Dowell Loggains – October 4, 2018
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rsday, October 4, 2018
Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains
(With TE Mike Gesicki, can you recall over the first four games have there been a couple of times where maybe you intended to throw him the ball? At least that was the play call, but maybe he was covered tightly, maybe there was a problem with jamming at the line? Has that happened at all?) – “Yes, it has. There’s been a couple times – multiple times – that he’s been the primary receiver. A couple of games they were – what we refer to as ‘butching’ the tight end – hitting him off the ball or the safety was cheating him outside. A lot of times when you see 3×1 formations when he’s split out outside of the numbers, we treat that like he’s an X receiver and if you get one-on-one in the premiere – what we call picture – look, we’re going to take him. We haven’t gotten those, so the ball has gotten to other people.”
(As far as TE Mike Gesicki getting open and getting space from linebackers or whoever is on him, has that been an issue or do you think he’s doing generally a good job with that?) – “He’s done what we’ve asked of him to this point. Obviously, we have a lot of good playmakers on this roster and they’ve shown up in different times in different ways. We need to continue to get the ball distributed, but there’s only one rock and we have a bunch of talented players that have unique skillsets. Sometimes, one guys is going to have the hot hand, he’s going to get it more than … Next week it’s going to be someone else.”
(What’s it going to take to get more consistency on offense. I think all 10 of QB Ryan Tannehill’s drives were five plays or fewer. Just getting those first downs to get you going.) – “We made a big emphasis the last couple weeks of making the first first down, making the first play of the game, getting explosive pass, a 20-yard gain, so it’s really like two first downs. But the story of the game really comes down to third down. We have to do a better job converting those third downs. Playing 40-something plays in any game is not acceptable. The only way you do that is you continue to go first down, second down, first down, or when you get in third down, you have to convert on those situations. How do you do that? Well, you have to stay in third-and-2-to-6 and you can’t have penalties, you can’t have negative plays that bump you out of that. Three of the five first series of the game, we have two penalties and we drop a snap. That’s kind of the story of the game and it got away from us, this last one, 17-0, at that point versus a good team on the road.”
(I know third-and-longs are tough, but teams do find a way to pick those up. Have you guys looked at what’s been going wrong in those third-and-longs?) – “There’s multiple. It’s not one thing. If you look across the league, you start looking at third-and-8 plus, those percentages aren’t high. Third-and-12, a lot of people aren’t converting that. You’re probably hitting around 30 percent I’m guessing max, the good teams are. It’s always … It’s never just one thing. It’s pass pro and that can tie into the quarterback moving off the spot when he should sit there or picking up a gain or chipping when we’re supposed to chip or receivers hitting their depth where they’re supposed to be or getting off press coverage. There’s multiple things that go into that.”
(I know when you have 45 plays on offense, that limits everyone across the board. Within that, how do you want RB Kenyan Drake and RB Frank Gore sharing? What’s supposed to be regardless of how many snaps on offense?) – “I think it depends individually on each game and who’s got the hot hand. I’ve been part of this before with good players with Chris Johnson and LenDale White. Chris Johnson rushed for 2,000 yards and LenDale White led the league in touchdowns. Those things happen. In games, obviously, we don’t go into it with a number like, ‘We want to get this guy this many catches, this many touches.’ Sometimes it changes. Frank Gore is a really good player and so is Kenyan. Kenyan is a really good player in the run game and the pass game. He needs to be a big part and he will be a big focal part of the offense going forward. Each week it will be different.”
(What have you learned about C Travis Swanson since he’s been here?) – “It’s early. When he came in, he did a good job for us. It’s still early enough to where we’re confident he can do what’s asked of him. He’s got NFL starts and got NFL experience, which helps a ton.”
(How would you evaluate how you guys are doing against press coverage?) – “I don’t think we did as well as we should’ve last week. I think it’s something we need to continue to work on. We have guys that can do it and it just comes down to executing technique and the proper fundamentals. It’s an area we need to improve this week.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said just got out physicaled at the line of scrimmage. Do you think that alone with make a difference or do you think there’s technique and assignment stuff?) – “I think the big part of that is the message to the guys we need to execute better. Playing together … Obviously, nicks on the offensive line affect that when you have to come in and you’ve got two new starters – a guy that we were able to pick up that got cut from the Jets and comes to our squad and he’s been here for a very short time working together. In pass pro, it’s a unit. It’s the quarterback, the offensive line, tight ends, running backs being on the same page. As they play together, it’ll continue to improve.”
(Do you guys have first-down plays and third-down plays?) – “Yes, sir.”
(So do you evaluate your first down plays and say ‘Okay, these four weeks these first-down plays haven’t worked. Maybe we should throw in some third-down plays and first-down plays and vice versa?’) – “We self-scout every week. The way we talk about it in terms of efficiency, like what have we done that’s been efficient in the run game and the pass game and pass protection, and conceptually what have we been good at. We do have a unique set of skill guys and everyone has a little bit of different skill and trying to put those guys in those situations to succeed. There are certain things the quarterbacks or each back does well. We self-scout hard. We do have separate third-down plays if the defense dictates that, if they play different coverages. Sometimes they play more man, so it’s going to be more man-beaters. Just because we have it in the third down section, it can be called on first and second down as well. And that stuff did happen. When we get in the game and the game gets lopsided like last week, we started calling some third-down stuff on first and second down.”
(On Monday, Head Coach Adam Gase said a couple of receivers were open a lot. He mentioned WR Jakeem Grant was one of those guys. So if they’re not the first read, but they’re open a lot, what’s supposed to happen?) – “Jakeem did a really good job. Obviously, the stats didn’t say that, but he did a really good job in press, getting off, getting clean (releases). It’s the same thing. It’s the offensive line protecting, it’s the quarterback not throwing the ball on time or not moving into pressure and doing those things. There are so many different things that it’s hard for me to answer that question. Sometimes they’re number one in the progression, sometimes they’re not. Sometimes we call a play for Cover 1 for Jakeem and it’s Cover 2, so the ball goes to someone else. There’s a lot of different things that go into that.”
(When the holes aren’t open in the run game, how do you manufacture a running game or touches for your backs?) – “That’s a really good question, because sometimes the game is played … Early in games, it can be tougher to get started, but that’s why when you convert on third down and you’re able to stay on the field and you give those guys more attempts at running it, then you start to get going and going the right direction with the run game. Converting third downs helps you call more runs. I know the narrative right now is being better on third down, which is going to help a lot of different things. It’s sticking with the run, but the only way you can stick with the run is if you convert third downs, so you have more shots on first and second down to run the football.”
