Josh Grizzard – August 20, 2020
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Thursday, August 20, 2020
Wide Receivers Coach Josh Grizzard
(I wanted to ask you about WR Isaiah Ford and a comment that QB Ryan Fitzpatrick made last December about his knowledge of the offense – went as far as to call him “special” in the way he prepares and studies. Can you tell us what you see from Isaiah Ford in terms of a preparation standpoint and how he’s able to really absorb the offense so comprehensively?) – “Isaiah is a very, very smart football player. He completely understands not only his job, but the guy beside him. He might even be able to tell you what the o-line is doing. He might tell you what the protection is. He knows that because he studies it. He loves the game. I could see this guy coaching one day down the line, and he does have elite knowledge of what we’re doing, what his role is and he’s just a joy to be around because he understands it from our level.”
(I was talking to my editor yesterday. I said, “what do you want me to write about? More Tua? More DeVante Parker?” He goes, “no, I need a story on WR Mack Hollins’ hair.” So I need your assessment, your evaluation, of what Mack has going on up top.) – “(laughter) That’s also an elite – I don’t want to categorize it into something – but it’s special. I don’t even know how he really puts the helmet on once we get out there. (laughter) It’s like an added layer of cushion. We have these spaced out desks and things in the wide receiver room and from my angle, I can’t even see him, but I can see the hair above his little cubicle-type deal. It’s pretty cool, but whatever floats his boat.”
(I don’t have a hair question, but on WR DeVante Parker, obviously you got to work with him in your role last year and now you’re running that room. We get to see him – I know health has been the big thing for him and now it seems like as he’s pushing past that plateau, what’s your next focus on him and reaching I guess that next level? I know he wants to be great, but what’s that next focus once you get past staying healthy?) – “The fact that he was healthy last year and had all of that success, it’s beautiful to see this year that he’s now more vocal. You can tell that’s coming along. The first couple weeks of camp – really the same thing – and guys gravitate to that. The young guys that are around, they see that. They see the way he works. He now understands I think more than ever that not only is your job to get open and catch the ball, but if it’s a concept that you need to go get doubled or you need to be in this spot to open it up for the next guy, he understands that side of it, too. I think he understands defenses more than ever; so just seeing him take those strides has been good.”
(Now that you’ve seen WR Matt Cole for a few days, could you talk specifically about the skillset there – what does he do well? And then when you’re done with him, if you could address the same question with WR Gary Jennings please.) – “Matt – it’s been good to actually get a chance to work with him and get to the point where we’re putting the pads on. What you see from Matt is Matt is a strong player. He’s an explosive guy. He can get in and out of breaks quickly and we’ve been able to see that over the last few practices on the field. Just seeing that in person and really the same thing of going from talking about this thing on Zoom to getting on the field and doing it has been good. Then to Gary, Gary is a tough player. He’s physical. A lot of the same things where sometimes he’d rather run through a guy than around him, so it’s good to see that aspect of the game as well.”
(I asked Quarterbacks Coach Robby Brown this question. I’m going to ask the same of you. You were born in 1990, I believe…) – “Yes, sir.”
(When you look at Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey and the wealth of experience he has – and he was actually coaching in the NFL before you were born – when you see him, do you see an energetic guy that just loves this game?) – “Absolutely, and the wealth of knowledge that he has, as coaches, we just sit around every time we’re watching film or we’re going through players that he says something, I’m writing it down, I’m adding it to this list or that list, ‘oh, that’s a great point’ – because what he has an innate ability to do is take things that are complex and say, ‘this is exactly how we want it.’ And so being able to then pass that along to the players, I think is invaluable; so the times that I’ve been around him over these past, let’s call it seven or eight months, has been invaluable, being able to again, pass that back on to the receivers. He clearly has a passion for the game and has had a ton of success. He’s great to be around day-in and day-out.”
(Obviously your unit took a little bit of a hit when WR Allen Hurns and WR Albert Wilson opted out. Where do you feel like you are depth-wise with this group once you get past WR Preston Williams and WR DeVante Parker?) – “I think we’re in a good place. These guys – the ones that have had to fill that void – as of now we’re still moving guys around; but again, I think that we’re in a good spot. I coach the guys that are there and we prepare them for each practice, as we work towards Week 1. It’s something that right now, we can move guys around and see what the best fit is, see where – does this highlight what he does well? Or okay, that didn’t look great so let’s move around to the next guy; but I’m happy with the group. These guys work. They’ve been blocking in the run game and that’s always great to see as well, so I’m happy with where we’re at.”
(We got a taste last year of WR Preston Williams and it was exciting to see him play when he was playing for those seven games before the injury. Now we’ve seen him again. Where do you think his development is at this point going into the 2020 season?) – “I think that he’s really just focused on the last few months of just getting back to where he was and now that he’s working towards that, it’s how can I run this route slightly differently or if I’m seeing this coverage – same thing to the point I was making about DeVante (Parker) and really the rest of the group – it’s not always me, ‘I’ve got to go beat this guy, but let me be in this spot so that this play is effective so the Dolphins move the ball down the field.’ I think he sees that more. He’s seeing more defenses. He’s just putting that in his mind on cataloguing like, ‘okay, I can reach back to this some point down the line on I’ve had that experience.’ He’s done a good job with that and just getting that feel for it has been his main thing.”
