Robby Brown – October 6, 2020
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Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Quarterbacks Coach Robby Brown
(Just a very general basic question. What stood out to you after reviewing the film about QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s performance in the last game?) – “As you watch the game – I think that’s the great thing about this organization, the coaches, the players that ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) has put together – as you watch the game, you’re looking at, ‘what could I have done better in certain situations? How could I have helped more?’ But I think Ryan (Fitzpatrick) addressed his play after the game, and as the quarterback you get all the credit and all the blame. I think my focus is more on how I can do better. I think he made some good plays, made some throws that there were times that we all could have done better; but I think that’s what stood out to me is I was looking at maybe how I could have helped more in certain situations, maybe in the red zone or something like that – helped him or (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) more or whatever. I think everybody kind of looks inward to start with and that was my focus watching the game.”
(How is QB Tua Tagovailoa coming along in his development? It’s been a little while since we talked to you about it. How is he doing kind of behind QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and with just learning the offense and kind of getting more comfortable?) – “I think he continues to improve every day. He comes in, he works hard from a mental perspective. He works hard from a physical perspective. He’s sitting under a really smart guy right now that helps him out. Like I’ve said in the past – I know I’m not saying anything new to you guys – but ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is very open to helping him. Just different things that he’s learned over 16 years under center, so that helps a lot. I think he asks good questions. He asks good questions during the game sitting there listening to the play. Then when we come over and look at the pictures, he asks good questions, so I think his development – I’ve been pleased with it so far. It’s just keep doing what he’s doing and going in to prepare every single day. He’s done a good job with that.”
(I’m kind of looking for an education here as well as a question for you about the offensive line. I know you coach the quarterbacks room, but the quarterback’s responsible for the entire offense for the most part, right? So I’m curious with regards to the offensive line performance, how do you guys approach evaluating what the offensive line affords you to do in that quarterback room? Does it change based on the way they protect and the way they block as far as how you kind of coach those guys?) – “We have parameters set up so that the offensive line kind of tries to know where we’re going to be. Are we going to be setting up here? Are we going to be setting up here? And there’s a lot of communication that goes on. I remember my first year as a quality control in New York. I sat in on one of the player meetings with the offensive line. They would meet – I can’t remember what day it was – but that was my first go at it. I was maybe three months into the NFL and it was amazing the communication between the center and quarterback. Then the center’s communication to everybody else. So I think it’s very important that those guys are on the same page. They spend a lot of time talking to each other – center, quarterback, everybody talking about different things that are going to happen in the game, this protection versus this player, this protection versus this player or this defense. I think it’s very important that we’re all on the same page; so yeah, it does have an impact and there’s constant communication between those groups as to what they can handle, what they can’t, that kind of stuff.”
(I wanted to see if you could kind of take us maybe into what a week or day is like for a backup quarterback and what you sort of ask from him given that QB Ryan Fitzpatrick may have a little bit more responsibility in the game plan?) – “I would say that it’s very similar. Obviously it’s not the same. To sit here and say it’s 100 percent exactly the same – that would be a textbook answer for you. But I would say you go through – there’s obviously less reps for a backup quarterback – but they come in and they go through the same checklist of watching personnels, watching situations, watching all their defensive personnel. That’s kind of what we start with – what’s the defensive personnel, what are they going to try do? Watch the personnels that are going to be in the game plan. Then you watch the situational football and you try to get all that stuff together, and then towards the end of the week, you look at all that stuff and everybody starts seeing what they’ve got in the game plan; but I would say it’s very similar to a starter. You want them to be prepared to go in and do the exact same things with fewer reps, so you have to do it from a mental perspective. Standing back there, you hear the call in practice as the backup quarterback and you go through the reads, so you have to get every single mental rep that you can possibly get. Whether it’s walkthrough, 7-on-7, whatever the drill may be, you have to get the mental rep and then get your throws in other areas and go through them. It may not be a live rep that you get that throw, but you try to work each individual route at some point and you may throw that individual route to somebody that may not be running it during the game, but you try to get that mental aspect of it and the physical aspect of it.”
(You obviously have a Hall of Fame quarterback in your front office and various Dolphins quarterbacks have said over the years that Dan Marino has at times sat in on quarterback meetings and exchanged ideas. Has he done that much with you and your group this year and has he helped QB Tua Tagovailoa much?) – “I would say that obviously Dan (Marino) is a huge part of this organization and when I first got here, as I was here and there wasn’t hardly anybody in the office – I had just gotten hired, and somebody knocked on my door. You know when somebody knocks on your door, you don’t expect to turn around and it be a Hall of Famer sitting there you know, because I was looking at my computer. (laughter) So I turned around and it was Dan and he sat down, talked with me, talked about who my family was, that kind of stuff and just said, ‘hey man, I’m here if you have any questions.’ He has sat in on some of our meetings and does, and he’s always a great resource to have around. He’s a great human being and obviously was a great player, but he’s been extremely nice to me and it’s been a great situation just to get to know him. I know I’ve picked his brain on some things, so why wouldn’t you with that guy being around the organization and he’s great to have around.”
