Dowell Loggains – December 6, 2018
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains
(On the handful of plays RB Kalen Ballage has run, Wildcat, has something gone wrong where they haven’t produced as many yards, is Kalen not seeing the holes or has it been entirely a blocking issue?) – “I think it was three weeks ago against the Jets, he ripped off a good run and got it brought back because of holding. And then if he had the one I thought was a good, efficient run. I thought it was going to hit bigger. And then the upfront on the third-and-1, we had a mental error and didn’t execute the play.”
(Is RB Kalen Ballage responding on those plays generally how you would like?) – “Yes, absolutely. He has done a really good with them. We need to help him out because his vision has been good on them. The third-and-1 was unfortunate, because we had a chance to have a big play on that one if we ID it right and execute it upfront off the left edge. We had the one that was called back because of holding. I can’t remember how many yards it was, but he had the one that was a good, efficient run. He hit that thing downhill. He’s doing a good job with that stuff.”
(Is it generally harder to run it now, because obviously, defenses have seen it more, they’re blitzing, they’re doing different things that maybe they didn’t do a decade ago?) – “The most important thing is finding out what their check is. In the game a couple weeks ago against the Jets, we had a run and then they had a check that came back. We had two or three snaps of it and then they came back with an all-out blitz check. The good thing is teams have to go prepare for it. They have to take time out of their walkthroughs once you put it on tape. They have to rep it during practice and those things. You have to go back in the archives and find, ‘Hey, this is how they played it this year. This is how they played it four years ago. This is how they played it a couple of weeks ago.’ Going back and studying it and seeing if it’s advantageous for that week or not.”
(Both teams have to.) – “Both teams. Yes, sir.”
(How much time do you really think that teams, because you have a Wildcat package, dedicate towards that in the practice week?) – “It’s hard for me to say what another team does with their preparation. But it’s something you have to take time to do. I know our guys, when the other team shows it, you have to have a plan for it and you have to walk through it. Maybe five plays in walkthrough, maybe 15 plays in walkthrough, have much you can co, who’s back there, can the guy throw. I think you definitely have to take time to prepare for it.”
(Can RB Kalen Ballage throw?) – “Maybe. Maybe not. (laughter)”
(Can you explain to me what has happened to the interior of your offensive line? I know there are injuries that sort of impacted that, but is what we’re seeing now communication issues?) – “Obviously the injuries affect (us) like you made mention of. It’s playing together. It’s that continuity of being on the same page. Like I mentioned on the third-and-1, there were some identification issues and execution issues. Those guys need to play together. When you start changing the center a lot, there are things that come up communication-wise. The tackles are out there by themselves. They’re really working with tight ends and the interior three have to work together a lot. It’s really a continuity issue more than it is anything else. No excuse. Those guys have been here. We need to play better.”
(Has the neck injury impacted G/C Ted Larsen?) – “It’s hard for me to speak on that. Each one of our guys can improve. Ted could play better in certain areas and certain areas he has done a good job for us.”
(The read option was a big part of QB Ryan Tannehill’s game in the past. Over the last couple weeks, I guess there has been calls, but it hasn’t really materialized. Is that fair?) – “Yes.”
(A. How often have you tried to get it involved and B. Why do you have confidence even with QB Ryan Tannehill’s shoulder that that’s a good call?) – “It’s been up. It’s been up every week. Sometimes, like you said, it doesn’t unfold that way, because of how they play it. But it’s something we’ll always carry and we trust Ryan to be smart with it. You have to be smart if you’re going to put your quarterback at risk like that. You can’t have injuries and getting your guys banged up. So, he’s going to be smart, take what the defense gives him and get down.”
(How much of an explosive play can that be if it works?) – “It can be an extremely explosive play and it has shown up for us on tape at times. It’s just something else the defense has to prepare for. If you’re fortunate enough to have a quarterback that has mobility and has some speed, it’s a good tool to have.”
(What do you think WR Brice Butler has going for him?) – “The biggest thing I think we talked about last week was his ability to step in and learn. He’s a sharp guy. He’s a pro. He’s been around. He’s been on different teams. His ability to pick things up quickly, he’s just steady. I don’t know if he’s real flashy in any area, but he’s just an overall steady player.”
(How would you assess QB Ryan Tannehill’s two weeks since returning from injury?) – “I think he’s thrown the ball well. There’s definitely areas that we can make improvement on. We need to play better as an offense. He got hit a lot last week; but he stood in there. The touchdown to (DeVante) Parker, he gets hit on that one. Early in the game, I think the first 21 plays, he gets hit seven times, which is way too many. I was really impressed with him standing there and doing those things. He’s operated the offense at a pretty solid rate. We need to be better on third down. And as quarterbacks, we need to take some responsibility on that. So, there are definitely areas that he can improve on. I think he has thrown the ball as well as he has the last two weeks.”
(How much do you think the return of WR DeVante Parker or actually the impact of DeVante and WR Kenny Stills can benefit QB Ryan Tannehill?) – “Huge. You guys heard me say this: I think the key to quarterback play is going to be that 10 guys do their jobs and let him distribute the ball with a point guard mentality. So, when you get guys that you’ve played with and you trust, you know where they’re going to be on certain things and you know what they’re good at, that’s a big part of this. You know how Stills is going to come out of a route. You know how Parker is going to come out of a route. Just being on the same page is big asset for a quarterback.”
(WR Danny Amendola’s toughness. I really didn’t expect to see him out there on the field so early in the week. What have you learned about it?) – “The guy, he’s so competitive. He’s so tough. It’s all about team for him. Whatever he can do to help the team, he’s going to do. He’s very unselfish that way. If he can’t go, then he can’t go and he’ll be the first one to tell you; but he’s going to fight and claw and scratch to get out there, because it is about the team. He works his tail off and that competitive spirit we talked about five or six weeks ago just shows up with him all the time.”
