One of the big storylines around the Dolphins this offseason was the increased freedom that quarterback Ryan Tannehill will have to audible out of plays at the line of scrimmage after being barred from doing so when Joe Philbin was the team’s head coach.
The input into the offense that new coach Adam Gase is giving Tannehill goes beyond checking out of plays before the snap, however. Gase explained that he and Tannehill discuss the game plan and Tannehill lets him know which plays he doesn’t like, allowing the quarterback to avoid being in situations that he isn’t comfortable with come Sunday.
“That kind of communication is critical because the last thing I want to do is put him in a position to where he doesn’t like what I’m calling but he doesn’t say anything,” Gase said, via the Miami Herald. “But I haven’t seen that because he’s been pretty forward about things he doesn’t like and sometimes it hurts you when you’re calling plays because you really like something and then he crosses [the play] off and you’re like, ‘Ah!’ You know you felt like you really loved that play; but that’s what you need. You need that kind of dynamic because at least you know every play that’s being called, he’s basically checked his box of, ‘I’m good with it. I understand what I’m supposed to do.’ And when a guy is invested in the process, he wants to make a lot of the things really work well, especially when he gets his type of plays in there.”
Any of Tannehill’s struggles to this point of his career can’t be laid at Philbin’s feet alone, but none of those offenses were built around Tannehill the way that Gase is building this year’s offense either. That sets this up as a big year for Tannehill and he’ll get a good test in Week One with the Dolphins in Seattle to face the Seahawks.