Offensive Coordinator Mike Sherman (On what he thinks are the noticeable differences between Tannehill last year to this year) – “I just think that having gone through an NFL season and then having gone through an OTA minicamp as a starter, getting the reps that he’s had, he just has grown into the position. He has tremendous confidence and he just shows me great composure when he’s on the field.” (On how encouraged he is with Charles Clay’s development) – “He’s really done some really nice things in the passing game, but in this last ball game we really challenged him to be a better blocker and he really contributed in run blocking and also as a pass blocker. There was an early pass, it might have been the first pass to Mike Wallace that they blitzed us and he stepped up and made a huge protection block for us in the “A” gap that allowed us the opportunity to make that play. We just had a meeting and watched that play, and I said Clay, I know you think you made bigger plays in the game than stepping up on that pass protection but in my mind that was one of the biggest plays we made because it allowed us the opportunity to score on our first drive. He’s definitely playing with a lot of confidence right now and has come into his own and doing things without any hesitation. I would say in the past maybe he wasn’t 100% sure what he was doing, but he’s believing in himself and he’s playing with some confidence.” (On if it was a coincidence that Mike Wallace got integrated very early in the offense) – “Well I mean sometimes, coverage dictate certain things. I mean, if there was a certain coverage or technique by a corner, Mike (Wallace) wouldn’t have got certain balls that he got. For instance we had a screen that was set up for Mike if he had the right look and if he didn’t have the right look, it was going to go to the other side. It’s all predicated on what the defense is doing and sometimes who’s doing it. I’ll say what I said last week, the same thing is true, we don’t really just force balls to anybody its predicated on coverage, technique, tendencies, and sometimes who’s going against who.” (On the bubble screen to (Mike) Wallace, if it was executed almost perfectly) – “It was, and again like I said, if we had thrown it to the other side, it was there on both sides, we had it on both sides. Clay actually set it up and came up and blocked the edge player, the outside corner. (Tyson) Clabo came down and really did a nice job on the number two player to the inside, (Mike) Pouncey collected the, I believe it was the safety downfield and Mike (Wallace) did a really nice job of utilizing his blockers and getting the ball, not one yard short of the end zone, but into the end zone. They did a real good job on the screen, it was very well executed. We haven’t executed that well in practice, so it was nice to see it done in a game (laughing).” (On what was the difference in the run game compared to last week) – “I don’t know you go week-to-week. I’ve seen that happen before where one week it’s just not jelling and everybody’s discombobulated and then the next week everything is just in synch. I still think we could have done a better job, we only rushed for 100 yards and I think I probably could have rushed the ball more, I should have rushed it more than I did. I thought the lineman really came off the ball, we had a very simple package running the football. Maybe the simplicity itself enhance their ability to execute the plan.” (On if he noticed Lamar making the right reads and being more decisive) – “Yeah, I thought on the touchdown run in particular, he was very decisive on that one. On the third down run to ice the ball game, I thought he kind of hesitated a little bit at the end. We have a play where if you get the first down and we could take time off the clock, then we want to do that. I think he was deciding on if we got the first down or not, he just needed to make a move on the guy maybe get a couple more yards, it was a little too close for comfort right there. Yes, he seemed very comfortable in the game more so than the week before.” (On the decision making process to go for it on 4th and 1) – “Coach Philbin talks about those things two days in advance actually, about if we’re in this situation, we go through all the situations in our game management plan. He had told me previous to the game that if we were in a situation very similar to that situation, on the road in that environment, against that quarterback and that offense that we were more than likely then less likely to go for it on fourth down. I probably would have like a different avenue than what I chose, to go for it on fourth down after having not made it, but it was less than a foot so I thought we had a good chance to get it, but we didn’t. A better play would have been better there.” (On how difficult it is for Charles Clay to learn all of the position assignments) – “When I came into the National Football League I came in as a tight end coach. I felt it was a great position to come in as, because you had to learn so much. I was with Mike Holmgren in Green Bay to start for my first job. I always advise young coaches if you have a chance to come in to the National Football League, you always want to start as a tight ends coach because you have to learn everything on the offense. The same is true for the tight end, as well as the tight end coach. Charles Clay has to learn pass protection, he has to learn now as a runner, hopefully we’ll employ him a little bit more in some other opportunities as well. He has to be a blocker, a route runner, get out in space, we missed a pass to him out there by the numbers early in the game but we should have completed that pass. There’s a lot of thing he’s doing in the passing game that receivers do. There’s a lot on his plate, there’s a lot of blocking elements that he has as a fullback, as a tight end, as an H-back, so there is a lot to do. I’ll say this, Dan Campbell, and I am not just saying this, I mean this, is one heck of a tight end coach. No job is too big, when I say can we handle this, yup we’ll get it done, and he gets it done. I have to credit Charles, obviously, for ultimately getting it done on the field, but he’s well prepared when he goes out there because Dan does a great job with those kids.” (On how the progress with the pass blocking with Daniel and Lamar have been) – “It’s improved, it still has a way to go, but I thought that it was better in this game. They were challenged a little bit, I thought Daniel (Thomas) had a really nice one he really stepped up in and squared up on a guy. It’s getting there, it’s not quite where we need it to be just yet, but it’s getting closer.” (On seeing more snaps from Dion Sims this game, if it was a part of game plan) – “He had come down with a little bit of an injury last week in practice and he was more healthy this week. The package of him being on the field was just something we were going to employ more this week than we did last week so it just so happened, there was no special reasons for that, other than his health and his package kind of came up a couple times.”
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 00:34:38 +0000