Jon Embree – January 5, 2023
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Thursday, January 5, 2023
Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Jon Embree
(Sort of an outside the box question. I’m just curious about TE Tanner Conner and your goals for him this offseason, since we probably aren’t going to speak to you again until May or August. Just what would you like to see as a growth area for him this offseason?) – “Just continue to be a student of the game, learn about some of the things from a run-blocking standpoint, scheme, understanding coverages. That’ll be something that I’ll try to work with all the guys in the offseason during OTAs, because a lot of the stuff that we need to do, we can’t do because of the way the rules are with the (NFL)PA and everything. So I try to use that time to just really teach the guys about football – coverages, fronts, why you’re getting this look, best way to attack, certain things like that. So that’s what I’ll be doing with him and, really, with all the guys.”
(One thing that’s fascinating about TE Hunter Long is he arrived here as a polished receiving tight end for Boston College. Now he’s been used in a lot of blocking packages. So what is TE Hunter Long? Is he a skilled receiver and blocker? What have you learned about him?) – “Well, it’s been quite a journey with Hunter Long. (laughter) We’ve had some interesting times. The thing I’ve learned about him, one, is football is important to him. So that’s good to know with him, because there were times I wondered about that. So football is important to him. He can be a pass catcher as well as a run blocker, and that’s obviously, as you know in our offense, that’s important if you want to be a major contributor and all that. Just really with him, it’s about staying healthy. He’s (had an) ankle sprain then he had the concussion. And it’s not something that I’m down on him for – it was out of his control and all that. But I think I’m looking forward to this offseason with him as well, just to see if Hunter can become that complete player for us.”
(You had just mentioned that at times wondered if football was important to TE Hunter Long. Is that something normal or why did you have that thought?) – “Why did I wonder that about him? I just sometimes wondered about preparation, how hard did he prepare. Part of it – it’s not his fault, it’s just getting to know people. That’s really the biggest thing with the first year when you’re coaching new people is just really getting to know what’s important to them, how they work, how they prepare, different things like that, do they have things going on off the field that can be a distractions, all that stuff. So it’s been a little process getting to know Hunter (Long) and it’s been a lot of fun, really, the last six weeks with him, dealing with him and all that. He’s handled – he’s gotten the short end of the stick a couple times and he’s handled it very well. Like I said, I’m excited to see what happens with him next year.”
(Just a quick follow up on a separate note, I hate to ask you kind of a year in review question, but when you look back at the tight end room that you have in San Francisco obviously with TE George Kittle, and then you kind of look at the work that you’ve done with this tight end room, do you think that you have, in terms of the skillset, you have the tight ends to maximize this offense? Because entering the year, we talked a lot about how important the tight end was, not only as a receiver but as a blocker and as an extension of the offensive line.) – “You want to know do we have – can that room, can we…?”
(Do you have the room or the tight end that maximizes this offense?) – “That’s a trick question – it’s yes and no. (laughter) I’m always looking to get competition going in my room. When I had (George) Kittle, I was trying to get people in there to compete with him as well. The No. 1 job as a coach, one of our top things to be an effective coach is you can never be satisfied. So I’m always looking for people to put in my rooms, no matter who’s in there. So I don’t know if that answers your question or anything.”
(What’s your honest assessment of TE Mike Gesicki, now that you’ve had 17/18th of a regular season with him in your offense?) – “My assessment as far as?”
