Rookie TE Gesicki grabs first preseason catch
DAVIE — It was third-and-1 and the Miami Dolphins were in a no-huddle shotgun and Ryan Tannehill saw a matchup he liked.
Tannehill spotted rookie tight end Mike Gesicki matched up 1-on-1 with a Ravens defensive back wide to his left. There was no doubt Tannehill was going to Gesicki.
Simple slant. Simple pitch and catch. Just like practice. First down, Dolphins, just like it’s been throughout camp.
Except for Gesicki, it meant more. It was his first catch in three preseason games. And so, yes, Gesicki admitted Monday in the Dolphins locker room, there was a small little monkey finally off his back.
“Yeah, man, it was cool,” Gesicki said. “To get the ball in your hands. Good play, to able to move the sticks. I’d like to break a tackle. It’s cover zero and there’s nobody left. You break a tackle and you’re gone. So you know, stack the positives and you know you can grow and develop.”
After the game, Tannehill said he didn’t realize it was Gesicki’s first in-game catch.
“Mike’s been doing a good job for us in practice, making some big-time plays this week,” Tannehill said. “Everyone is really confident in what he can do for us. I didn’t realize it was his first catch. I should probably say something to him; but he’s doing a good job. I’m excited about where he’s at. He’s only going to continue to grow and get better, but he’s going to be a huge advantage for us especially in the red zone.”
Gesicki wants more. And he wants it to come quickly. For example, when Gesicki reviewed the film, he thought he might have gained more than 10 yards if he’d stayed upright longer.
It’s hard to say if or how much Gesicki will play in the preseason finale at Atlanta on Thursday. But he feels he’s at a totally different place than when he arrived in the spring.
“It’s all slowed down,” Gesicki said. “When I first got here, I felt like a freshman in college. It’s a whole different living lifestyle. The things outside the building are different. Things are moving fast and you’re trying to wrap your head around it. The minor basics. Now it’s coming really quickly. I think just having the game slow down is what’s changed the most.”
Drake bolsters big-play reputation: When it comes to finding low-risk, high reward options in the Dolphins offense, Kenyan Drake continues to look like Adam Gase’s best choice.
Drake showed off with two plays that completely changed drives for Miami in Saturday’s preseason loss to the Ravens. He broke off a 30-yard run from his own 25 late in the first half, then came up with 36-yard catch on the first snap of the next possession to carry the Dolphins from their own 23 to Baltimore’s 41.
“I want to be a player that can be relied on to make big plays and spark the offense when we might be in a little bit of a stall,” Drake said. “Gase has a great scheme; I just go out there and try to run through the holes as best as possible.
“Obviously, breaking the long run is a testament to the line, the receivers blocking downfield, so my job is the easy part, which is just to find an open space and hit it as hard as I can. I’m just looking forward to making more big plays as the season kind of continues.”
In limited action over the first three preseason games, Drake has 15 rushes for 102 yards, plus five catches for 47 yards. That’s an average of 7.5 yards every time he’s touched the ball.
“I mean, he’s good,” Gase said. “We know that. We feel like we have two backs that are very good at what they do, and Kenyan just has a different way he kind of does it and Frank (Gore) has his way of doing it. We like where our running backs are right now.”