Mike Gesicki’s lost season continues with Dolphins in Mike McDaniel’s first year
Tight end Mike Gesicki and the Miami Dolphins’ new offense under coach Mike McDaniel have not meshed. Twice in that stretch, he was only involved on 20 percent of Miami’ s offensive plays, amounting to a career-low nine snaps in the Dec. 4 loss at the San Francisco 49 ers. Following the 12 snaps he played in Orchard Park last Saturday night, a Bills video of Buffalo tight...
Tight end Mike Gesicki and the Miami Dolphins’ new offense under coach Mike McDaniel have not meshed.
The evidence has reached a peak over the team’s past four games since its bye week. When Gesicki hauled in his one catch for 5 yards in the loss to the Buffalo Bills, it was his first reception in a month after three games without one.
In those last four games, he has been targeted a total of five times. Twice in that stretch, he was only involved on 20 percent of Miami’s offensive plays, amounting to a career-low nine snaps in the Dec. 4 loss at the San Francisco 49ers.
The frustration might be reaching a boiling point on the field. Following the 12 snaps he played in Orchard Park last Saturday night, a Bills video of Buffalo tight end Dawson Knox mic’d up revealed Gesicki telling him, “I’m happy you got paid. I’m happy you’re ballin’. I’m happy they’re [expletive] using you.”
A jab at his organization’s lack of usage of the 6-foot-6 pass catcher’s talents?
After Gesicki posted career highs of 73 receptions for 780 yards in 2021, he’s down to 25 catches for 274 yards in 14 games in his first campaign under McDaniel. Surprisingly, he has two more touchdowns than last year, scoring four times thus far. In terms of receptions and yards, he’s on pace to have his least productive season since his rookie year.
“I’m a competitor. I’ve made plays in this league for a long time, and I’ve proven the player I am,” Gesicki said Wednesday when asked if it’s been frustrating. “I think that there’s probably defensive coordinators out there that are going into watching our film and have to put in time — or at least used to have to put in time — to ‘how are we going to affect the game plan with 88 out there?’
“In my opinion, I could help, but I’m just going to go about it in the most professional way I can and make the most of my opportunities when they do present themselves, if they do. That’s really all I can do.”
And while Gesicki, playing on the franchise tag with the Dolphins this season, may have his internal frustrations — or even express them when he’s unaware a hot mic from an opposing team is rolling — he has said all the right things about the situation.
“Obviously, you want to be out there making plays, be out there in general,” Gesicki said. “There’s a lot that goes into it, but it’s not about me. This team isn’t built around me.
“I’m going to do my job. I don’t call the plays. I just go out there and execute them. Try to do the best of my ability. That doesn’t make me feel any way. I just want to help this team win football games in any way possible, whether that’s me being a good teammate or me being on the field — whatever it is.”
Said fellow tight end Durham Smythe, Gesicki’s noted best friend on the team who was an Adam Gase-era draft selection with him in the same 2018 class: “It says a lot about him, just the way he’s handled it publicly, in this building. At the end of the day, he wants to win football games. I think that’s why his spirits are so high.
“He wishes he could contribute a little bit more. … We’re not worried about it. Everyone knows what he can do in the right situation.”
The Dolphins using the franchise tag on Gesicki last offseason essentially made it a one-year trial run to see if he could fit under McDaniel, offensive coordinator Frank Smith and tight ends coach Jon Embree, who emphasize the blocking aspect of the tight end position in this offense that features the wide-zone scheme in the run game. The tag value for tight ends in 2022 was $10.9 million.
It appears highly unlikely Gesicki, even after the organization didn’t trade him in the offseason or before the Nov. 1 deadline, will be back with the Dolphins. He figures to go into free agency coming off a down final season in Miami, which could have financial ramifications.
“I try not to focus on that,” he said. “I’m not thinking about my next contract, anything like that. I think a lot of teams around this league know me as the playmaker that I’ve been, but that’s not really what I’m focused on right now because we’ve got a lot of football ahead of us. And there’s a lot of exciting things for the future of the Miami Dolphins right now.
“I’m happy to be a part of it. I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to put a smile on my face, come in here every day, be the best teammate I can be, do whatever I can do day in and day out to help the organization.”
The fifth-year tight end out of Penn State holds out hope that he can factor into the stretch run for an 8-6 Dolphins team trying to reach the postseason for the first time since 2016, beginning with the Green Bay Packers at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
“I know, at some point — it could be this year, but if not, it will be next year,” said Gesicki, who added he still catches 160 balls after practice, “I’m going to make the most of my opportunities when they come.”
Added Smythe: “It would shock me if an opportunity for him didn’t come up that was in a big moment.”
Smith said communication with Gesicki has been key during this challenging stretch where his offense has not been able to utilize Gesicki’s strengths as a red-zone target who can make contested catches.
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