Mike Gesicki – October 7, 2020
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Wednesday, October 7, 2020
TE Mike Gesicki
(This is going to sound weird. I’m color blind but changes in color do stand out to me and your hair looks blonder. Is it blonder because you dyed it or…) – “This is strictly a result of the sun. This is all natural. I can guarantee that; but I do appreciate you guys noticing. The sun’s been doing me some good.”
(So your hair gets blonder when you’re exposed to more sun?) – “Correct. That is correct. I also did get a haircut, so a whole 180 going on over here.”
(The same phenomenon happens to me. I understand completely.) – “Absolutely.”
(On a completely unrelated note – QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is the starter Week 5. When you heard the news, were you encouraged? Surprised? What were your thoughts?) – “I wasn’t surprised. When we made ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) the starter in Week 1, obviously you’re expecting him to be the starter throughout the entire season. I’m happy to have him back there and just got to keep rolling.”
(So you had eight catches for 130 yards and a touchdown against the Bills. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick tells you to keep growing your facial hair after the game. You have one catch against the Jags and one catch against the Seahawks last week, so what are you telling Fitzpatrick about your beard and you not getting the ball enough?) – “At a deeper dive, I don’t know if there’s a correlation. Initially, we were going for the superstition. It didn’t exactly turn out to be very super, so decided to move on from it.”
(How is it like in the locker room? Obviously you guys probably see on social what the talk is about QB Tua Tagovailoa and the quarterback situation. What’s it like in the locker room seeing that type of stuff and just kind of everybody going on a whim of what they think?) – “It’s really not talked about amongst the guys. Not to just call it what it is, but it’s really more talked amongst you guys and people are interested and all that kind of stuff, so it is what it is; but we’re rolling with ‘Fitz’ right now.”
(We just spoke to WR Lynn Bowden Jr. I kind of want to ask about him and we saw Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey reveal the Wildcat once in the last game. What’s it like as an offensive player to be able to have that in your back pocket and maybe keep the defense on your toes when you have players like him and a guy like WR Malcolm Perry and the like?) – “Yeah, we’ve definitely got some guys that are super talented in terms of getting the ball in their hands in the Wildcat. Another guy I’d like to see back in the Wildcat is probably Durham (Smythe). I think he would probably do some good things back there – a little read option, maybe throw the ball a little bit. So maybe we can work that in. (laughter) But all joking aside – I would never do that with Durham – there’s a lot of talented guys that are back there in terms of Malcolm and Lynn and those kind of guys and the coaches are doing a good job putting them in a position to be successful. When you’re talented with the ball in your hands, you’re going to be put in a position like that.”
(I was going to ask you about RB Matt Breida’s strengths, but is it – did TE Durham Smythe have more catches than you in the last game?) – “Yes. Yes, he did. I think it’s a big strength of his. I think it’s something – I was happy for him and he made the most of his opportunities. So that’s my guy.”
(What about RB Matt Breida? What do you think he has the ability to do?) – “Matt (Breida) is really fast, so once you get the ball in his hands and you can kind of create some openings for him and give him an opportunity to go out and make some plays; I think you were able to see that this past Sunday whether it was hand the ball to him or some check-downs and some guys trying to get some space blocks for him and get him down the field. So I think he was another example of a guy just doing a good job making the most of his opportunities.”
(The QB Ryan Fitzpatrick forward pass that got called back – that was obviously to you and probably could’ve been a moment where you get a catch and kind of get going there. Is it hard for you or do you think it’s hard for any of the other players on offense to get going when you guys are spreading the ball around so much to so many players?) – “No. I think that’s just the name of the game. I think the other day, DeVante (Parker) was hot, so you feed the hot hand. He was another example of a guy that the ball is thrown to him and he’s making plays, so just keep going to him. So I think we’ve got a bunch of talented guys on the offensive side of the football – whether it’s at running back, tight end, receiver, quarterback, whatever it is – and whenever the ball does come your way, you’ve got to make the most of your opportunities. I think that that’s something I that I harp on the most, just because you don’t know when the opportunities are going to come. You don’t know how many opportunities are going to present themselves, so you better be ready to make the most of them.”
