Gailey Looking for More Consistency From Offense
Overshadowed by the Miami Dolphins quarterback switch from Tua Tagovailoa to Ryan Fitzpatrick on Sunday was the big-picture reason the change was made.
The offense really had a tough outing in the 20-13 loss against the Denver Broncos, and it clearly wasn't entirely Tagovailoa's fault.
There were issues in pass protection, in the running game and, yes, at quarterback.
So the more important step for the Dolphins moving forward, above and beyond anything else, is to develop some consistency on offense.
“Well, the problem right now is it's sporadic," Gailey said Tuesday morning during his weekly Zoom media session. "We go to Arizona, we play pretty good. Come out the next week, we play average. We don't play good at all this past week. We're inconsistent. So, there are some improvements. We’ve got to get better at keeping people off balance. That's part of what I got to do is keep them off balance. And we’ve got to continue to grow with the people that we have. We’ve got to keep trying to work with those guys and get them in a position to be successful.”
The Dolphins averaged more than 30 points in Tagovailoa's first three starts at quarterback, but the defense and special teams were responsible for five touchdowns in those three games (including a punt block and fumble return that gave the offense the ball at the opponent's 1-yard line).
But the yardage total simply hasn't been there.
The Dolphins have averaged 240 total yards in the past four games, this after averaging 354 yards in the six games that Fitzpatrick started.
The running game has had its two worst outings with Tua at quarterback, including a season-low 55 yards against the Rams and 56 yards against Denver.
Then there were the six sacks against Denver, though not all of them were on the offensive line.
"There's a fine line in there," Gailey said. "Sometimes you can hold it longer than you should. It's easy to say, 'Oh you should have thrown it.' He's seeing things and he's looking for things. Part of that's on receivers. We've got to do a better job of getting open at times and beating coverage. I've got to do a better job of calling plays, where he doesn't have to stand there and hold it waiting for guys to get down the field.
"It's a combination. Sometimes it's missed blocks or poor techniques. It's bad calls, it's him standing there and trying to figure it out. We've got to get better overall with that whole process. It hadn't been an issue. This week was really the first time it was an issue and hopefully we learn from that and we don't let that become an issue anymore."
What also has become an issue is receivers not creating enough separation, though Tagovailoa himself said after the Denver game that maybe he needs to be more aggressive with his decision-making.
"For me, a lot of the time I see guys who are covered, but they’re not necessarily covered, if that makes sense," Tagovailoa said. "Just being able to see a lot of what Fitz was doing when he got in, a lot of it was a learning lesson for me. Even when he came to the sideline I got to ask him questions too. It was really good.”
This is another area where there's a fine line, Gailey said, because throwing to a receiver who appears to be covered may be different depending on the receiver and/or the cornerback.
"If a guy is on the back hip of DeVante Parker, sometimes he's not covered," Gailey said. "You can throw it and he can make a play. If they're on the back hip or some other receiver, they might be covered. So I think it depends on the player. I think it depends on the DB. Is that a rookie out there that doesn't have speed and he’s even with somebody but we're getting ready to burst away? And I believe all this comes with experience to be able to go out there and see a guy, OK, he's even but he's open. Well, this guy's even but he might not be open.
"So I think you have to just keep working with the receivers, you have to keep working with the routes and you have to see it time after time after time to know, this guy's going to come open, I just gotta throw it in the spot and let him go get it. And then other times don't try to force the ball.
"That's a fine line. Hey, that's talking out of both sides of your mouth as an offensive coordinator. If it's complete, great job; if it's incomplete, ah, poor decision, you shouldn't have thrown it. That's easy to say. We've just got to help him get more comfortable with seeing things, more reps at it, and let him keep learning and getting better. Because if he knows that that's something that that he's looking at, that's an advantage for us because at least he knows. There are some guys that don't even know that."
