Shane Day – July 29, 2018
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Sunday, July 29, 2018
Tight Ends Coach Shane Day
(Tell me how the rookies are doing.) – “They’re doing good. They’re right on progress. They’re working hard. I think all of the work they’ve done in the spring I see coming into fruition right now in practice, so it’s good. They’re still putting in a lot of work. There’s still more plays coming, there’s still more practices; but they’re handling it very well.”
(How much of the playbook have you guys thrown at them so far?) – “We’re pretty much into it. I’d say probably 80 percent of the playbook. So most of it’s in. We kind of try to get most of the installs in about this time in practice and training camp.”
(And of that, how often are they right?) – “A very high percentage. I’ve been really impressed with their knowledge of the offense. There’s been very few mistakes across the board by all of the tight ends, including the rookies.”
(That’s awesome.) – “Yes, it’s exciting.”
(TE Mike Gesicki kind of showed up a little bit today more. Would you agree with that?) – “Yes. We were in the red zone today, so he had a couple of opportunities and he really showed up. He did a nice job. I think the whole training camp, he’s been doing the right things, getting in the right places, kind of learning how to run routes and all of the details with the quarterbacks. I think today it kind of all came together for him, so it was good. We’ll keep trying to stack those days on top of each other.”
(The state of TE Mike Gesicki’s blocking to this point, you would assess him how? How effective has he been? How much room for growth?) – “Yes, he’s right on track. He’s really improved from the spring. We just put on pads, and he’s right where I’d expect him to be as a rookie; but I’m very pleased with where he’s at right now. He’s in a really good position.”
(Even though you’ve only been, obviously, in tops for a couple of days, is there enough physicality there with TE Mike Gesicki?) – “Oh yes, absolutely. That’s not a concern at all. That was the thing; you come into training camp without the pads on and you don’t know, but he’s been great in that area. He’s very physical, he likes contact and I’m very pleased with where he’s at blocking.”
(Have you and Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke ever talked at all, and obviously Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains will be involved, in terms of giving TE Mike Gesicki a lot of blitzing looks, both he and TE Durham Smythe, to see how they respond to blitz pickup?) – “Yes, so (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase does a good job of organizing walkthroughs and practices, so those guys get all the looks they need, whether they’re blitz or other looks throughout the entire course of training camp. With our defense – there’s enough with Coach Burke like you mentioned – that we’re going to kind of see everything we need to see. So yes, absolutely.”
(Did TE Mike Gesicki have to do much blitz pickup at Penn State? Obviously, he was primarily running routes there.) – “Right. Yes, that’s been kind of new to him. But like I said, he’s kind of taking in the blocking, both in pass protection and in the run game, and I’m really pleased with where he’s at.”
(Is TE Mike Gesicki exactly as advertised as a receiver? Any aspect of that part of his game that surprised you?) – “No, I think he’s exactly as advertised. He made a lot of plays at Penn State and I think we saw the plays that he’s making today, and I think he’s just getting used to the speed of the NFL. We’re asking him to do different techniques that are a little different here than what he did in college and I think he’s adjusting to it well.”
(With the two new tight ends and TE A.J. Derby arriving in the middle of last season, TE MarQueis Gray is a guy who’s kind of getting overlooked a little bit. How valuable is he, and partly just because there’s so many things he can do?) – “I think you hit on it. That’s the key, his versatility. He can play the inline tight end, he can flex out, he does a lot of stuff on special teams, he can play the fullback, he did that a little bit last year. So his versatility lets us kind of move the other guys around, and it’s very valuable. I mean I can’t tell you how valuable it is. It’s just, it’s crucial.”
(You have – it’s my word, not yours – you have realistically at least four could-be starters for you at some point this year. Does that jumble of not really knowing specifically who’s going to start, or even having it down to two, does that cause you any stress or is this exciting new frontier for you having so many people realistically competing?) – “I think we’re really fortunate. I feel like all six tight ends, if we needed them to play in a game, could play in a game. They’re all kind of working on different things. We’re kind of moving them around with the one’s, the two’s and the three’s and giving them different experiences and exposures; but I’m really pleased with all of those guys. I feel like they’re all … We’d be lucky to have them playing on an NFL roster. I feel like they’re all NFL tight ends. ”
(The one guy who is almost never mentioned is TE Gavin Escobar, who is a former second-round pick. What have you seen from him?) – “He’s doing a great job. We were very lucky to get him. Especially in our situation, he’s able to play kind of all those spots. I think in some other places he’s been, he’s played primarily the F; but we have him kind of playing the Y, so he’s got a lot of versatility. He’s really helping out and doing a great job. We’re really lucky to have him because, the experience as you mentioned, that’s huge for us. He helps with the young guys as well.”
