been a huge part of my career here so far, obviously.”
(I’m just curious, we have eyes but we don’t know a fraction of what goes on inside the building. Why is it to our eyes that there’s more of a vertical passing game when QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is in than QB Tua Tagovailoa and how do you fix that in, I guess, a week?) – “I really don’t think that it’s one guy’s better to do this or one guy or anything like that. It’s really not what it is. The game and defenses just present different things or it’s just how the flow of the game kind of goes. Obviously ‘Fitz’ got in there and made some big plays for us. Some of them were vertical – he hit me down the field – but another one was just Myles (Gaskin) making a great play and all of that kind of stuff. I obviously joked around with ‘Fitz’ after the game. I said, ‘Listen, came back, won us the game, we appreciate it, thanks very much – all that kind of stuff – but I’m not going to forget that you missed me on a touchdown. It is what it is.’ (laughter) But that’s just me joking around with ‘Fitz’ and all that kind of stuff. ‘Fitz’ – he’s done a great job and obviously has understood his role and all that kind of stuff. He’s been doing it for a very, very long time now, so I’m appreciative of him and appreciative of Tua and just everybody. I think that this team is able to handle a lot of adversity and a lot of different situations extremely well.”
(I don’t want to say QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is like Mariano Rivera out there. That might be giving him too much praise. But I wanted to ask you, you obviously and WR Isaiah Ford obviously had a little bit of excitement when “Fitz” came into the game and I wanted to ask you specifically, do you feel like defenders start to press a little bit when “Fitz” comes in? Do you think they kind of are on their toes a little bit more not knowing what he can do and what the gunslinger mentality can get them really at any time?) – “I think that – I can’t speak for the defense and their mindset or what’s kind of going through their mind depending on who’s in the game and all that kind of stuff, but I do think that it just goes back to – I’ve said it, I feel like repetitively in our media opportunities throughout the season – that whenever you get an opportunity to make a play, that’s when you’ve got to make the most of it. So to me, obviously you guys know that I love both our quarterbacks and have had success with both of them. They’re both extremely talented and all that kind of stuff, so for me, I’ve just got to continue to focus on my job – my role – and then depending on whoever’s out there or whatever it is, whatever the situation is; I don’t care if Durham (Smythe) is throwing the ball. Which you guys wouldn’t want to see that – he’s got a bad arm. (laughter) But I’m just saying, if the ball is in the air, you’ve just got to go out and make plays. That’s just what this game is about. I think that and everybody on our team has done a good job understanding that and making the most of opportunities.”
