O’Shea has early praise for offense
Offensive coordinator appreciates players’ ‘really great attitude’
DAVIE — When the Miami Dolphins first announced assistant coach Jim Caldwell would take a leave of absence to address an undisclosed medical issue this season, new coach Brian Flores did give some thought to hiring another assistant coach.
Despite the idea, Flores believed his offense and quarterback competition was already in capable hands with first-time offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea and assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski, among other offensive assistants, taking on greater roles.
While Caldwell’s presence is already missed on a day-to-day basis, he still remains with the team in a consultant role where he will be able to watch film, evaluate the quarterbacks, and share his insight with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh Rosen and the coaching staff.
Through the first week of training camp, O’Shea has been pleased with his offense’s performance, but he is still wary about how much further the Dolphins need to progress.
“We have a long way to go, but the thing we’ve done as well as anything, looking at our team right now, is we played with tremendous effort,” O’Shea said on Sunday.
“There truly is a really great attitude on this football team. I’ve been very impressed with a lot of players. There’s been a lot of skill players that have come in and really done well within their role. I can’t say enough about our coaching staff, with a new system and a new scheme, how hard they have worked. It’s been tough and it’s been a grind. They’ve worked so hard to try to get this group on the field and play at a level we want. I can’t say enough about the job they’ve done.”
O’Shea, who spent the past nine years preparing receivers for Tom Brady in New England,
the Dolphins’ offensive coaches plan to use their experience coaching different positions to collectively lead their new offense moving forward without Caldwell’s vast NFL experience on a daily basis.
New tight ends coach George Godsey previously coached Fitzpatrick when they were with the Houston Texans in 2014. He also coached Matt Stafford with the Detroit Lions last season.
Receivers coach Karl Dorrell, making his return to the Dolphins franchise after a stint with the New York Jets, coached former Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne and quarterbacks Matt Schaub and Case Keenum with the Texans from 2011-13.
The greater onus at the quarterback position, however, will now fall on Schuplinski, who held the same role with the Patriots the past three seasons.
“He did a great job for us in New England, and we were very fortunate to have him here with us,” O’Shea said of Schuplinski.
“He’s a great communicator. He has a great personality to work with the position. He’s got a tremendous knowledge of our system, which is very important.
“And he’s someone that I really trust, and I really lean on for his expertise, and his ability to communicate with the quarterbacks.”
Schuplinski’s biggest challenge, he says, is trying to install an offense for quarterbacks like Fitzpatrick and Rosen with varying NFL experience.
Fitzpatrick’s 14 years in the NFL have proven to be a deciding factor in why he has taken a large majority of first-team snaps over Rosen, who is entering his second season.
Fitzpatrick may have conceded some ground in the quarterback battle to Rosen, whose inexperience and inconsistency remain prevalent through the first week of training camp, but Fitzpatrick largely remains in the lead of the starting job battle.
“I think we’re all still learning together,” Schusays plinski said of the quarterbacks and new offense.
“Nobody is perfect on anything. There are plenty of mistakes that are going around, and plenty of good things everybody is doing. I’m sure Flo said something like this: We’re all just trying to compete and get better every day.”
O’Shea is elated about his offense’s overall effort, and attempt to bring an edge in practice despite being pushed back by the defense during goal-line stands in practice on Saturday and Sunday.
O’Shea and Schuplinski, as Dolphins offensive coaches met with media for the first time during training camp, echoed much of Flores’ sentiment this past week regarding Fitzpatrick and Rosen and the quarterback battle.
It will continue when the Dolphins return to practice Tuesday for the first of four straight training camp sessions before Saturday’s 1 p.m. scrimmage at Hard Rock Stadium.
“I think the quarterback competition has been competitive. We’ve asked both of those guys to come in and improve daily. I believe that we have,” O’Shea said. “There [are] areas that they both need to improve in. There [are] areas where they’ve done really well in. So, I think right now, it’s competitive. Right now, all positions are competitive on our roster. I don’t think anything right now is set in stone. There [are] no starters.”