(What does TE MarQueis Gray do best?) – “His versatility. His ability to do everything well. He doesn’t necessarily have the same height and jumping skills that you see with (Mike) Gesicki. You don’t necessarily see him … For us, he’s a point-of-attack blocker, as well. So he’s good at pass protection, he’s good at special teams, he’s good at run blocking and he’s good at the routes, and the ability to do all of those things allows us to put him wherever we want, which is awesome – wherever he can help the team out any given week. He’s a tough matchup.”
(I know it’s awfully early to ask because you’ve only been in pads a couple of days, but has the blocking skill that we saw from TE Durham Smythe at Notre Dame been able to carry over yet here? Have you seen the same quality of blocking?) – “Yes, absolutely. It’s all a work in progress, like you alluded to there; but I’m very pleased with where he’s at right now in the blocking department and in the routes.”
(Is TE Durham Smythe what you thought he was as a receiver, because I know you all valued him more as a receiver than maybe some others did because he didn’t have a lot of chances?) – “Yes, the production element that you pointed to. Yes, he’s doing exactly what we kind of saw on the film. When he had opportunities, he had good hands. He had good catches in traffic and he’s doing the same thing here.”
(Do you think TE AJ Derby’s absence is short term given his medical diagnosis? Is your sense that he’ll be back very soon?) – “Yes, I mean everything is day-to-day, and as you know, Coach Gase can answer questions on injuries, but we’re gathering information on all that stuff.”
(TE A.J. Derby’s been interesting to me. I almost feel like I’ve got to ask you if he’s good, because we haven’t seen much of him and you’ve seen a lot of him. What is he, what does he have?) – “The first thing is he’s very intelligent. He’s a former quarterback, so he knows the entire offense and can play all the different spots. I think his value, you really see it when he’s outside running routes, and he’s just good enough as a blocker that if defenses play him a certain way, we can run the ball, but we can also flex him out and get matchup issues as well. So he’s got that flexibility. But yes, primarily as a receiver is his strong point, and we’re working on blocking. I’m really pleased with where he’s at in his blocking right now.”
(TE A.J. Derby doesn’t have that incredible physical set that TE Mike Gesicki was born with.) – “It’s like a niftiness.”
(But do you see TE A.J. Derby competing, do you see him being right there with TE Mike Gesicki as far as going forward for that role?) – “Well, they all kind of have different roles. I don’t see them as the same role; but we’ll see how it plays out over training camp because we’re really in the early stages, and I don’t like to put kind of ceilings or limits on guys. We’ll see where they develop. They both have some things that are similar. They both catch the ball well and they both have pretty good speed, and then we’ll see. Like I mentioned, right now A.J. is more nifty. He has a better understanding of space and how to run routes and all that stuff, and Mike is really young. But, they’re both moving in that right direction and we’ll keep moving with them.”
(Does every tight end run reps with the first team during training camp?) – “Yes, we kind of mix all of those guys in.”
(Is that done on merit or is that just a policy, you just want to get a look?) – “So there’s a lot of different things going on there. As a coaching staff, we kind of have guys develop at different rates. Sometimes we want to put them in to see a certain play, a specific play. Other times, we want to get primarily the ones with the ones when we’re working with Ryan (Tannehill); but we mix them in there so they all get kind of what they need and they’re all in different places. Like Gesicki we mentioned needs some more reps with blocking so he’ll get some blocking plays, but we’ll also use him in the receiving game. So kind of just mix it up.”
(With as tough of a position as it is to learn – it’s probably more difficult to be a rookie NFL tight end than a rookie NFL running back – how realistic is it to have even a high draft pick be a starter on day one, or is that awfully difficult? Because some fans will judge TE Mike Gesicki unfairly maybe if he’s not the starter from opening day.) – “I think it just depends on the individual. As a coaching staff, we kind of let the thing play out – the whole process over training camp – and each individual is different. So far, he’s handled everything we’ve given him, so we’re very hopeful, and we’ll just kind of take it step by step.”
