As Mike McDaniel fails to get most out of Mike Gesicki, tight end remains true pro | Habib
MIAMI GARDENS — Mike McDaniel says he has been a failure. Not in coaching the Dolphins to the brink of a playoff berth, of course, but in one aspect of his rookie season as an NFL head coach: his handling of tight end Mike Gesicki.
It was startling to hear him use the word, about as startling as it is for me to type these next few: I agree with him. Wholeheartedly.
It’s Mike McDaniel’s job to get the most of his players. In this case, he not only has failed to get the most out of one of his best players, he has come closer to shutting down Mike Gesicki than any defensive coordinator could. It’s not Dean Smith stifling Michael Jordan, but it does conjure up the memory.
More:Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa gets most Pro Bowl votes, backing from Jevon Holland
More:Dolphins agree defense has been substandard, unacceptable and disappointing | Schad
One catch. Five yards. It would be sad to say that’s all Gesicki managed last weekend against the Bills. But to say that’s all Gesicki has managed in the past four games combined — yes, folks, that really is his four-game total — is a travesty. It's inexcusable.
Gesicki finished 2021 with 73 receptions for 780 yards and every reason to think this might be the year he smashes the four-figure barrier in yardage. Then the Dolphins traded for Tyreek Hill, teaming him with Jaylen Waddle. While you knew those two were going to get oodles of targets, you also knew No. 88 could run to infinity and beyond with all the single coverage he’d face.
Mike Gesicki's pace (333 yards) represents a sharp decline
Well, Gesicki is on pace for 333 yards. That’s a 57 percent decrease.
This from a player who, at 27 years old and in his fifth NFL season, is in the prime of his career.
It has been painful to watch. On Wednesday, it was painful to hear as he discussed it. Though it all, reporters covering the team couldn’t help but wonder if Gesicki were a pressure cooker liable to explode at any time. Many (most?) players in his position would. Gesicki has not, is not, and says he will not.
“I’ve just got to be professional about it,” he said.
The painful part came in two snippets of his interview, noted in italics.
“I’ve made plays in this league for a long time and I’ve proven the player I am,” Gesicki said. “I think that there’s probably defensive coordinators out there that are going into watching our film and have to put in time to — or at least used to have to put in time to — how are we going to affect the game plan with 88 out there and things like that. So I mean, in my opinion, I could help.”
And Exhibit B, when he was asked if this season might have a detrimental effect on his ability to land a big free-agent contract this offseason: “I’m not thinking about my next contract or anything like that. I think a lot of teams around this league know me as a player that I’ve been.”
Despite the use of past tense, Gesicki has not forgotten how to run routes. He still knows how to catch a football and make you wonder how he did what he just did. He’s as good at that as he is bad at doing the griddy.
“Mike is the same guy who was putting up 800 yards last year and 700 yards before that,” fellow tight end Durham Smythe said.
If anyone on the team has a handle on Gesicki, it’s Smythe. They have been inseparable since being drafted one day apart in 2018. The way Smythe sees it, Gesicki is contributing to the team in a big way — just not how everyone expected.
“Obviously, for any guy playing on a one-year deal, who was on the precipice of getting paid last year, going through statistical decline is tough,” Smythe said. “And I think it reflects directly on his character, how he's handled himself so well. Obviously, he cares about us winning games and doing whatever he can in that regard to help. And you know, I think a lot of guys in his situation wouldn't handle it like he has. That goes a long way, not only for his future, but honestly, just the team's morale and how everyone functions on a day-to-day basis.”
Mike McDaniel: ‘I don't get him involved enough'
For his system, McDaniel prefers tight ends adept at blocking and receiving. Gesicki isn’t that and never will be. But he is playing under the Dolphins’ franchise tag and thus commanding a $10.9 million salary this season. The Dolphins didn’t want to see Gesicki walk in free agency, but they also don’t see him as a fit. It's the NFL's version of an arranged marriage.
“I look at my portion of the situation is that he’s a good player and I don’t get him involved enough,” McDaniel said. “I don’t like that he’s having to answer those questions. It feels as though it’s a failure to some degree, I think, for myself, because I think that’s the way you have to look at it. If I’m to lead this team, I need to set an example — and the example of accountability can’t ever be skirted.”
And no, it hasn’t been lost on McDaniel that Gesicki is handling it with such class.
“He’s a pro,” McDaniel said. “It’s been a rough set of circumstances.”
All the while, Gesicki has been plugging away. Practices end, but he’s still on the field, catching balls from the Jugs machine.
“I stay on my routine every single day, continue to catch 160 balls after practice and do my thing,” he said. “And whether it transforms to Sunday or not, that’s not up to me until the opportunity comes. But the one thing I will never, ever, ever let is the opportunity come and me not be prepared.”
In the locker room, Gesicki can confide in Smythe. At home, his bride, Halle.
“I’ll lean on my wife and I’m with her all the time,” Gesicki said. “And she’s been awesome. She’s heard a lot from me. But I’m playing football. I’m in the NFL. I’m living my dream and not that that makes everything else easier, but I don’t need pity or anything like that from anybody.
“I’m going to go about my business and I’m going to be ready, whether it’s, like I said, whether it’s this year, whether it’s next year, whenever it is.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Mike McDaniel is failing with Mike Gesicki, but TE is consummate pro