(Overall.) – “It’s been up and down. It really has in our room in general. It’s been up and down between injuries. Mike (Gesicki) learning how to contribute without having the ball in his hand has been a process. I think it’s something that as we’ve continued to move forward that he’s gotten better at and has kind of embraced it as much as he can, that aspect of playing this position. But what we do in that room is really unique because you’ve got to pass block, run block and you go out for passes. When you’re asked to do those different things, sometimes those skills maybe aren’t as developed as they needed to be. Maybe they’re skills that are completely new, or maybe it’s just something that you can’t do. So for me, it’s just finding out what they can and can’t do and try to put them in those positions. Mike, I mean, everyone wants to talk about targets and all that stuff and plays and that’s not something that I’ve focused on, and I don’t feel like he has per se. Me and him have had conversations probably once a month just about what’s happened as far as his usage, how we can try to improve it and things that he needs to continue to work on and that’s what he’s done. We all know what Mike is as a pass catcher, there’s things that I would like him to get better at as a route runner, whether it’s zone or man releases, there’s always – there’s a lot that he can get better at, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. There’s a lot I can get better at. So I thought Mike has done a good job dealing with the different things, and you have the quarterback carousel going on too. So there’s a lot that goes on when you’re dependent on other people to get you the ball, when you’re dependent on certain coverages that we’re hoping to get to try to get you the ball and sometimes those things don’t go your way. It would have been easy for him to be very frustrated with it. It would be easy for him to try to be a cancer in the locker room and all that and he’s done none of that. So like I said, all those guys I’m pleased at how far they’ve come. We’ve got a long ways to still go.”
(To that point, what has your communication, your relationship with TE Mike Gesicki been like throughout the season?) – “I think it’s been good. I mean, you can ask him on it. I mean, we sit around, we laugh and joke. We’ve had very serious conversations. We’ve had very lighthearted conversations. One on one, I think it’s been good seeing the dynamic between him and Durham (Smythe). They’re like brothers. So I think having someone like Durham to help him through the tough times has added to his ability to focus on the next day, the next practice, the next play.”
(I think it’s probably obvious to anyone who follows the team that TE Mike Gesicki is likely going to get more money in a larger role elsewhere in free agency. If that indeed is the case, do you believe from the body of work that you’ve observed that TE Tanner Conner and TE Hunter Long are ready for more prominent roles with the Miami Dolphins next season?) – “They’ll have to be. (laughter) Unless you know anyone coming through the door. You’ve got to do it with what you’ve got. Whatever we do, that’s (Head Coach) Mike McDaniel, that’s (General Manager) Chris Grier, what we do in that room, as far as adding or subtracting and all that. My mindset is whoever you put in there, I’m just going to try to coach them and help them try to be the best version of themselves.”
(A question for you in your role as assistant head coach. We know this team is on a five-game losing streak and injury problems. You mentioned the quarterback carousel. Where are they mentally and what could get them to the best place mentally going into this game, whether it’s team meetings or coaches talking to them?) – “Sometimes you have to be careful. You can’t just (say), ‘Oh, let’s have player-only meeting. Let’s do this. Let’s do that.’ That, I think, adds to the problem. I think when you look at it, you got to look at it from the standpoint as a coach. I look at it is how are we losing and are we competitive? And bottom line, we’ve lost, like you said, five in a row. But we’ve been very competitive in those five. It’s been a bounce here or there. And as coach, sometimes you go back and you look at the games you won, how many games did we win because of a bounce here and there? Unfortunately, that’s football. I believe when you look at the 16 games that are played every week, 12 or 13 of them are going to come down to one score. It’s going to come down to two minutes. It’s going to come down to a field goal. It’s going to come down to a punt – whatever it is. Our guys have been right there and we just have not made the right play, made the right call as coaches, and that’s contributed to – that’s the reason why we’ve had five consecutive losses. The great thing about it is we get one more chance at it, and that’s all you can really, as a competitor (and) as a coach, is literally that 24-hour cycle. It’s like a corner – it’s like a pitcher that gives up on home run, whatever it is, you’ve got to think about the next pitch. You’ve got to think about the next game. And if you dwell on it, then that becomes a problem. So I think when you look at our team, yeah, we lost five in a row. But I think if you look at how they’ve competed, how they’ve continued to come out going to work, how the next guy up has come in and done the best that he can to try to help us win, whether it’s a practice squad guy, whether it’s a guy coming back – but everybody goes through that. Every team – you find a team that hasn’t had injuries, they haven’t played. (laughter) So everybody’s gone through this. For us as this organization, it’s trying to find a way to get that win on Sunday, and then we’ll see what happens.”
