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George Godsey – December 3, 2019 Download PDF version

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Tight Ends Coach George Godsey

(I wanted to ask you about TE Mike Gesicki. I know that you weren’t here last year, but his rookie year probably didn’t go as well as he had wanted it to go, but this year it seems like he’s starting to grow into his own in his role. What type of stuff did you guys work on with him this offseason to get him to where he is at this point?) – “Any first year player is going to go through some bumps the first year. Just showing him on tape that we could be better at releases, we could be better at route stems, we could be better at the top of the route, we can communicate better with our teammates – the quarterback specifically – we can catch the ball more before and after practice. To his credit, he’s accepted all of that. He’s worked hard. He’s taken countless reps in practice to improve his traits. I’m happy that he’s able to go out there and perform.”

(I saw the play that TE Mike Gesicki had last week where he is jumping into the defender. It looked like he’s – obviously, he can jump a lot, but you see him jumping a lot. What do you think when you see that?) – “I’m a big UFC guy and that was a brutal move. (laughter)”

(It’s good TE Mike Gesicki didn’t get penalized for it.) – “I don’t know if that’s what – I don’t know if he was trying to take it to that level or what he was doing. (laughter) I know he’s a good jumper, but not in this sport. Maybe along the sideline or something like, but I don’t like it dead center of the field with every defensive players converging on you. It didn’t make a lot of sense. I’d like him to protect the football next time. (laughter)”

(I see TE Mike Gesicki sometimes on the sideline and it seems like he has this ball of energy with him whether he’s – I see him throwing the ball back and forth or he’s running and down the sideline or something. How do you channel that into good energy on the field?) – “I just let him play. He’s fun to be around. The whole room; I love the room. It’s enjoyable for me as a coach to go in there with everybody in there. He enjoys playing; they all do. I think that’s all their personalities. Just let them be who they are.”

(What do you think TE Mike Gesicki’s ceiling is when you get into the next offseason and build him up to – where do you think he can be as a player long term?) – “We’ve still got four more games for him to improve each game. There’s things in each week that I have a list of them for him to improve, whether it’s finishing to the whistle, whether it’s being better at the top of the route, it could be in the run game, it could be some things mentally that we may have missed during the game. I still think that he’s growing. I’d like to see him keep improving those things the next month of the season.”

(TE Durham Smythe, we’ve seen progress. I just wanted to ask you where he is of course your expectations what kind of year he’s had?) – “He’s had a good year and I think he’s performed in some of the roles that we’ve given him, some more in normal downs than third down. Mike (Gesicki) kind of has that third-down role right now; but we’re mixing all of them. Clive (Walford) was in there this past game and he performed well. So did Chandler (Cox) in his role. They’ve all got a role during the game. I’d like to see him more if we could. Sometimes we end up getting into a passing game and Mike is out there. That’s kind of how it’s been the last couple of weeks.”

(We know TE Durham Smythe was a really good college blocker at Notre Dame. Has he been a good NFL blocker at this point?) – “Yeah. He’s had his ups and downs, but more ups and he’s been working on it. This year he’s put on I’d say 20 pounds from the end of last year, so that’s helped him. He’s understanding the offense. He does a good job with his details and knowing his assignments. There haven’t been many missed assignments. That gives him a start and then as far as executing at the point of attack, a lot of times the runs are directed at him. So it’s either point of attack blocks, sometimes pulling, sometimes cutting off the back side. He’s had multiple assignments that he’s performed well throughout the year.”

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