McDaniel works to fix Dolphins’ anemic running game
Coach Mike McDaniel has deftly navigated a treacherous early schedule, guiding the Dolphins to a 3-1 start.
But he hasn’t yet solved one of his areas of expertise: the Dolphins’ running game, which has a puny 3.5 yards per carry average, fifth-worst in the league.
Raheem Mostert has a 3.8 average, well below his 5.4 career mark. Chase Edmonds has a 3.0 average, below his 4.5 career average and 5.1 for Arizona last season.
So unless those two dramatically regressed (unlikely), one might conclude that the blame lies with the blocking. But it’s more nuanced than that.
Raheem Mostert, who played in this “complicated running game” in San Francisco, revealed that one problem has been identifying defensive schemes and nuances before the snap.
“The biggest thing that hasn’t been as effective in this offense with regard to the run game are the calls,” Mostert said. “Connor [Williams] is a new center. He hasn’t been in this type of offense as a center. ... Sometimes, it’s just missed ID [identifying something in the defense].”
Liam Eichenberg said all the linemen must do a better job identifying defenders before the snap: “We need to communicate better where everybody is going. It’s a really good system. But it’s hard.”
And Mostert said “even in the running back room, we’re not hitting holes the right way. Especially me.”
In the area of run blocking specifically, Pro Football Focus rates Williams the NFL’s thirdagainst best center, Rob Hunt the third-best guard and Terron Armstead the 14th best tackle.
So what’s the problem? In run blocking, PFF ranks right tackle Greg Little 49th among 49 tackles and Eichenberg 60th of 61 guards.
Durham Smythe had two good blocks on Mostert runs in the fourth quarter against Cincinnati, but PFF rates him 48th as a run-blocker among 65 tight ends. Mike Gesicki is 51st and seemingly in his final months as a Dolphin.
Cut by Philadelphia a month
A ago, quarterback Reid Sinnett had been planning to do color commentary on alma mater San Diego University’s football games, start a podcast and shadow the Toreros’ athletic director “to see if that’s something I was interested in.”
Then the Dolphins called last weekend, worked him out and signed him to the practice squad. When he walked in the lunch room last week, Gesicki yelled to tight end Adam Shaheen: “Your favorite player is back!”
GREEN’S THOUGHTS ON TUA
CBS analyst and ex-Dolphins quarterback Trent Green — who worked the Dolphins’ wins Baltimore and Buffalo and calls Sunday’s game at the Jets with Kevin Harlan — can relate to what Tua Tagovailoa is experiencing, having suffered multiple concussions. Among the topics covered when we spoke Thursday:
Green is not part of the
A angry mob ripping doctors for the decision to re-insert Tagovailoa into the Bills game.
“When you see him stumble, you immediately think concussion because we’ve all been trained to [think] that,” he said.
But Green isn’t convinced it was a concussion. He’s not sure the process even went wrong against Buffalo.
“If they sent down the video of him stumbling, and [doctors] say, ‘Yeah, we understand he was stumbling, but he’s stumbling because he’s having back spasms,’ if that’s accurate, I don’t know where the [problem] lies,” he said. “A lot of it needs to be the player” being honest about what’s wrong.
The only national analyst
A who has strongly criticized McDaniel for not sitting Tagovailoa against Buffalo is former Jets coach Rex Ryan.
Green doesn’t agree: “Don’t put it on Mike at all. We don’t even know if Mike saw him stumble. Mike is the play-caller; he’s probably looking at their play sheet. The doctors’ job is to do the evaluation. If Mike says, ‘Wait a second, I saw him stumble,’ and [doctors] say it’s because of the back spasms, then what?”
And Fox’s Jimmy Johnson said the coach is never involved in the decision about whether to medically clear a player to return.
Green has questions about
A the reported change to concussion protocol, the one that will rule out a player from returning to the game if he exhibits gross motor instability.
“We have to draw a fine line here [with] gross motor instability. If a player is having a back spasm and goes to the ground, maybe at halftime, they are able to relax those muscles, do stretching. If they determined it wasn’t head trauma” how do you keep the player sidelined?
How many concussions did
A Green have?
“Based on the way they label concussions now, I have no doubt I had more [than two]. I got knocked out on two occasions — one with Kansas City, one with the Dolphins.
“When I was knocked out in Miami [in 2007], I was only knocked out for a few seconds; I remember going off the field. I’ve had nothing but great things to say about how the Dolphins handled the situation. They [quickly] called my wife. They protected me.
“The next day, I went on the practice field and grabbed a couple of guys to go throw and the trainers come running out and say, ‘What are you doing?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m good to go.’ And they’re like, ‘No, you can’t be doing all that. ... We’ve got to do an evaluation.’ I credit the organization for how they handled me. “The concussion I had in Kansas City in 2006, I was out for several minutes, knocked out right on the sideline of the Chiefs, and my teammates told me I was snoring [on the field]. It concerns me, because there’s about a 20- to 30-minute window that I don’t remember.
“I don’t remember anything until I was going to the hospital. My wife was in the ambulance with me because they had me strapped down to the board and had my face mask off. I was still wearing a helmet and all of a sudden, the first thing I remember is here I am with all these bright lights on me and I can’t move. That was scary.
“I flipped out on her. I was like, ‘What the heck is going on? Why can’t I move? Why am I strapped down?’ ”
Green said his main symptom in Kansas City “was my equilibrium. I wasn’t allowed to drive for several weeks.” Green got five neurological opinions and learned that “every single brain injury is different. I got knocked unconscious [for the Dolphins] and I didn’t feel bad at all. I know people who have concussion symptoms for months.”
Does he now experience any
A issues that he attributes to concussions?
“Up to this point, no,” he said. “I have my 50s moments where I walk into a room and I’m thinking, ‘OK, what the heck did I come in here for?’ I don’t think I’m any more forgettable than some of [my non-football friends].
“I still work out regularly. I try to eat as healthy as possible” based on medical advice. “I’ve tried to convey this to former players: Don’t sit around and read the internet all day and watch TV. Be active.”
Because Tagovailoa is smaller
A than many NFL quarterbacks, does that leave him more vulnerable to head injuries?
Green doesn’t believe so. “He’s stout and thick. He doesn’t look frail at all.” But “I would be more concerned” with his overall durability issues.
When Green watches Tagovailoa
A this season, “I see him play looser. I don’t know if he was afraid of mistakes before. You see a different quarterback.”