Sam Navarro - USA Today Sports
Tuesday Dolphins Mailbag: Running Game, Gesicki's Role, the Great Mystery of Tua's First Pass, and More
Part 1 of a post-Week 1 victory SI Fan Nation All Dolphins mailbag:
From Reza Hariri (@Therealrezpect1):
Looking forward to seeing Dolphins O evolve. Do you see Gesicki being a weapon as a big slot in RPO game? In 21 personnel, they can flex him. Also saw Patriots do that on their tosses yesterday got TEs blocking corner.
Hey Reza, what’s going to happen with Mike Gesicki obviously is going to be a hot topic moving forward. I certainly don’t expect him to have one target every week the way he did against New England, but it’s also pretty clear he’s not likely to have a feature role in the offense, either. I think this is going to be something that changes from week to week.
From Anthony Berardo (@berardo_anthony):
Are the Dolphins in the vet market for O-line help now that week 1 has passed? The right side looked like an issue once AJ went down. And run game nonexistent. Tua needs that to thrive. Anyone good out there?
Hey Anthony, I would not expect the Dolphins to make a move for an offensive lineman at this time, even in light of the injury to Austin Jackson, the severity of which remains unknown. My expectation is that the Dolphins very well might elevate Larnel Coleman from the practice squad for the Baltimore game if Jackson can’t play. One issue with adding a veteran is there’s just nobody available without some kind of issue, whether it be injury history or scheme fit.
From Lloyd Heilbrunn (@LloydHeilbrunn):
Since I asked a Byron Jones question last time, I'll follow up with another: Why did he wait until March for his surgery? Is Ryan Tannehill his hero or something?
Hey Lloyd, that’s a great question, but the media hasn’t spoken to Jones since he had his surgery, so we haven’t had the chance to ask him. It’s possible he was hoping to avoid surgery and delayed it until he realized he had no choice, but there also could be some contract-related issues at play here.
From Eric (@kindsir15):
Looking back on the game as a whole, does a certain play or two (positive or negative) stand out in your head, and why?
Hey Eric, since it’s too easy to go with the obvious of the Ingram and Waddle touchdowns, which both were among my Five Biggest Plays story, let me try to give one on each side that maybe wasn’t so obvious. On the positive side, I’ll go with Alec Ingold’s 2-yard run on third-and-1 just because it was so different to see the Dolphins have a fullback run the ball, and on the negative side, I’ll go with the 17-yard completion from Mac Jones to Nelson Agholor on third-and-11 late in the first quarter when Nik Needham and Elijah Campbell both allowed themselves to get pinned inside, allowing New England an easy conversion off a really short pass.
From Fins Family Podcast (@FinsFamilyPod):
Should Kader Kohou get more playing time - and is he on the verge of challenging Needham’s spot?
Hey FFP, Kader definitely should have earned himself additional playing time with his impact performance against New England, but I think it’s premature to say he’s on the verge of challenging Nik Needham’s spot. A big key here will be consistency, and we can’t say for sure that Kohou will be consistent off just one game.
From Luke Fader (@lukefader):
How concerning is it the offense was only able to score 13 points in week 1?
From Lets Go Find (@LetsGoFinz):
How concerning is it that the offense only scored 1 TD?
Hey there, I combined the two questions because they’re pretty much the same, and I would answer that “concerning” is too strong a word. Is it a lower-than-ideal total? Absolutely. But also remember that it came with the offense not committing a turnover and often moving the ball enough to pin New England back. So in this game the offense was complementary, and there will be times when that won't be enough. It’s also absolutely fair to say expectations moving forward are that the offense will be more prolific, but again I wouldn’t go for “concerning” just yet.
From Mad doggo (@Dogadoodle72):
How big of a concern is the lack of run game, I know it’s only the first game against a good defense, but this offense is supposed to be predicated on the run?
Hey Mad, my answer is the same as the previous one in that it wasn’t ideal, but it’s way too early to start worrying about it. If we’re having this same conversation in 2-3 weeks, then it’ll be time for major concern.
From mikethewreck (@mgcroteau):
Should Hunter Henry have chipped Brandon Jones before running his route instead of allowing him a free run at Mac Jones for the strip/sack TD?
Hey Mike, that kinda sounds like a question for a Patriots writer, no? But I’ll gladly address it. The whole key to this play, as it appeared to me, was that the Pats literally never saw Jones coming. He was lined up 5 yards past the line of scrimmage in kind of a linebacker spot and Melvin Ingram was lined up as the edge guy, and that’s who left tackle Trent Brown focused on at the snap after Jones came up to the line at the last minute. And Hunter Henry also never saw Jones creeping up and just ran right by him. I couldn’t tell you whether Henry just flubbed on blitz pick-up responsibilities there, though it sure looked as though he was going out into the pattern regardless.
From Marco A Fuentes Vera (@mar_quillo):
What do you expect regarding the run game? I think some plays was on the RB and others on the O Line.
Hey Marco, I expect the running game to keep getting better as the season progresses, though maybe everybody needs to keep their expectations realistic when it comes to it instead of looking at some of the best seasons the 49ers had with Mike McDaniel on the staff and automatically assume a replica. As for the game Sunday, I honestly don’t recall any instance where I thought the running back made a tactical error that cost him yards.
From JT (@JeffT32Phins):
Reason why Flowers was inactive? Haven’t seen the answer anywhere, unless I missed it.
Hey JT, McDaniel was asked specifically about Noah Igbinoghene and Erik Ezukanma being inactive Sunday, but not Flowers, and in each case he said it was related to the game plan. I’d assume the explanation would be the same for Flowers, and the fact that Andrew Van Ginkel was able to play also obviously contributed.
From SniperWolf (@CharlieK309):
Was that pass tipped or not? You know, the one with the high snap and a wide open Hill.
Hey Charlie, that is an awesome question, and I’ve seen 2-3 different angles of the play and I’d be lying if I said I know definitively because we just don't have the right angle to clearly see whether the ball went off the arm of Matthew Judon. What I will say is the ball really just died before it got to Tyreek Hill, which suggests either it hit Judon’s arm after being released or Tua didn’t have a good grip. But, again, I just don’t know for sure which is which — and it’s not something that anybody was asked by the media after the game.
