Player notes

Some interesting player notes.

Jones had leg surgery in March; he was supposed to be ready for the start of training camp but hasn’t practiced or played all year for reasons he has declined to explain.

“He could have... helped,” Madison said. “Injuries come up. Some people fight through them. Some people don’t.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article269641106.html

So according to Sam Madison, apparently injured CB Byron Jones could’ve been healthy enough to play, but chose not to - and chose not to explain. wonder if maybe he was a Flores guy and didn't like the changes - or just a case of a guy getting a huge sum of money and deciding he didn't need to work hard anymore.

“It’s been quite a journey with Hunter; we’ve had interesting times,” Embree said. “Football is important to him; there were times I wondered about that.”

Why did Embree wonder about that?

“Sometimes I wondered about preparation, how hard he prepared.”

And so Hunter Long is just another guy in a long list of young players not willing to put in the work. Hopefully he’s matured because…

With Mike Gesicki likely to move on, does Embree believe Long and rookie Tanner Conner are ready for more prominent roles?

“They’ll have to be unless you know anyone coming through the door,” Embree said. “That’s [a] Chris Grier” decision.

Embree, incidentally, said Gesicki could have been a “cancer” but wasn’t.

For one, the TE coach is treating it like a forgone conclusion that Gesicki won't be coming back. And crediting for not being a “cancer” kind of implies that Gesicki knew from the get-go he was not in the team's plans. Odd, its like they never tried to give him a chance of find a way to use his talents.

Yep... About what I suspected.

I knew why they went out and signed Jones, but I was not as excited about it as some Phans.

There was nothing special about Long and why Grier drafted him was a mystery. Especially with the gaggle of just as good TEs and Gesicki that the Phins had at the time.

Gesicki does not fit into McD's system and apparently McD does not want to build anything into the offense to take advantage of Gesicki's skills. I do not understand why Gesicki was not more of a redzone threat though? That would have been the perfect place to utilize his size and movement ability IMO.

Some of the Phins offensive problems were self-inflicted IMO. McD runs the same offense and features the same plays no matter who is at QB, who is a LT, or which star WR is taking a break on the sidelines. That is one reason the Dolphins high-flying offense got nipped in the bud when the defenses started taking away the middle of the field and the QBs first and second reads I am thinking.

They probably should have tried to trade Gesicki at the start of free agency last season and not at the end after the franchise tag had been applied.

They have no leverage at all this off season.

a little more on Gesicki

“It’s been up and down,” tight ends coach John Embree said. “...Mike learning how to contribute without having the ball in his hand has been a process. I think it’s something that as we’ve continued to move forward that he’s gotten better at and has kind of embraced it as much as he can, that aspect of playing this position.

“But what we do in that room is really unique because you’ve got to pass block, run block and you go out for passes. When you’re asked to do those different things, sometimes those skills maybe aren’t as developed as they needed to be. Maybe they’re skills that are completely new, or maybe it’s just something that you can’t do.”

Embree added: “We all know what Mike is as a past catcher; there’s things that I would like him to get better at as a route runner, whether it’s zone or man releases.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article269997727.html

so i kind of think we all knew they weren't thrilled with Gesicki as a blocker, but apparently they don't like his route runner either.

i get it, he's not a complete TE, but still, he's 3rd on the team in TD receptions with 5. i am a bit surprised considering the redzone struggles the 2nd half of the season, they couldn't figure out a way to use his size and hands in the endzone (or on 3rd downs) more. but i guess it is what it is - they decided in training camp that he wasn't what they wanted and that was the end of it.

One thing I noticed about Skylar last week - he was throwing to the TE a lot more than Tua did...

I agree with Merc. I think I have mentioned before that Gesicki's size and speed would seem to make him a formidable receiving threat in the end zone?? Even that lateral sprint along the goal line pass and let him catch it and cross the goal line would work  I am thinking?

This is another reason you have to wonder if McD is "blinded" by his offensive scheme and unwilling to make adjustments to suit the talent he has on hand?

I would think you could plug Gesicki in at WR and get SOME USE from him.

Gesicki does round off his routes sometimes it looks like. Instead of selling the burst past the DB, he starts rounding off early and that lets the DB know which way he is going. Some analyst pointed it out and after knowing what to look for, you can see it on most of the routes Gesicki runs.

This may be the reason?

all of the Dolphins players were in the locker room and available to the media, including injured reserve players. other than Tua, who could not be there due to the concussion protocol, all of them were there...Ogbah, Trill Williams, Brandon Jones, Nik Needham. well, all except one...

Monday was the only day that players on injured reserve were permitted to speak this season. Byron Jones, who spent the season on the physically unable to perform list, was not in the locker room during that media access period.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article271244647.html

bye, bye Jones. time to reap some salary cap from your post June 1 release.

Jones’ salary is nonguaranteed for next season, but there isn’t significant cap relief for cutting him until after June 1, after which Miami will have conducted most of its offseason business.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article271228932.html

and Grier confirmed what we all knew about Gesicki being as good as gone.

He said tight end Mike Gesicki — an impending free agent — “did a great job this year. Told Mike I was proud of him. He worked through it. He’s earned a right to be a free agent.”

i look forward (not really) to seeing Mike rip the Phins' defense apart twice a year as a Patriot.

Remember when I said after Hunter Long was drafted two years ago now that Grier's plan all along was to have him replace Gesicki? Because I did. Another case of me hating to be right

This would be the same Hunter Long BTW wo has all of a single 8-yard reception in those 2 seasons. But he gets to stay while Gesicki was deemed to be trash SMH

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LongHu00.htm

Yeah, the whole franchise tag thing was asinine IMO. I think they thought they could lock him ups and then trade him, but the franchise tag actually made it impossible to trade him.

The Pats would have to kick one of those two big money TEs to the curb to sign Gesicki, I think?

Smith got 4 yrs for 50 mill and Henry got 3 yrs for 37.5 mill.

I am sure Belicheck would LOVE Gesicki. But let's hope Gesicki goes to an NFC team.

There are some big TEs who can block and pass catch that may be available at the Phins 164 pick? So who knows? Schoonmaker, Kunst, Durham and maybe even Musgrave. (Assuming PFNs ratings are worth a plugged nickel, and I wouldn't pay that for them, so...) I just do not have a lot of confidence in Long at this point.

The thing is, Long can't even block either so essentially he's useless. And now we're trusting the same guy who drafted HIM to replace the one TE who was any good to go out and get another one who's at least as good or better that he'll likely pay MORE than the good one he already had but decided to let walk?

(Wrings hands in despair.)